ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FLA. — Seminole County Public Schools has enlisted Orlando, Fla.-based SchenkelShultz Architecture to design its 64,000-square-foot Endeavor School Project. The $8 million school is being built to replace the Rosenwald School, which is located at 1096 Merritt St. in Altamonte Springs. SchenkelShultz will design the project to meet LEED standards.
NEW YORK CITY – Plans are underway for a new Mandell School at 795 Columbus Ave. in Manhattan, New York City. 795 Columbus Avenue is a 15-story apartment building that is part of Columbus Square, a retail and residential community currently under development between 97th and 100th Streets. The entire project is slated to feature more than 320,000 square feet and is being developed by the Chetrit Group. Aragon Construction and JRS Architect have been tapped to lead the 50,000-square-foot build-out, which will comprise the building’s entire second floor and half of both the first floor and cellar. Numerous sustainable materials are being utilized in construction and in the long term Mandell School hopes to be LEED certified. For instance, the school will have rubber flooring, which is comprised of tire rubber and other recycled waste materials. Also, all classrooms will have high-efficiency lighting, using digital photo sensors and dimmers that comply with the Daylight Harvesting requirement. As well as renovating the cellar, first and second floors, Aragon will be building out an 8,000-square-foot outdoor terrace.
NANTUCKET, MASS. — Construction is complete for the $29 million expansion and renovation of Nantucket Memorial Airport, located in Nantucket. The project included a 23,000-square-foot expansion of the terminal, including a 6,000-square-foot basement addition and 6,300 square feet of airline office space. New elevator and baggage handling systems were installed, and new gift shop and car rental areas were built. Renovations included the refurbishing of the airport’s windows, roofing, trim and siding. The project also had a number of sustainable measures. The building had a geothermal HVAC system installed, in addition to tankless water heaters and low-flow bathroom fixtures. All of the building’s flooring and roofing, as well as half of the wall surfaces, was reused in the renovation. The construction manager for the airport project was Skanska USA Building, with design services provided by AECOM, formerly Earth Tech Architecture.
KALAMAZOO, MICH. — Hendricks & Partners (H&P) has brokered the sale of University Club at Howard, a 120-unit student housing community located directly across from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. Situated on 9.3 acres, the community consists of six four-story buildings with all four-bedroom units. The property also contains a leasing office with two staff apartment units. It is fully pre-leased for the upcoming academic year. University Club at Howard was acquired out of receivership by Campus Habitat 16 LLC, a subsidiary of New York City-based Campus Habitat. As part of the deal, Campus Habitat will assume the property’s existing financing from Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., which is acting as trustee for the registered holders of J.P. Morgan Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Corp. Kevin Larimer of H&P’s National Student Housing Advisory Group arranged the transaction as the court appointed disposition receiver. The special servicer for the property’s new financing is J.E. Robert Cos. H&P recently brokered two additional Midwest multifamily transactions. In Mehlville, Mo., Paul Cunningham of the firm’s St. Louis office represented both parties in the $2.05 million disposition of Vescovo Townhomes. The 29-unit community is located at 3605-3685 Vescovo Dr. The seller was Ballwin, Mo.-based Vescovo Townhomes LLC …
HILLIARD, FLA. — The Nassau County School District has completed the renovation and expansion of its 32,700-square-foot Hilliard Middle-Senior High School, located at One Flashes Ave. in Hilliard. The school’s campus is centered around a two-story school house constructed in 1912. The $4.7 million project included renovating the original building, adding a locker room to the property and converting classrooms into an administration building. Jacksonville, Fla.-based SchenkelShultz Architecture designed the project.
PARAMUS, N.J. — Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.-based DMR Architects has been selected to design a new landscaping facility for Bergen County Special Services at the school’s Paramus campus. The building will contain 7,950 square feet of classroom space, a 1,000-square-foot greenhouse and 5,000 square feet of outdoor landscaping and gardening areas. The building will contain a garage area, a classroom with demonstration space, a computer lab and a biology lab. The greenhouse will be able to simulate a variety of environmental types. The project will be constructed on the site of a former maintenance and storage facility, which will be demolished prior to the beginning of construction. The construction timetable was not released.
ATTLEBORO, MASS. — Skanska USA Building has been selected to serve as project manager for a renovation of Attleboro High School, located at 100 Rathbun Willard Dr. in Attleboro. Major renovations to the 300,000-square-foot building will include a double-roof replacement. The project will begin this fall, with completion scheduled for the end of the year.
WILL COUNTY, ILL. — Waste Management and officials of Will County have announced a partnership to develop a landfill gas-to-energy plant at Prairie View Recycling & Disposal Facility, the primary landfill for Will County that is located near Wilmington. Initial plans call for the installation of three to four reciprocating engines, which will be able to produce 2.4 to 3.2 megawatts of electricity for the local grid. Waste Management will build and operate the facility, which should be operational by 2010. Will County plans to apply for federal economic stimulus funds for the renewable energy project, and the county expects to be able to contribute at least $1 million in stimulus funds toward the project once the grant process is complete. Prairie View is owned by the county and operated under a long-term agreement by Waste Management. In 2007, Waste Management announced plans to add 60 gas-to-energy plants to its network by 2013. Its 11 Illinois plants currently generate 41.5 megawatts of electricity — enough to power more than 35,000 homes.
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — Groundbreaking has occurred for the new Agriculture Headquarters Building for Texas A&M University. The $62.4 million project will consist of a five-story, 166,000-square-foot building situated at the corner of John Kimbrough Boulevard and Penberthy Road in College Station at the school’s west campus. The facility will house three academic departments: agricultural economics; agricultural leadership, education and communications; and recreation, park and tourism sciences. The building’s top floor will contain administrative offices for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, as well as offices for the directors of two state agencies, Texas AgriLife Research and the Texas AgriLife Extension Service. The building will also contain classrooms, laboratory facilities and faculty offices. A two-story, 13,000-square-foot visitors center will also be constructed beside the Agriculture Headquarters Building. Completion is scheduled for 2011. The two buildings are part of a four-building complex eventually planned for the site.
SAN DIEGO — Barnhart Inc. has been selected by the U.S. Navy for the construction of building and facility upgrades to Berth Lima at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego. The $23 million project includes the construction of a security building, a pump house building, a restroom/payphone building, two masonry and steel watchtowers, two guard houses, security fencing, high-mast security lighting, utility upgrades and surveillance infrastructure. Waterfront upgrades include widening the existing quay wall by two feet, installing 80 new primary fender piles, fender panels and armor rock. Completion is slated for January 2010.