EVANSTON, ILL. — Chicago-based Goettsch Partners Inc. will provide architectural services for Northwestern University’s new Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music building, which will be located on the college’s Evanston campus. The project, which will allow the school of music to consolidate all of its programs in one area, is being designed to achieve a minimum LEED-Silver certification level. The new building will house classrooms; teaching labs; academic faculty offices; teaching studies for choral, opera, piano and voice faculty; practice rooms; student lounges; administrative offices; a library; and a choral rehearsal room. Additionally, the building will feature an opera rehearsal room/black box theater and a 400-seat recital hall. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2010, with completion expected in spring 2012.
Civic
WINDERMERE, FLA. — The Orlando, Fla., office of Clancy & Theys Construction Co. has broken ground on a 98,797-square-foot elementary school in Windermere. The two-story property includes offices, classrooms, multi-purpose areas, a kitchen and a cafeteria. The $14.2 million project was designed by Orlando-based SchenkelShultz Architecture. Delivery is slated for July 2009.
BOULDER, COLO. — Mortenson Construction has been selected to construct the Visual Arts Complex on the Boulder campus of the University of Colorado. The 170,000-square-foot facility will house the CU Art Museum and the Department of Art and Art History. The CU Art Museum will provide permanent exhibition spaces, which will showcase its permanent collection, Colorado Collection. The $48.5 million complex, which is seeking LEED Gold certification, was designed by Colorado-based OZ Architecture and Boston-based KMW Architects. The new structure will replace the Sibell Wolle Fine Arts Building, which was razed in late 2007.
LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas-based Crisci Builders, acting as general contractor, has completed the construction of The Dr. Miriam & Sheldon G. Adelson School, an independent Jewish high school located at 9700 W. Hillpointe Rd. in Las Vegas' Summerlin area. The 135,000-square-foot facility features classrooms with integrated media technology and computers, a media center and research library, music and art facilities, a performing arts center, a high-tech computer center and a full-service dining facility. Additionally, the 13.7-acre property features a physical education facility with a competition-size swimming pool, a regulation-size basketball court, an indoor track, a volleyball court, outdoor tennis courts and a soccer field. Phoenix-based DLR Group provided architectural services for the $55 million project.
ONTARIO, CALIF. — The City of Ontario has unveiled its new Citizens Business Bank Arena, an entertainment and sports destination in Ontario. Located at 4000 Ontario Center Pkwy., the 225,000-square-foot venue offers 9,500 fixed seats and portable risers to accommodate approximately 11,089 spectators for concerts, 9,736 for hockey and 10,832 for basketball. The center, which is owned/built by the city of Ontario and operated by AEG, is home to Ontario Reign, the area’s ECHL hockey team. Additionally, the arena is the centerpiece of Piemonte at Ontario Center, an urban, mixed-use development.
ORLANDO, FLA. — Orlando-based Rhodes+Brito Architects, in a partnership with the sports architecture division of HNTB Architecture, has started the design phase for a $160 million renovation of the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando. The project will include renovations to the lower bowl, new restrooms and locker rooms and a 40,000-square-foot banquet room. When finished, the stadium will have 75,000 seats. Construction, which will be completed in phases, will begin in 2010.
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. — The city of Virginia Beach has purchased a 1.25-acre tract of land at Shore Drive and Greenwell Road in Virginia Beach from Miller Partnership for $1.35 million. The city plans to construct a fire station on the site. Robert Thornton of Thalhimer’s Virginia Beach office represented the buyer.
SAN FRANCISCO — The Fillmore Center Plaza in San Francisco’s historic Jazz District is slated to open later this month. Designed by AXIS Architecture + Design, the 16,000-square-foot plaza features wiring to accommodate the audio and visual needs of events, seating for more than 300 people and temporary screens to curb wind noise and delineate event space. The plaza is located within the Fillmore Center, which offers luxury apartments in a 7.5-acre park setting.
PUNTA GORDA, FLA. — Fort Myers, Fla.-based Eagle Concrete Systems has completed construction of the 189,532-square-foot East Elementary School, located at 27050 Fairway Dr. in Punta Gorda. The property features a 164,389-square-foot classroom building and a 4,696-square-foot gym. Owen-Ames-Kimball served as general contractor, and Reynolds, Smith & Hills designed the building.
BOSTON — CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) has assisted in the recapitalization of 100 Arlington Street on behalf of the Boston Renaissance Charter Public School (BRCPS). The 13-story, 200,000-square-foot building is located in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood and has been occupied by BRCPS for more than 10 years. The school is using the proceeds from the recapitalization for the construction of a new school in the city’s Hyde Park neighborhood; the old location will be sold. Patrick Cavanagh and Chris Angelone of CBRE and Richard Taylor of Taylor Smith Realty represented BRCPS in the transaction, and procured The Congress Group and Apollo Real Estate Advisors to recapitalize the property.