Firefighters and police officers in Cobb County, Ga., appealed to the county commission to raise their salaries and increase pension contributions, asserting staffing issues are jeopardizing public safety. "We need to have an informed discussion," said commission Chairman Mike Boyce.

As part of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's 2019 OneNYC plan, buses will run faster and the number of businesses taking overnight/off-hours deliveries will triple. Those moves and others, along with the introduction of congestion charging, are expected to improve mobility on city streets.

Shovels have hit the dirt for a 922-space parking garage and a 50,000-square-foot retail project for the $4 billion Miami Worldcenter development. The 27-acre project eventually will include 300,000 square feet for restaurants, retail and entertainment space.

The NFL's Carolina Panthers are seeking roughly $115 million in incentives and up to 200 acres for a $200 million to $250 million facility York County, S.C., that could include a practice facility, medical facilities, a hotel, residential space, and the team's headquarters.

The Charlotte, N.C., City Council has approved the development of a tower in the city's South End neighborhood with nine floors of office space, seven floors of parking and 20,000 square feet of retail. Atlanta-based developer Portman Holdings expects to break ground later this year and carry out construction over 20 to 24 months.

A combination of active construction plans, a low Canadian dollar, record operating metrics and historically low financing costs has propelled the Canadian hotel industry to one of its most profitable periods for owners in the last three decades, according to Colliers International. "We're seeing a trend towards limited service hotels, representing the lion's share with 70% of deals this year, over more traditional full-service hotels," says Alam Pirani of Colliers International Hotels.

Green building is seeing a rise in niche, third-party certification programs that verify wellness, digital infrastructure and landscaping. However, public sentiment on the value of such certifications is mixed, and not all project owners are convinced that such programs are necessary, Joe Gose writes.

The cost of green building materials continues to drop, allowing contractors to create cost-effective structures that consume less energy. BigRentz's Jim Arabia offers insight into a wide range of green building materials, such as self-healing concrete and 3D-printed graphene, that can help builders remain competitive and reduce their footprint.

Construction work on a $13 billion project to convert Mexico's Santa Lucia military air base into a new airport in Mexico City will kick off on Monday, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said. The announcement follows Lopez Obrador's December declaration that construction would begin in January.

Massachusetts plans to invest $8 billion in public transportation and a "similar amount" on roads and bridges over the next five years, but Gov. Charlie Baker says the state will not need to increase taxes to raise money to battle its congestion woes. The state has been looking into the prospect of congestion pricing, and a report will be released within two months, Baker says.