MARIETTA, GA. — Cobb County, Georgia, officials have tapped Turner Construction Co. to build the 230,000-square-foot Superior Court Building in Marietta by December 2010. The $57 million property will include suites and chambers for judges, administrative offices, courtrooms and offices for the district attorney. A bridge will connect the new development to an adjacent building.
SAN ANTONIO — Concorde Career Colleges will soon open its second Texas campus in San Antonio. The new school will total 39,855 square feet and will be located within Corporate Square Garden at 4803 NW Loop 410. Concorde will occupy the facility beginning in November for a 15-year term. Future plans also call for the campus to expand by 4,000 to 8,000 square feet within its first year of operation. J.J. Williams, Jason Brumm and Maggie Nigro of Grubb & Ellis, along with Jeff Woolf of Cushman & Wakefield, represented Concorde in lease negotiations. The landlord, KBS Realty Advisors, was represented by Lindsey Tucker and Kelly Ralston of Transwestern. Concorde Career Colleges owns and operates 12 proprietary, postsecondary schools nationwide that specialize in healthcare vocational training. Its other Texas location is in Arlington.
LAKEWOOD, N.J. — DMR Architects has held the grand opening for the $1.5 million Special Children’s Center in Lakewood. DMR designed the complex free-of-charge to accommodate 120 children with special needs currently enrolled in the center’s respite and support programs. The 10,000-square-foot building was completed with the help of Ralph Zucker of Somerset Development and the Yanky Mermelstein of Ray Builders. The building features five classrooms, therapy rooms, bathing facilities, an indoor playground and an auditorium.
GREENVILLE, TEXAS — Construction is complete for the first building at Paris Junior College’s new Greenville campus. The $13 million project included the construction of a two-story, 42,000-square-foot multi-purpose building. It features technology-enabled classrooms, a science lab, a computer lab, a library, administrative offices and a large meeting room that can also be used as a classroom. The building is situated at 6500 Monty Stratton Blvd. within a 172-acre tract of land that will be used as the college’s new Greenville campus. The multi-phase master plan, as well as the design of the new building, was completed by Dallas-based SHW Group. Once additional buildings are complete, support functions currently housed in the first building will be relocated and it will be converted into a classroom building. The general contractor for the project was Dallas-based Charter Builders. Upon full built-out, Paris Junior College’s Greenville campus will ultimately house up to 7,500 students; the new building can house up to 2,500 students.
ORANGE COUNTY, FLA. —Turner Construction Co. has broken ground on the first 24,398-square-foot Orange County Orlando Magic Recreation Center at South Econ Community Park in Orlando, one of five facilities planned for Orange County. The $5 million properties are being developed by the Orlando Magic and donated to the county. SchenkelShultz Architecture designed the centers, each of which will include a weight room, a game area, a gymnasium and a multi-purpose room.
LOS ANGELES — The Salvation Army has completed the disposition of Booth Memorial Center, which is located at 2670 Griffin Ave. in Los Angeles. The 70,000-square-foot facility was purchased by Los Angeles Leadership Academy, a charter school that plans to use the space for classrooms. Built in 1931, the building was originally a hospital but has undergone many expansions and renovations, and mostly recently served as a maternity hospital, shelter and training center for unwed teenage mothers. Barry Baker and David Lachoff of Grubb & Ellis represented the seller; Howard Sadowski of Creative Environments represented the buyer in the transaction. Additional terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
GAINESVILLE, FLA. — The Florida division of Clancy & Theys Construction Co. has completed a 12,417-square-foot sanctuary at the St. Patrick Catholic Church. The property, which is owned by the Diocese of St. Augustine, is located at 412 N.E. 16th Ave. in Gainesville. The building includes acoustical panels on the perimeter walls and a cathedral-style open ceiling. Gainesville-based Brame Architects designed the church.
NEW YORK CITY — Roosevelt Island Operating Corp. has granted approval for the construction of Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park. The public park, which was designed by Louis Kahn, will be located on the south end of Roosevelt Island in New York City. It will feature an open-air plaza surrounded by three granite columns that will have Franklin Roosevelt’s famous “Four Freedoms” speech carved on them. Funding for Phase I of the project has been secured and construction will begin this summer. The park is being built by Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park LLC. The design of the park was originally commissioned by former New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller in 1973, but only in the past 2 years have the city and state recommitted to building the park.
MORENO VALLEY, CALIF. — The city of Moreno Valley has selected San Diego-based Gafcon Inc. as construction manager and San Diego-based Roesling Nakamura Terada Architects (RNT Architects) for the expansion of Moreno Valley’s public safety building. Located at 22850 Calle San Juan De Los Lagos, the existing 47,000-square-foot facility will be expanded to 120,800 square feet over the next several years. The conceptual design of the project is set for completion in March. Final design and incremental construction will begin when funding is established.
FORT MYERS, FLA. — Fort Myers-based J.L. Wallace is constructing the 1-acre Bunche Beach Preserve in Fort Myers. The property is located on John Morris Road. Bunche Beach Preserve will include green features like boardwalks and piers made from recycled materials and restrooms that use reclaimed rainwater. Electricity for the site will be generated by the sun.