Construction officially begins on tower 432 Park, which after completion will become the tallest residential tower in New York, reported The New York YIMBY. While excavation on the site of 432 Park has been ongoing for several months, no foundation work had yet been completed. On May 14 marks the first laying of rebar for the base of the building. With foundation work now formally underway, 432 Park should be at street level within several months. The only similar tower in the city One57 rose to grade fairly quickly, although financing issues paused actual building's rise several times through construction. The simplicity of 432 Park's design could mean that the tower will rise even faster than One57. The new tower is constructing at the site of the former Drake Hotel on New York's Park Avenue has long been a subject of fascination in the development world. According to The Wall Street Journal, the CIM Group, owner of the building, a Los Angeles real-estate company founded by two former Israeli paratroopers and a Drexel Burnham Lambert executive has emerged as one of the country's most active property buyers, emerged new details for New York tallest residential tower. The 425 meters tall tower, designed by Rafael Vinoly and developed by Harry Macklowe, is expected to cost US$ 1.2 billion. There will be 128 units would vary in size from 130 square meters to more than 740 square meters, 25 studios to house residential support staff and the retail would run along 57th Street with 30 meters of frontage. The building is planned to hit substantial completion in April 2015. The expected average sales price is US$ 48.500 per square meters, which would be below recent resale at the Time Warner Center and asking prices at One57. As we reported earlier , a new mark for the priciest home in New York City was setting. An unknown buyer has paid US$ 90 million for the 1015 square meters penthouse on the 89th and 90th floors of One57.

The company Lend Lease last unveiled plans to build the first high rise apartment building in Australia and the tallest in the world using Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), which it says heralds a new era for the construction industry, reported the resource Architecture Design. The new wooden tower called Forte, will be constructed in Victoria Harbour, Melbourne and it will rise over 10 stories, offering 23 boutique residential apartments and 4 townhouses. Designed and built by Lend Lease, the building, due for completion in October 2012, will reflect the contemporary inner-city lifestyle of Victoria Harbour while combining environmental initiatives such as better energy efficiency in terms of heating and cooling. Building with CLT is seen as a more efficient and environmentally-friendly construction process, which has proven successful in Europe for more than a decade, but has not been undertaken in Australia before. By using CLT, Lend Lease claims, the project, Forte, will reduce CO2 equivalent emissions by more than 1,400 tonnes when compared to concrete and steel - the equivalent of removing 345 cars from our roads. CLT is an engineered mass timber product and very different to a traditional wood frame. Mass timber - dense solid panels of wood engineered for strength through laminations of different layers - provides significant benefits and has the equivalent structural integrity to concrete. CLT on a weight to strength basis meets, and in some cases exceed, the performance of reinforced concrete, resulting in a very stable and durable structural outcome. Designed and produced in a factory environment means it will also be built 30 percent faster than its material counterparts, while being cleaner and more efficient. Currently one of the highest modern wooden buildings is in London. Called the Stadthaus, Murray Grove, it's a nine-story residential building that stands at just less than 30 meters (98 feet). Even the lift shafts and stairwells are made from wood. Architect Michael Green, one of three principals at McFarlane Green Biggar Architecture + Design (MGB), also has plans for a 30-story wooden skyscraper in Vancouver.

This year in January Barclays Capital research reported, there is an "unhealthy correlation" between the building of skyscrapers and subsequent financial crashes. Often the world's tallest buildings are simply the edifice of a broader skyscraper building boom, reflecting a widespread misallocation of capital and an impending economic correction. Examples include the "Empire State building", built as the "Great Depression" was under way, and the current world's tallest, the "Burj Khalifa", built just before Dubai almost went bust. Besides this research world's largest companies are continuing to fund skyscrapers construction. Tomy Winata, the Artha Graha group director and Agung Prabowo, the Danayasa Arthatama Company's director, are sure, that with a fast growing Indonesian economy, by the time the planned tower is finished, the supply of office space and rooms will meet demand. According to The Financial Times, Artha Graha group director Tomy Winata plans to build a 111-storey tower, which will be the world's fifth tallest skyscraper upon completion in five years' time. The tower will build the Danayasa Arthatama, an Artha Graha subsidiary company focused on the property sector. The US$ 2 billion tower will rise 534.5 meters above ground level according to the architect's plans. As reported the newspaper the MGM Resorts International, a US-listed casino and hospitality group, will manage a luxury hotel on the top 20 floors of the building. The Signature Tower will be built in the Sudirman Central Business District, a 45 hectare development controlled by Mr. Winata's business group and home to the Indonesia Stock Exchange and many banks and international companies. Today many skyscraper projects are still on paper. UAE planned to build 1400-meters tall "Nakheel tower", but its construction was delayed. Saudi Arabia also plans to build the 1010-meters tall "Kingdom Tower" in Jeddah. In January of this year, Azerbaijan also announced, that its Avesta concern decided to build 1050 meters tall "Azerbaijan Tower" in "Caspian Island".

According to Director General of the South Caucasus Railways (SCR) Viktor Rebets, the project to connect Armenia's international Zvartnots airport and the Yerevan underground with a commuter train service will soon get off the drawing board, reported Armenian mass media. A trilateral memorandum about the intention to build a commuter train link was signed among the RA minister of transport and communications Manuk Vardanyan, the SCR Director General Viktor Rebets and the Armenia International Airports general manager Marcelo Wende on May 4. The new railway will link the Charbakh station of the Yerevan underground and the international airport, and to be built within a year. The length of the rail link is about 7.8 kilometers. Also an 810-meter-long tunnel is expected to be built. The Armenian Government in last November approved the program to build an international logistics center and transportation infrastructures in the territory neighboring Zvartnots International Airport. New railway is a part of the project of free economic zone which also include highway construction. The realization of the project is expected to facilitate access to the city for passengers at Zvartnots as well as provide a link between the airport's cargo terminal and the Karmir Blur railway station.

In Zurich, a 120-year-old, 6200 tons, The Machine Factory Oerlikon building relocated by 60 meters, reported The Telegraph. The building, which was built in 1889, was facing demolition in 2010 due to the expansion of nearby railway lines but it was saved when the Swiss real estate company, Swiss Prime Site, decided to buy it. The physical work freeing the foundations of the old factory and putting it on rolling tracks started last summer. The operation to translocate the 6200 tonne former factory began on may 22 with two hydraulic pressers, 500 rollers and six sections of railway line being utilized to help push the building roughly 60 meters to the west at speeds of around 3-5 meters per hour. The journey is expected to take two days. According to the company paying for the operation, the project to move the 80 meter long and 12 meter wide building is the largest Switzerland and Europe has ever seen. So far SPS have spent roughly US$ 12.7 million so far on the operation in order to preserve the Zurich landmark.