CHICAGO — The Obama Foundation released the conceptual vision and site map for the Obama Presidential Center (OPC) in Chicago at a community event hosted by Barack and Michelle Obama on Wednesday, May 3. The center will be integrated into Jackson Park, a historic park on the South Side of Chicago. The design concept includes three buildings: a museum, forum and library. The museum, the tallest of the three buildings, will hold exhibition space, public spaces, offices and education and meeting rooms. The forum will contain Obama Foundation offices, an auditorium, restaurant and public garden. The forum and library will be single-story structures with planted roof terraces and will serve as community resources. The total size of the center will range between 200,000 and 225,000 square feet, but the concept site plan imagines a reshaping of the park that will result in a total net increase in green space for Jackson Park. The center is slated to open in late 2021. The design team for the OPC is led by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners and Interactive Design Architects. The landscape design team is comprised of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Site Design Group and Living Habitats. Ralph Appelbaum Associates …
Civic
MILTON, N.H. — Eckman Construction has completed the construction of Herbert Downs Fire-EMS Station, located at 865 White Mountain Highway in Milton. The 9,000-square-foot facility features four apparatus bays, training areas, turnout gear space, offices, two dorms and a new dispatch center. Cowan Goudreau Architects provided design services for the project, which finished ahead of schedule and under budget.
NEW YORK — Empire State Development Corp. has selected a design-build team led by Lendlease Construction LMB Inc. and Turner Construction to oversee the $1.5 billion expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. The team also includes Atlanta-based architect tvsdesign, which is aiming for the center’s expansion to be certified LEED Silver. Named after a former U.S. Senator from New York, the conference center is located on 11th Avenue in Manhattan’s Westside and bills itself as the busiest convention center in the country. The venue hosted events on 337 days in 2015. The six-block convention center opened in 1986 and spans 2.1 million square feet, of which 840,000 square feet is exhibition space. According to media reports, the Lendlease-Turner team is planning on a 46-month construction schedule for the expansion. The expansion will add 90,000 square feet of permanent space to the center’s current exhibit space, which will create an approximately 500,000-square-foot exhibition hall. Additionally the project will include 45,000 square feet of meeting room space and a 55,000 square-foot ballroom, the largest of its kind in New York City. The expansion will also reroute 20,000 event-related trucks off area streets each year, which is …
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has announced plans to construct a second, 2.6-mile extension of the city’s Purple Line subway through Beverly Hills and Century City. The contract value of the recently announced extension, titled Westside Purple Line Extension Section 2, is anticipated to be approximately $1.4 billion. The project will include two new underground stations at the intersections of Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive, and Constellation Boulevard and Avenue of the Stars, a hub of office buildings frequented by an estimated 358,000 workers, according to reports by the Los Angeles Daily News. Construction is currently underway on Section 1 of the Purple Line extension, which will add stations at the intersections of Wilshire Boulevard and La Brea Avenue, and Fairfax Avenue and La Cienega Boulevard. At completion, the Purple Line is expected to extend nine miles west of the current terminus at Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue, adding a total of seven new stations. The total development is expected to cost $6.3 billion. A full map of the development can be found here. A contract for the second phase of the development will be awarded by the end of the month. Civil and building construction …
OAKDALE AND BROOKHAVEN, N.Y. — Dowling College has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and has retained A&G Realty Partners and Madison Hawk to manage the sale of two campuses formerly occupied by the university in Oakdale and Brookhaven. Dowling plans to sell the campuses through two separate, sealed bids as part of its bankruptcy filing. The partnership is currently accepting bids for the university’s 25-acre, waterfront campus in Oakdale. The campus includes over 200,000 square feet of space in six educational, administrative and student housing buildings, including the former W.K. Vanderbilt Estate. The 101-acre Brookhaven campus will be offered for sale in the first quarter of 2017. The property was home to the college’s aviation program, and includes a state-of-the-art athletic complex, a two-story, 65,000-square-foot building and a 10,000-square-foot airplane hangar with runway access to Brookhaven Airport. RSR Consulting is managing the dissolution of the Dowling College estate.
The Triad Group Brokers 100,000 SF Long-term Lease for Former Kindred Hospital Campus in Massachusetts
by Amy Works
BRAINTREE, MASS. — The Triad Group has arranged the 20-year lease for the former Kindred Hospital campus, located at 2001 Washington St. in Braintree. CATS Academy, a United Kingdom-based prep school, has leased the 100,000-square-foot facility from 2001 Washington Street LLC. The landlord completely renovated the former hospital facility, which was built in 1918, and built 400 dorm rooms to accommodate students on the property. Andrew Mann of The Triad Group represented the tenant, while David Stubblebine, James Stubblebine and Micah Stubblebine of The Stubblebine Company represented the landlord in the transaction.
Eckman Construction Completes High School Renovations, Addition in Canaan, New Hampshire
by Amy Works
CANAAN, N.H. — Bedford, N.H.-based Eckman Construction Co. has completed renovations and a large addition at Mascoma Valley Regional High School in Canaan. The new addition features a 500-seat auditorium and performing arts theater, band room, media center and art room. Renovations to the original building, which was built in 1963, included a new handicap-accessible main entrance, classrooms, a new main office and administrative area, and energy-efficient upgrades throughout the facility. New Hampton, N.H.-based Marinace Architects provided architectural services for the project.
Mc Gowan Completes Renovation, Modernization of The Nightingale-Bamford School in Manhattan
by Amy Works
NEW YORK CITY — Mc Gowan, a construction management firm, has completed the renovation and modernization of The Nightingale-Bamford School, a private K-12 school located at 20 E. 92nd St. on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Mc Gowan served as general contractor for the project, which included the modernizing of the existing 75,000-square-foot property and integrating 25,000 square feet from two adjacent townhouses into the main building. Renovations included the reconfiguration of spaces to a more user-friendly design; expansion of the existing library for middle and upper schools; the addition of modern teaching technology in classrooms; an upgrade of cafeteria spaces; replacement of all floors, ceiling and millwork; an upgrade of the fire alarm system; and replacement of all light fixtures.
OAKDALE, N.Y. — Amity University, a non-profit international educational organization, has acquired St. John’s University’s 170-acre campus, located at 500 Montauk Highway in Oakdale for $22.4 million. The campus includes 11 buildings totaling 260,000 square feet. The acquisition enables the seller, St. John’s, to continue offering its existing academic programs under a lease agreement through June 2017 as Amity University assumes control of the property immediately. Helen Hwang and Karen Wiedenmann, formerly of Cushman & Wakefield, along with Andrew Merin, David Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel, Brian Whitmer, Ryan Dowd and David Pennetta of Cushman’s Metropolitan Area Capital Markets group, represented St. John’s in the transaction.
Summit Design + Build Starts Construction of 316,650 SF Athletic/Academic Facility in Chicago
by Amy Works
CHICAGO — Summit Design + Build, serving as general contractor, has broken ground on XS Tennis and Education Foundation’s XS Tennis Village, a state-of-the-art athletic and academic facility in Chicago’s Washington Park neighborhood. Situated on 14 acres at 510 S. State St., the 316,650-square-foot project will feature 110,000 square feet of indoor space, including 12 full-size tennis courts, four mini tennis courts, locker rooms, offices, players’ lounge and an 8,100-square-foot fitness center with a basketball court and sprinting lane. The complex’s 206,650 square feet of outdoor space will feature 15 full-size tennis courts (four clay and 11 hard surface), three stadium courts, two basketball courts and a 150-meter running track. Williams Architects is providing architectural services for the project.