NEW YORK CITY — New York-based general contractor EW Howell Construction Group has completed PS 464, an elementary school in Manhattan’s Financial District. The school occupies 92,000 square feet across the first nine floors within 42 Trinity Place, a 40-story residential building, and serves students in grades pre-K through 5. In addition, the school’s south wing comprises four stories in the Robert & Anne Dickey House, a renovated historical building. In addition to new classrooms, the school features a science lab, art and music room, gymnasium, cafeteria and two outdoor playgrounds.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — HNTB, a Kansas City-based design-build firm focused on urban infrastructure projects, is underway on the renovation and expansion of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. HTNB is working with global design firm Populous on the project, which will include updates to the existing Barbara Jordan terminal, a new below-grade passenger tunnel and a new Midfield Concourse with space for up to 30 gates. A tentative completion date for these pieces of the project was not disclosed.
BOSTON — Colliers has brokered the $7.6 million sale of an 8,350-square-foot civic building located at 136 Newbury St. in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood. Kendin Carr, Caleb Hudak and John Real of Colliers represented the seller, Modern School of Fashion, in the transaction. The undisclosed buyer plans to convert the building into a contemporary office space.
VIRGINIA, MINN. — Kraus-Anderson Duluth has broken ground on a new elementary school for Rock Ridge Public Schools in Virginia, a city in Northeast Minnesota. Named North Star Elementary School, the property will be located at 411 S. 5th Ave. The $33.7 million project will rise three stories and serve students in grades 3-6. Cuningham Group designed the school in collaboration with local design firm ARI. Special features will include a second-floor outdoor learning patio and collaborative learning spaces. An existing gymnasium at the property will be rebranded. Completion is slated for the end of 2024.
RICHARDSON, TEXAS — General contractor Cadence McShane has broken ground on Lake Highlands Middle School, a 231,000-square-foot campus in metro Dallas that will be part of the Richardson Independent School District. The campus will comprise three buildings with traditional classrooms and administrative spaces, as well as a cafeteria, two competition gyms, a weight room, track and practice field and tennis courts. Perkins + Will is designing the school, which should be able to support about 1,500 students. Completion is slated for fall 2024.
HOUSTON — Harmony Public Schools, a charter program focused on the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines, will open an 160,000-square-foot Houston campus for students in grades pre-K through 12. The campus will be located within CityPlace, a mixed-use development that is led by New York-based Coventry Development Corp. The 60,000-squuare-foot campus for pre-K and elementary students is scheduled to open in advance of the 2024-2025 academic year, and the 100,000-square-foot middle and high school campus should come on line in time for the 2026-2027 school year.
WORCESTER, MASS. — Shawmut Design & Construction has topped out a $325 million academic building that will be part of the UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester. The nine-story, 350,000-square-foot building will primarily be used to house and conduct biomedical research. Construction originally began in November 2020 and is slated to be complete in 2024.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mesirow, a financial services firm based in Chicago, has provided the $275 million refinancing for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) headquarters offices in Washington, D.C. Located at 300 E St. SW, the nine-story office building spans more than 600,000 square feet and was built in 1991, according to LoopNet Inc. The borrower is a partnership between Hana Alternative Asset Management and Ocean West Capital Partners. Proceeds from the financing provided the partnership with fixed-rate debt that is interest-only for the full term. The loan has a 2028 maturity date, which is coterminous with NASA’s lease. With the funds, the Hana and Ocean West partnership is recapitalizing its equity interest at the property, which is subject to the sixth-largest lease by the General Services Administration (GSA), the federal government’s independent agency that oversees certain operations like office and research space. (The GSA is the leaseholder for NASA.) Mesirow served as placement agent and administrative agent on the financing. Cushman & Wakefield arranged the financing on behalf of the borrower and negotiated terms between the borrower and Mesirow. Mesirow was founded in 1937 and offers credit tenant lease and structured debt products to borrowers. The company’s services …
AUBURN HILLS, MICH. — Dominion Real Estate Advisors has negotiated the sale of the former Western Michigan University/Thomas M. Cooley Law School campus in Auburn Hills for an undisclosed price. The 132,745-square-foot property is located at 2630 Featherstone Road. Eric Banks, Jim Mitchell, Andrew Boncore and David Depodesta of Dominion brokered the transaction. The buyer, FANUC Robotics, plans to expand the campus and spend $86 million to build a new 655,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. FANUC will utilize the existing building for its administrative, engineering, and research and design departments. The university’s current law school is located at 300 S. Capitol Ave. in Lansing.
PHILADELPHIA — Cushman & Wakefield has negotiated a new lease at The Washington, a historic building located within Philadelphia’s Independence Mall. The tenant, Lighthouse Immersive & Impact Museums, will open a 31,718-square-foot exhibition gallery on the building’s ground floor next spring. Brian Young, Jack Meyers, Howard Traul and Dan Brogan of Cushman & Wakefield represented the locally based landlord, Keystone Development + Investment, in the lease negotiations.