JACKSONVILLE, ALA. — public-private partnership between RISE: A Real Estate Co. and Jacksonville State University has broken ground on North Village Residence Hall. Located on the university’s campus in Alabama, the 513-bed community will offer suites that include two double-occupancy bedrooms and two bathrooms. The development team for the project includes architect Niles Bolton & Associates and general contractor Choate Construction. Jacksonville State is also currently developing a new dining hall, which will replace the current main cafeteria on campus, and the Loring and Debbie White Football Complex. The Jax State Dining Hall will be operated by Sodexo and will feature a traditional food line with several concept stations and seating. The dining hall’s development team includes general contractor Brasfield & Gorrie, Williams Blackstock Architects and Kemp Management Services. The football complex will replace the existing field house at the university’s stadium and will offer modern art training facilities for student athletes; coaching offices and meeting rooms; a hall of fame honoring the history of the university’s football program; and new suites to enhance the game day experience for fans. The general contractor for that project is also Brasfield & Gorrie, the architect is Goodwyn Mills Cawood and the program manager …
Civic
SPRINGFIELD, N.J. — The Springfield Board of Education has issued a $32.9 million tax- exempt bond that will finance upgrades at various schools in the Northern New Jersey community. Upgrades will include HVAC system modernizations; plumbing and sewer system enhancements; improvements to video-monitoring systems; installation of new exterior doors with protective glazings; energy-efficient window replacements; and interior renovations to select education spaces. New Jersey-based DIGroup Architecture is designing the projects, all of which are expected to be complete by 2026.
BOSTON — Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion, an affordable housing owner-operator, has received approval from the Boston Planning & Development Agency, as well as the Zoning Board of Appeal, for the construction of a $25 million community center. Known as the Center for the Arts, Self-Determination and Activism (CASA), the facility will span 26,425 square feet and house a performance hall, classrooms, private offices, a gym and other common spaces. Studio ENÉE and Annum are the project architects. Construction is scheduled to begin this fall and to be complete in late 2024.
TYLER, TEXAS — General contractor Hoar Construction has broken ground on a 50,000-square-foot expansion project at the Braithwaite College of Nursing & Health Sciences at The University of Texas at Tyler. Designed by Fitzpatrick Architects, the project will essentially double the size of the existing building by adding new classrooms, office spaces, student meeting areas and labs. Completion is slated for summer 2024.
NASHUA, N.H. — The City of Nashua, located in southern New Hampshire, has opened a 53,340-square-foot performing arts center, art gallery and event center in its downtown area. Boston-based ICON Architecture designed the project, which involved the demolition of an existing building on the site and the maintenance of a second structure to house the new center. The four-story venue now features a 753-seat theater, a section of which has a retractable seating system that can create a general admissions or private banquet area, as well as a communal gallery and an outdoor terrace.
LADYSMITH, WIS. — A $21 million renovation project to be completed by Kraus-Anderson is underway for the Ladysmith School District in Northwest Wisconsin. Designed by Bray Architects, the project encompasses both the middle school and high school and includes a 22,000-square-foot remodel of academic classrooms, 10,131-square-foot gym expansion, 2,764-square-foot media center addition, new roof and other building improvements. The city’s elementary school will also receive a new roof. Completion is slated for summer 2024.
NEW YORK CITY — BOLD Charter School will open an 81,590-square-foot facility in the Crotona East Park neighborhood of The Bronx. BOLD Charter has entered into a leasehold condominium arrangement with the landowner, an entity doing business as 1472 Boston Partners LLC, which will construct the eight-story building. This structure allows the nonprofit educational organization to take advantage of its tax-exempt status by committing to leasing the land for a minimum of 30 years; the leasehold term in this case is 39 years. The school will be able to support roughly 800 students in grades K through 8 and will feature 27 classrooms, a gym and a rooftop play area. Lindsay Ornstein, Stephen Powers and Casey Noel of OPEN Impact Real Estate, along with Thomas Hines of Transwestern, represented BOLD Charter School in the leasehold condominium negotiations. Nick Zweig of Locations CRE represented the landowner. The school is expected to open in time for the 2025-2026 academic year.
BARTLESVILLE, OKLA. — Locally based investment firm Copper Tree Inc. has acquired Price Tower, a historic building in Bartlesville, about 45 miles north of Tulsa. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the 19-story building was originally constructed in 1956 as the headquarters for H.C. Price, a manufacturer of pipelines and machinery for the oil and gas industry. Copper Tree plans to implement a capital improvement program to restore the building’s infrastructure and reposition it as a lifestyle hub.
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh International Airport has unveiled designs for the next phase of its $1.4 billion redevelopment. The latest stage of the project will center around a passenger tunnel/bridge that connects the existing hub of the airport with the new terminal that is under construction. The development team broke ground on the new, 700,000-square-foot terminal in October 2021 and expects to complete the project in 2025. The new terminal will consolidate ticketing, security checkpoints and baggage claim operations and offer a multi-modal complex with a 3,300-space parking garage, rental car facilities, parking lots and roadways.
Walker & Dunlop Arranges $51M Construction Financing for City Hall, Affordable Housing Project in South Florida
by John Nelson
OAKLAND PARK, FLA. — Walker & Dunlop has arranged $51 million in construction financing for Sky Building, a mixed-use development located in the South Florida city of Oakland Park. The borrower, locally based NRI Investments, previously signed a development agreement, lease agreement and purchase and sale agreement for the 2.1- acre site with the City of Oakland Park. Sky Building will house 136 affordable and workforce units, which are connected by a skybridge to the City of Oakland Park’s new City Hall, alongside roughly 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. The site is within an opportunity zone approximately three miles north of downtown Fort Lauderdale. Jeremy Pino, Livingston Hessam, Carl Passmore, Kyle Miller, David Strange and Keith Melton of Walker & Dunlop arranged the financing via senior construction lenders and debt and equity funds. The financing was underwritten at 80 percent loan-to-cost and is non-recourse through the capital stack, according to Walker & Dunlop. The construction timeline for Sky Building was not disclosed.