MILTON, N.H. — Bedford, N.H.-based Eckman Construction Co. has begun site work and will soon commence construction on a new 9,000-square-foot fire and rescue station in Milton. Designed by Cowan-Goudreau Architects, the facility will include four apparatus bays and will be designed to accommodate a full-time staff with living quarters. Situated on a plot of land donated by the Downs family, the property will replace the 65-year-old current station.
LEBANON, TENN. — The city of Lebanon has approved the extension of Legends Drive near Cumberland Center, a 165-acre mixed-use project situated along I-40 East. Upon completion, Cumberland Center will feature retail shops, Class A offices, restaurants, hotels and possibly apartments. Phase I of Cumberland Center includes a Logan’s Steakhouse and a Boot Barn. The extension of Legends Drive is estimated to last roughly 18 months and cost about $4.6 million. Legends Drive will be extended about three-fourths of a mile and will connect Highway 231 and Highway 70. The road will also connect to Briskin Lane, which is scheduled for improvements.
ORLANDO, FLA. — Orlando-based Williams Co. Building Division has broken ground on a new $60.7 million school located at 701 W. Livingston St. in downtown Orlando on behalf of Orange County Public Schools. The unnamed school will serve roughly 1,211 preschool to eighth grade students on its 14-acre campus. The preschool wing is being supported by the Harris Rosen Foundation and a branch of the Boys & Girls Club. Construction on the 190,526-square-foot facility is slated for completion in summer 2017 in time for the school’s fall 2017 opening. Orlando-based Baker Barrios Architects designed the project.
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — BelovED Community Charter School has acquired a half-acre parcel of land located at 535 Grand St. in Jersey City. Friends of the BelovED Charter School, a non-profit organization to support the development of the school and other charter schools, will develop a 40,000-square-foot middle school on the site. The non-profit is expected to obtain a mortgage and construction financing of $12 million from New Jersey Community Capital for the project. Designed by Urbahn Architects, the four-story school will serve 240 students in grades six to nine and feature 15 classrooms, four half classrooms, two science rooms, two art rooms, a music room, a cafetorium with warming kitchen, a gymnasium with a mezzanine, a media center/library, administrative offices and a large sub-dividable multipurpose room, as well as a 31-car parking lot and an outdoor assembly/recreation space.
DALLAS — The Beck Group has broken ground on a 43,770-square-foot aquatics center at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Designed by Brinkley Sargent Wiginton Architects, the new facility will be located on SMU’s East Campus next to a DART rail line. The aquatics center will provide facilities for practice, competition and community use. The two-story collegiate competition swimming and diving center will be designed to emulate the Georgian style of the main campus with an Olympic-sized, eight-lane indoor pool; diving platform well with four springboards and a 10-meter tower for training and competition; fixed bleacher seating for 800 spectators; men’s, women’s and visitor locker rooms; meeting space and classrooms; and coaches’ offices. Construction of the aquatics center is scheduled to begin in March and will be complete in August 2017.
NEW YORK CITY — Construction manager Ensign Engineering and architect John Ciardullo Associates have completed the Aeronautical and Academic Library and Teaching and Learning Center at Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology, located at 86-01 23rd Ave. in Flushing. The $2.6 million library and learning center was the final phase of the $40 million expansion, renovation and sound mitigation construction program at the college’s main campus. The 11,000-square-foot library is designed to hold a collection of 26,300 items and features four enclosed classrooms with 70 computer stations, reading and studying rooms, and a flexible seating area with seven large tables that seat up to 42 patrons. The renovations were financed through grants, totaling $32 million, from the Federal Aviation Administration and The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Additionally, Vaughn invested $7 million from its own funds. The design and construction team included Ensign Engineering, John Ciardullo Associates, Library Interiors Inc., Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, DVL Consulting Engineers and Peter George Associates.
NEW YORK CITY — Cushman & Wakefield has arranged the sale of a property located at 206-212 Wadsworth Ave. in Manhattan’s Washington Heights. Caerus Group acquired the property for $8 million in an all-cash transaction. The buyer plans to construct a new development on the site, which offers 97,422 square feet of buildable space. The previous owners, Wadsworth Avenue Baptist Church Inc., will occupy a condominium at the new development, which will replace the existing structure. Robert Shapiro of Cushman & Wakefield handled the transaction.
CHESTER, N.H. — NAI Norwood Group has arranged the sale of the former Chester College of New England in Chester. Busch International acquired the asset for $1.5 million. The property consists of four buildings, totaling 50,000 square feet, of dining, classroom, library and dorm room space. The buyer plans to seek accreditation from the State of New Hampshire and reopen the school, which closed in May 2012, as a private school. Slated to open in May 2016, the new house will house and serve approximately 200 students in grades 7-12. Karl Norwood, Chris Norwood and John Hoben of NAI Norwood represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction.
BAKERSFIELD, CALIF. — Construction management company Bernards will build new prison healthcare facilities and renovate the existing buildings at two state prisons situated just north of Bakersfield. The contract through the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation pertains to the North Kern State Prison (NKSP) in Delano and the Wasco State Prison in Wasco. The prisons are about 20 minutes from one another. Improvements to healthcare facilities at these prisons are part of the state-mandated Health Care Facility Improvement Program. This program was implemented following a 2006 decision by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to place the state’s prison healthcare system in receivership. The decision came after several inmates were successful at raising lawsuits against the State of California alleging the healthcare provided to prisoners violated their constitutional rights.
CHICAGO — DePaul University has selected J.C. Anderson Inc. to complete a 14,000-square-foot build-out to DePaul’s Richard M. and Maggie C. Daley College of Communication and School for New Learning on the Loop Campus. The property is located at 247 S. State St. in Chicago. DePaul acquired the property in 2008. Renovations will include the addition of a theater, editing rooms, classrooms and office space to accommodate the College of Computing and Digital Media. Construction is scheduled for completion in September. Steve Boulukos and Joe Maguire will lead the construction team for J.C. Anderson Inc. Vasilko & Architects Associates will provide architectural services.
