ARLINGTON, TEXAS — The University of Texas System Board of Regents has finalized the design for the new special events center for the University of Texas – Arlington (UTA). Designed by HKS Inc., the $78 million project will consist of a 218,000-square-foot arena with seating for up to 6,500 people. The building will serve as the home of UTA's basketball and volleyball teams as well as host commencement ceremonies and other community events. The project is applying for LEED-Silver certification, with sustainable features that include almost building-height, low-e glazed exterior windows to let natural light in, a reflective roof, a low-use water system, and the use of regional construction materials and native landscaping. Groundbreaking is scheduled for 2010 and completion is expected in early 2012. The center is part of an effort to establish the university's east campus. The event center will open onto a new pedestrian mall that will be built on what is now Second Street, between Center and Pecan streets. Additionally, a four-story, mixed-use residence hall and parking garage will be built immediately north of the events center.
Civic
RICHMOND, CALIF. — The first phase of the Richmond Civic Center’s $91 million revitalization has been completed. It included the renovation of City Hall, the Hall of Justice and the combination Civic Auditorium/Art Center. Designed by Los Angeles-based Nadel Architects, the project is being led by Richmond Civic Center Partners LLC, a design-build partnership consisting of Alliance Property Group and Wasatch Advantage Group LLC. Phase II will include a brand-new, 80,000-square-foot Public Safety Building, and Phase III will feature mixed-use development consisting of market-rate and affordable housing, office space, and ground-level retail located along the MacDonald Avenue corridor.
RIVERSIDE, CALIF. — Barnhart-Heery has broken ground for an $85 million School of Nursing and Science/Math Complex at Riverside City College in Riverside. The complex will feature a two-story, 37,000-square-foot nursing facility and a four-story, 88,000-square-foot science/math building. The project encompasses 26 total classrooms, 12 lecture halls, 12 laboratories, two teleconference rooms, a Cyber Café, a Healing Garden, and faculty and administrative offices. Irvine, Calif.-based gkkworks has designed the complex to be LEED certified.
BALTIMORE — MdBio Foundation has sold the 56,000-square-foot MdBio Research Center to Rockville, Md.-based Emergent BioSolutions for $7.85 million. The property sits on 5.3 acres at 5901 E. Lombard St. in Baltimore. Mike Norris, Adam Nachlas, Henry Bernstein and Robert Scheer of Scheer Partners brokered the sale.
CORTLAND, N.Y. — KSS Architects has designed an $11 million expansion and renovation project at State University of New York's (SUNY) Cortland campus. The project will add a two-story, 20,000-square-foot wing to the 43,000-square-foot Studio West building. The addition will be used to consolidate several departments within the School of Professional Studies, including recreation, parks and leisure studies, communication disorders and sciences, kinesiology and sports management. The first floor of the new addition will include a clinic with an audiology chamber, observation and therapy rooms, a library and a resource area for the communications disorders department. The second floor will contain faculty offices. The wing will be linked to the existing building through a courtyard and connector. The other component of the project includes renovations to the existing Studio West building. The interior of the building will be reconfigured for easier navigation, two light wells will be added along the two main corridors to enhance natural lighting, and a geothermal HVAC system is being added along with an electronic control system. The project is being designed to meet LEED-Silver criteria but is not formerly pursuing certification. Groundbreaking occurred in October and completion is slated for early 2011.
HOUSTON — The Houston office of Turner Construction Co. has been selected by the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston to construct a new church in Houston. Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church will be located at the intersection of Highway 290 and Fairbanks Road. The 18,000-square-foot building will be constructed of king-sized brick and cast-iron, and it will be topped off with three copper-shingled spires. Interior work includes vaulted ceilings with acoustical soundproofing, glass fiber-reinforced gypsum columns, and marble stone and red oak wood trim. The new church will be able to accommodate more than 1,200 worshipers. Jackson & Ryan Architects is designing the project. Completion is slated for May 2010.
OXNARD, CALIF. — The new $26.3 million student services facility at Oxnard College has been completed. The approximately 40,000-square-foot development features a two-story student-services building and a one-story food-services building at the heart of the 118-acre campus’ main quad. Heery International served as the program manager, and Nadel Architects was the project designer.
HONOLULU — St. Louis-based The Korte Company has begun work on the 16,674-square-foot Fort Shafter Youth Center in Honolulu. The $8.3 million youth center will include classrooms, a homework center, activity rooms, a multi-purpose area, a teen area, a lounge, a kitchen prep and culinary arts area, a common area and stage, and a play court.
SPRINGDALE, PA. — The Civic Light Opera (CLO) Association of Greater Pittsburgh has acquired a 68,000-square-foot manufacturing building located in Springdale as the new home for its construction center. The facility is situated at 997 Sherosky Way and was purchased for $1.1 million. It was formerly occupied by Fortco Plastics. The CLO will be relocating its construction center operations from a leased building at 403 Bingham St. in Pittsburgh. Gene Galiardi and Scott Long of Pennsylvania Commercial Real Estate represented the seller, and Tom McCaffrey of Grant Street Associates represented the buyer.
TUSTIN, CALIF. — The $19 million Foothill High School Science Center has been completed in Tustin. Funded by the $80 million Bond Measure G passed by voters in 2002 to repair and renovate the 20 oldest schools in the Tustin Unified School District, the 48,000-square-foot center comprises two two-story buildings that house 14 classrooms consisting of 10 laboratories for biology, chemistry and physics, and four classrooms for earth and physical sciences. Barnhart-Heery was the construction manager for the project, and NTD Architecture provided design services.