AUSTIN, TEXAS — General contractor Austin Commercial has completed Q2 Stadium, the new, 20,500-seat soccer stadium for Austin FC, the city’s new Major League Soccer team that will host its first match in the 465,000-square-foot venue on June 19. The Austin City Council originally approved the development of the stadium, which is situated on a 24-acre site on the city’s north side, in August 2018. Designed by Gensler and owned by Precourt Sports Ventures, the stadium features an outdoor amphitheater and stage for live music, a beer hall with local food and beverage options, large video screens for parties and retail merchandise stores. St. David’s Performance Center, the team’s 29,000-square-foot training facility that was also designed by Gensler, opened this spring and features four full-sized and one half-sized fields, including a community field with seating for 1,000 spectators.
Civic
SAN ANTONIO — Adolfson & Peterson Construction (AP Construction) will build a new 32,000-square-foot athletics facility at Coke R. Stevenson Middle School, part of the Northside Independent School District in San Antonio. The project includes the demolition of the existing athletics facility and the installation of new site utilities, landscaping and irrigation systems. The new building will house competition and practice gyms, as well as locker room facilities. NextGen Architects is designing the project, construction of which is expected to be complete in summer 2022.
NEW YORK CITY — Emerald Creek Capital has provided a $55 million bridge loan for the historic Tammany Hall building in the Union Square area of Manhattan. The 73,113-square-foot building recently underwent an $85 million capital improvement program. Jeff Seidler of Emerald Creek originated the financing. Egor Petrov of Estreich & Co. served as the financial intermediary on behalf of the borrower, a subsidiary of Reading International Inc., which will use the proceeds to refinance existing debt and fund tenant improvements.
NEW YORK CITY — St. Francis College, a private Catholic educational institution, will relocate its campus from Brooklyn Heights to The Wheeler, Tishman Speyer’s new building that is situated atop a former Macy’s department store in downtown Brooklyn. Under the terms of the 30-year lease, St. Francis College will occupy 255,091 square feet across the fifth, sixth and seventh floors beginning in September 2022.
NEWARK, N.J. — A team of industry professionals that includes New York-based Legacy Engineers and New Jersey-based architecture firm Clarke Caton Hintz (CCH) is underway on the $50 million redevelopment of Newark Symphony Hall. The building was originally constructed in 1905 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The development team is repositioning the building in three phases over five years. Earlier this month, the team unveiled the new façade and streetscape. The project will also upgrade the city block, adding bike lanes, a central island and transportation access. New Jersey-based consulting firm Reh + Main Design & Development managed the selection process of the historic preservation architect for the initial phase of the project.
OWATONNA, MINN. — Kraus-Anderson has begun construction of a new $94 million high school located at 1455 18th St. SE in Owatonna, about 65 miles south of Minneapolis. The project is part of a $112 million district bond referendum, which voters passed in November 2019. Designed by Wold Architects and Engineers, the three-story, 317,000-square-foot school will accommodate 1,600 students. In addition to classrooms, the high school will feature industrial arts labs, an 825-seat auditorium and a large cafeteria space. Plans also call for a 3,451-seat football stadium, four-court gymnasium, eight tennis courts, four soccer fields, two softball fields, two baseball fields, a synthetic turf field, full track and four storage buildings for athletics. Completion is slated for summer 2023.
ST. PETER, MINN. — Kraus-Anderson has begun the $60 million expansion of the Lund Center at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, about 70 miles southwest of Minneapolis. Designed by BWBR Architects, the 72,000-square-foot project includes new and improved spaces for wellness and academic programs in health and exercise and athletic training. Academic programs within Lund Center prepare students for careers in healthcare, education, coaching, athletic training and strength and conditioning. Phase I, which is expected to cost $21.6 million and be completed in spring 2022, will expand wellness facilities and include an expanded weight room as well as cardio and group fitness spaces. A new academic wing will house improved classrooms and faculty offices. A third-floor student lounge and recruitment area will be added for student and faculty use. Phase II calls for the construction of a new human performance lab, a 53,000-square-foot field house, a 118-seat lecture hall and locker rooms.
LAKEFIELD, MINN. — Kraus-Anderson has begun construction of a $26 million project for Jackson County Central Schools in Lakefield, a city in southern Minnesota. The project scope includes the construction of a new middle school and interior remodeling of Pleasantview Elementary School. Designed by JLG Architects, the new 84,000-square-foot Pleasantview Middle School will feature new classrooms, career and tech education learning spaces and science classrooms, as well as a gymnasium, band and choir areas, kitchen and common areas. Renovations to the elementary school include air quality upgrades as well as improvements to meet requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
BioMed Realty Wins Municipal Approval for 910,000 SF Expansion of Life Sciences Campus in Bay Area
by John Nelson
EMERYVILLE, CALIF. — The City of Emeryville in Northern California’s Bay Area has approved BioMed Realty’s proposal to expand its Emeryville Center of Innovation life sciences campus. The 12-acre property is located about four miles north of Oakland and 10 miles east of San Francisco. The expansion will add 910,000 square feet of Class A laboratory and office space to the development. Phase I of the expansion, which BioMed Realty expects to begin in 2022, will span 265,000 square feet. “We are grateful for our partnership with the City of Emeryville to develop purpose-built lab research facilities that support the growth of the industry and help our business partners attract and retain talent,” says Salil Payappilly, vice president of BioMed Realty. BioMed Realty is currently modernizing an existing 303,000-square-foot building at Emeryville Center of Innovation. The building, which is not part of the newly announced expansion, will be fully occupied by Zymergen Inc., a biomanufacturing company and Emeryville’s largest employer. Zymergen signed a lease in 2019 for its new corporate headquarters and to accommodate the expansion of its operations. BioMed Realty expects to complete Zymergen’s building in early 2023. Emeryville Mayor Dianne Martinez says that the origin of the life …
NEW YORK CITY — The General Services Administration (GSA) has tapped Chicago-based architecture and engineering firm Krueck Sexton Partners (KSP) to design the $240 million redevelopment of the Silvio J. Mollo Federal Building in New York City. Constructed in 1974, the 10-story, 160,000-square-foot building is located at 1 St. Andrew’s Plaza in Lower Manhattan and houses the offices of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the U.S. Marshals Service. Enhancements will include the replacement of all major building systems, modifications to the base building structure and the installation of a new façade. Other building modifications will include the development of a new main entrance, upgrades to the building’s accessibility and security infrastructure and the implementation of a new interior design plan. As part of the project, KSP will also design two floors of swing space at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Office Building at 26 Federal Plaza that will serve as temporary accommodations for building occupants during the modernization. Construction is expected to begin in fall 2023 with completion scheduled for summer 2026.