HIGHLAND, ILL. —The City of Highland has selected S.M. Wilson & Co. to build a new $6.5 million public safety building. The 27,930-square-foot facility will house the city’s police, fire and EMS departments under one roof. A committee of public safety employees worked alongside the project architect, Loyet Architects. Completion is slated for summer 2021. Highland is located about 35 miles east of St. Louis.
DALLAS — Locally based developer Todd Interests has pegged Friday, Nov. 14 for the grand opening of its 219-room Thompson Dallas hotel, the first property in the city to carry the brand. The project is a redevelopment of a historic building located at 205 N. Akard St in the city’s Downtown Historic District. The design team included Dallas-based Merriman/Anderson Architects (building), Cindy Zelazny of Interiors Limited and Todd Interests co-owner Caroline Todd (interior) and SWA Group (landscaping). Amenities include a full-service spa, fitness and wellness center, pool, ballroom and multiple dining venues. Thompson Hotels is a boutique lifestyle hospitality brand that was founded in 2001.
HARTFORD, CONN. — Connecticut-based developer RMS Cos. has begun construction of the $50 million first phase of Downtown North, a redevelopment project in Hartford that will ultimately add 1,000 new units to the local supply. Phase I of the project will feature studio, one- and two-bedroom floor plans, as well as retail and entertainment space and a 330-space parking garage, at Parcel C, located just north of Dunkin’ Donuts Stadium at Main and Trumbull streets. Construction of Phase I is expected to last about 20 months. The entire Downtown North redevelopment is valued at $200 million and will be developed in phases over the next five years.
SAN DIEGO — C.W. Driver Cos. has started construction of a $55 million San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) elementary school located at 7900 Civita Blvd. in San Diego’s Mission Valley. Serving students in kindergarten through fifth grade, the 77,250-square-foot school will be technology-oriented and accommodate up to 500 students and supporting staff members. Construction is slated for completion in summer 2022 in time for the 2022-2023 school year. Comprising four buildings, the school project will feature a two-story administration, flex-classroom, makerspace and library building; one-story multipurpose building with a foodservice facility; and two classroom buildings featuring a total of 24 spaces and variety of indoor/outdoor learning areas with roll-up doors for maximum flexibility. Additionally, the campus will feature a dedicated play area for students. Domus Studio is providing architectural services for the project.
DETROIT — The Detroit City Council has approved the sale of the former Michigan State Fairgrounds, providing the green light for a $400 million redevelopment of the site. Detroit-based Sterling Group and Dallas-based Hillwood Investment Properties have agreed to pay $9 million for the land, with plans to build a 3.8 million-square-foot distribution center for Amazon at the property. The e-commerce giant will occupy half of the 142-acre site, located at the corner of Woodward Avenue and 8 Mile Road. Its facility is projected to bring more than 1,200 new full-time jobs to the area. The remaining acreage will be dedicated to auto part suppliers or other employers, according to the developers. The Michigan State Fair took place annually in Detroit from 1849 to 2009 when the publicly funded event was removed from the budget. In 2011, the fair went private and moved to nearby Novi. The redevelopment plans call for the demolition of several buildings at the old fairgrounds, including the 5,600-seat arena built in 1922, according to local news outlets. The project also includes the development of a new indoor transit center to replace the current one on Woodward Avenue near the fairgrounds. As part of the agreement, …
LAND O’ LAKES, FLA. — The Ferber Cos. has broken ground on Cypress Ranch, a 164-acre mixed-use development in Land O’ Lakes. At full buildout, the project will include 330 multifamily units, 134 townhomes, 132 single-family homes and retail and office space. Commercial tenants will include EoS Fitness, Aldi, Burger King, Circle K, Honest-1 and Woodie’s Wash Shack. A remaining 6.4-acre tract can be subdivided for retail, office or hotel uses. Cypress Ranch is located near the intersection of State Road 154 and Ballantrae Boulevard, 21 miles north of downtown Tampa. The NRP Group will develop the multifamily component of the project, while Lennar Homes will build the single-family homes. Ferber expects the commercial space to open to tenants by early 2022.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — DD’s Discounts will open a 22,000-square-foot store within Fashion Place Shopping Center in Columbia Friday, Oct. 24. The property will be located at 2720 Decker Blvd., 10 miles northeast of downtown Columbia and the University of South Carolina. This will be dd’s Discounts third location in South Carolina and 270th overall in 20 states. Jake Dugan of JBL Asset Management represented the undisclosed landlord in the lease negotiations.
HOUSTON — Patrinely Group, in a joint venture with USAA Real Estate and CDC Houston, has topped out the new 440,000-square-foot office building for Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) in North Houston. The building, construction of which began earlier this year, is located within the 2,000-acre Springwoods Village development and is expected to be complete in spring 2022. Amenities include a fitness center, café, kitchen, pharmacy, laboratory and office space, and a large central courtyard with a multi-use basketball pavilion, fitness/yoga lawn, water features, outdoor tables and open green space.
MANSFIELD, TEXAS — A partnership between locally based firm Realty Capital Management and South Florida-based PointOne Holdings has broken ground on Phase II of Main Street Lofts, a project in the Fort Worth suburb of Mansfield that will add 266 apartments to the local supply. Phase II will deliver amenities such as a pool, fitness center, multiple lounges, resident clubhouse and access to walking and biking trails. JHP Architecture is designing the project, and NRP Construction is the general contractor. First United Bank provided construction financing. Completion is scheduled for the first quarter of 2022.
PLANO, TEXAS — Locally based developer Billingsley Co. has completed a 187,100-square-foot project that is the first office building within International Business Park in Plano. The project also included the construction of a 9,000-square-foot amenity center on the campus that houses a fitness center, conference center and grab-and-go food service. Adolfson & Peterson served as the general contractor for the four-story office building, which is situated on 9.2 acres and includes a coffee bar with TVs and complimentary Wi-Fi. GFF Architects designed the building, and JLL is handling leasing.