NEW YORK CITY — Andrew Franz Architect will design the renovation of the 11,000-square-foot Washington Houses Community Center in the East Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan. The community center offers a range of education, wellness, and community-building resources to local youths and seniors. The Andrew Franz team will transform key spaces of the facility including the entrance, reception and waiting areas and senior center. The team will also enhance the natural lighting and acoustics of the entire facility. The Criminal Justice Investment Initiative of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office will fund the renovations.
NEW YORK CITY — Transwestern Real Estate Services has brokered the sale of the leasehold interest for a new charter elementary school at a 65,000-square-foot building in The Bronx. Located at 1919 Arthur Ave., the school will be called Zeta Bronx Tremont Park Elementary and will serve students in pre-K through fifth grade starting in August 2021. Lindsay Ornstein, Stephen Powers and Thomas Hines represented Zeta Charter Schools in the leasehold negotiations. The building ownership, Joyland Group, was represented internally in the transaction.
CHICAGO — The temporary conversion of a portion of Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center into an alternate care facility for COVID-19 patients is expected to be complete by Friday, April 24. Walsh Construction, the contractor for the project, completed the first 500 beds earlier this month. The facility will have the capacity to treat up to 3,000 low-to-moderate acuity patients across three of the convention center’s halls. Patients will be separated by the level of care required. The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are directing the conversion of the temporary field hospital. The project is designed to relieve pressure on the city’s hospital system by freeing up beds for more patients with severe COVID-19 cases in anticipation of a surge in positive diagnoses. Stantec provided design and engineering services for the project.
DETROIT — The conversion of TCF Center in Detroit into a 1,000-bed field hospital is ahead of schedule and slated for completion by Wednesday April 8, according to the Detroit Free Press. Members of the Michigan National Guard assisted the Federal Emergency Management Agency with logistics support and inventory of equipment and supplies. The transformation of the convention center into a federal medical station is in effort to treat COVID-19 cases during a period of surge demand. On April 1, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order formally declaring a state of disaster. As of Monday, April 6, there were 17,221 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state of Michigan and 727 deaths.
COSTA MESA, CALIF. — C.W. Driver Cos. has completed the development of Waugh Student Center at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa. HPI Architecture designed the $24 million, two-story facility, which features 35,000 square feet of interior space and a 7,500-square-foot exterior deck. Within Waugh Student Center, students, faculty and staff will have access to a 3,300-square-foot food service area with all-day and late-night options, as well as an 8,000-square-foot common dining room. Additionally, the student center offers a 3,000-square-foot fitness center and an 8,000-square-foot recreational center that can be converted into meeting and event space to accommodate 880 people for lectures or 480 for catered functions. The center also features areas equipped with power outlets and charging stations for studying, a trellised roof deck with fireplace, and two-story outdoor dining and gathering area. Waugh Student Center is the first project in a 30-year campus enhancement plan to reshape Vanguard’s 38-acre campus at 55 Fair Drive in Costa Mesa.
PIPESTONE, MINN. — The Rochester office of Kraus-Anderson has begun constructing a $28 million addition to Pipestone Elementary School in Southwest Minnesota. Designed by ISG Architects, the two-story, 85,940-square-foot project also includes interior renovations to the middle and high schools. Those improvements include security upgrades to the buildings and parking lot. The project is slated for completion in late summer 2021. In response to COVID-19, Kraus-Anderson says it has implemented stringent social distancing and other elevated safety protocol on construction job sites.
DETROIT — In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, TCF Center in Detroit has been designated by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a temporary alternate care facility. Mobilization has already begun, and construction will be performed by the TCF Center workforce and union labor. The temporary site is planned for COVID-19 patients to relieve the burden on local hospitals treating patients with the virus. The temporary care site may be used for as long as six months, according to local media. As of late Sunday, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported 5,486 cases of the coronavirus and 132 deaths. Consequently, the 2020 North American International Auto Show, which was set to take place at TCF Center, formerly Cobo Hall, has been cancelled. The annual show, one of the largest in North America, was scheduled to take place June 9-20 and will now be postponed until June 11-26, 2021.
DALLAS — The State of Texas, the Texas Military Department (TMD) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) have identified the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas as a makeshift healthcare facility to treat patients suffering from COVID-19, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Sunday. The convention center, located downtown, will be the first site to be equipped with additional healthcare equipment and facilities. Local ABC affiliate WFAA reports that 250 beds will be set up with the capacity to expand to 1,400 beds if needed. In his statement, Abbott also stated that the number of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients in Texas has doubled over the past week, and announced a mandatory 14-day quarantine for anyone traveling into Texas from any part of Louisiana. According to its website, the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center features 1 million square feet of exhibit space, three ballrooms, 88 meeting rooms, a 1,750-seat theater and a 9,816-seat arena.
IOWA CITY, IOWA — Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital Inc. has made a $115 million preferred equity investment in a utility public-private partnership including the University of Iowa, ENGIE and Meridiam. ENGIE is a natural gas distribution company and Meridiam is a global investor and asset manager specializing in the development, financing and management of long-term public infrastructure projects. The partnership will operate, maintain and upgrade the university’s energy and water utilities. Known as the Hawkeye Energy Collaborative, the partnership was awarded a $1 billion, 50-year utility management concession contract in December 2019. The collaborative will support the University of Iowa’s energy, water and sustainability goals for two campuses spanning 1,700 acres in Iowa City.
ANKENY, IOWA — Stahl has completed the construction of the two-story, 55,000-square-foot Ankeny Kirkendall Public Library. Located at 1250 SW District Drive in the Prairie Trail development, the $14 million library also houses the city council chambers and a multi-function meeting and conference room. Construction started in June 2018 and wrapped up in February. OPN Architects designed the library. A suburb of Des Moines, Ankeny is the 10th-fastest growing city in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.