SUGAR LAND, TEXAS — The City of Sugar Land, located southwest of Houston, has approved $12.5 million in funding for the renovation and modernization of the city’s downtown commercial center, known as Sugar Land Town Square. Under the terms of the funding agreement, Building B will receive upgrades to its communal office and amenity spaces, as well as its landscaping and streetscaping. In addition, Building H will see renovations to its entryway, lobby and signage, along with updates to the garden area and new furniture, fixtures and equipment. Sugar Land Town Square, which spans 32.8 acres and opened in 2003, is currently 73 percent leased across its office, retail and restaurant components.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — A partnership between the Del Valle Independent School District (ISD), which serves Travis County, and The Thinkery, a children’s museum in Austin, has opened a 25,227-square-foot immersive childcare facility. Designed by Pfluger Architects and located east of the downtown area, the facility features color-coded, dedicated classrooms for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, as well as a central courtyard, library and an array of museum-style, interactive learning exhibits and activities. American Constructors served as the general contractor for the project.
LONG BEACH, CALIF. — C.W. Driver Cos. has broken ground on a $175 million modernization project at Long Beach Unified School District’s Polytechnic High School in Los Angeles County. The project includes interim student housing, a new 65,000-square-foot Career and Technical Education (CTE) classroom building and the modernization of eight historic, existing campus buildings. The new three-story CTE classroom building will include a medical simulation lab supporting the school’s medical pathway; engineering and computer science labs; standard and intensive studies classrooms; robotics and automotive technology labs; spaces for the school’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corp (JROTC); and dedicated engineering courtyards and outdoor learning environments. Interim housing will also be built in a new complex consisting of 52 portable classrooms, four restroom buildings and a lunch shelter. During the additional phases, which are scheduled across two subsequent summers, C.W. Driver will modernize the aging infrastructure, update utilities and enhance the school’s learning environment through partition walls, new flooring, fire alarms and utility connections across eight buildings. Updates will include HVAC and technology modernizations, new audiovisual systems, lighting, electrical and interior/exterior finishes. Additionally, the school will be upgrading its accessibility and safety through ADA-compliant pathways and signage and bringing fire alarm systems, tactile …
BURNSVILLE, MINN. — Kraus-Anderson has broken ground on an $81.3 million expansion of the Burnsville City Hall and police department. The property is located at 100 Civic Center Parkway in Burnsville, about six miles south of downtown Minneapolis. The facility will remain occupied and operational throughout construction, which is slated for completion in spring 2028. The 35-year-old complex will receive 110,000 square feet of additional space to better serve the city hall and police department. Designed by CNH Architects, the two-story, 212,000-square-foot project will feature state-of-the-art technology throughout; a 120,483-square-foot addition with an expanded city hall, police department, squad garage and gun range; and a 91,550-square-foot renovation of existing spaces. The complex occupies 8 acres of land that will undergo civil construction and infrastructure enhancements. Construction will be completed in three phases: the city hall addition, police department addition and city hall remodel and sitework.
NEW YORK CITY — New York University (NYU) has signed a long-term lease for more than 1 million square feet at 770 Broadway in Lower Manhattan. The 1.1 million-square-foot building is adjacent to the university’s campus and is currently home to a number of tenants that occupy about half the space, and NYU plans to assume the existing leases of these users. Grocer Wegman’s will remain a tenant within the building’s retail space. The first stage of NYU’s programming for 770 Broadway will involve the conversion of vacant floors to science and technology uses, including laboratories, classrooms and workstations, as a means of consolidating faculty and research initiatives under a single collaboration hub. Law firm Fried Frank advised NYU on the transaction, which the academic institution estimates will reduce rental expenses by more than $800 million over the first 30 years.
ROWLETT, TEXAS — General contractor Swinerton has broken ground on a 100,000-square-foot municipal complex in Rowlett, a northeastern suburb of Dallas. Designed by Hoefer Welker, the complex will serve as the new home of municipal departments and facilities such as city hall, the police and fire administration, court system, jail and animal shelter. The complex will also feature community park space. An exact completion date was not announced.
NEW YORK CITY — LMXD, an affiliate of New York City-based L&M Development Partners, and residential developer Ray have begun leasing a 21-story multifamily and civic project in Harlem. Designed by Frida Escobedo Architects and Handel Architects, the National Black Theatre & Ray Harlem houses 222 mixed-income apartments, commercial space along 125th Street and a multi-purpose room that is open to the community. Units come in studio, one- and two-bedroom floor plans. Residential amenities include a communal kitchen and outdoor grilling stations, a coworking lounge, fitness center and yoga studio, library curated by Phaidon Press, living room lounge and two outdoor terraces. In addition, the site features a 27,000-square-foot home for the National Black Theatre. This space houses offices, classrooms, a 250-seat performance venue, a 99-seat flexible studio theater and a set-building shop to support workforce development in theatrical trades. Construction topped out in fall 2023.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — General contractor Austin Commercial has broken ground on Mulva Hall, which will be the new home of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. Designed by Perkins&Will, the 400,000-square-foot building will be situated next to the Robert B. Rowling Hall graduate business building and the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center. Mulva Hall will bring undergraduate classrooms, academic department suites, faculty offices, research centers, convening spaces and the dean’s office under a single roof. Completion is slated for 2028.
SALEM, MASS. — Gilbane Building Co. has begun construction on multiple projects at Salem State University (SSU), located north of Boston, that are part of a “campus unification and modernization” initiative known as SSU Bold. The projects incorporate renovations to the existing Horace Mann building, which has been vacant since 2018, and the expansion of Meier Hall to bring new lab spaces to programs housed in the building. Once these projects have been completed in fall 2027, the university will relocate its South Campus-housed programs to North Campus, unifying its footprint and allowing the planned sale of South Campus to move forward. The new facilities will house nursing, occupational therapy, biology, chemistry and geological sciences programs, as well as various student hubs and flexible classrooms.
DALLAS — Adolfson & Peterson (AP) Construction has begun the renovation and expansion of Christ the King Catholic Church and School in Dallas. Designed by Beck Architecture, the project will include a complete renovation of Parish Hall and demolition of Bernadine Hall, which will be replaced by a new, 25,000-square-foot academic building. The project team will also add a new chapel and courtyard and relocate the church business office. Construction will be carried out in phases, with the groundbreaking to take place in the coming weeks and completion slated for next summer.