NEW YORK CITY — Eastern Consolidated has arranged the relocation of New York Kids Club to 170 Amsterdam Ave. in New York’s Upper West Side. The preschool chain will relocate from its current location to the ground floor of a new 20-story residential tower, situated between West 67th and West 68th streets, which is being developed by Equity Residential. The preschool center will occupy 2,400 square feet on the ground floor and 3,700 square feet on the basement level. New York Kids Club plans to begin its 15-year lease in summer 2015. Brad Cohen of Eastern Consolidated represented the landlord, while Neal Ohm of Neal Cabot Ohm represented the tenant in the transaction.
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CARPENTERSVILLE, ILL. — Leopardo Cos. Inc. has broken ground on a new 27,000-square-foot child and family center for Children’s Home + Aid in Carpentersville, approximately six miles north of Elgin. The site for the facility is at 229 Lake Marian Road. The Jerri Hoffmann Child + Family Center will rebuild the existing Tom Thumb Community Childcare Center, which has been serving at-risk children and families in the Carpentersville area since 1970. The new facility will expand the center’s capacity from 110 to 230 students. The center will include 15 classrooms, a gross motor skills room, outdoor play area, administrative spaces, staff lounge and kitchen. Leopardo is serving as general contractor on the project, which is set for completion in early summer 2015. Designhaus Inc. is providing architectural services for the project.
WEST CHICAGO, ILL. — Leopardo Cos. Inc. has completed the new 70,000-square-foot West Chicago Park District Athletics, Recreation and Community Center. The complex is located at 201 W. National St. in Reed-Kepler Park. The one-story park district facility includes three gyms, a fitness area and a play area for children. The project was completed on time and within its $15.5 million budget. The indoor recreation complex features an elevated walking and jogging track, dance and aerobic studios for group fitness classes, event rental space and a catering kitchen. Hoffman Estates-based Leopardo served as construction manager, with the Chicago office of Sink Combs Dethlefs as the architect of record.
ST. LOUIS — The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) has purchased a 60,000-square-foot manufacturing building in St. Louis for an undisclosed price. The property was purchased for MSD Project Clear, MSD’s long-term initiative designed to improve water quality and alleviate wastewater concerns. The facility is located at 1600 Macklind Ave. on three acres. Part of the 60-year-old building situated near River Des Peres will be torn down to create access for MSD Project Clear, the project involves creating underground tunnels to store rain runoff during heavy storms, and then conveying it to wastewater treatment plants for treatment when storms pass. Hal Ball of Hilliker Corp. represented the seller, DFD Industries LLC in the transaction. MSD had internal representation in the transaction.
WALTHAM, MASS. — Vantage Builders, a general contracting and construction firm based in Waltham, has begun construction on a new worship center for New England Sikh Study Circle (NESSC). Located at 168 Flanders Road, the 21,000-square-foot temple, known as a Gurduara Sahib, will become the principal place of worship for the New England Sikh community. The facility will feature classrooms, meeting places of various sizes, a community kitchen able to serve up to 400 people, a library and residences for the community’s leaders. The project team includes JG Associations, AKAL Engineering Inc., Waterman Design Associates and Rivermoor Engineering. The facility is slated for completion by the first quarter of 2015.
HOUSTON —The United Way of Greater Houston has renewed and expanded its lease at 1300 Bay Area Blvd. in Houston. The charitable organization expanded its footprint from 31,770 square feet to 34,906 square feet. Trey Miller negotiated the lease on behalf of Boxer Property, while Jeff Lindenberger of Avison Young represented the tenant.
CLAYTON, MO. — The newly renovated Clayton Police Headquarters and Municipal Building in Clayton, a suburb of St. Louis, has earned Platinum LEED Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The six-story Colonial Williamsburg-style structure, built in 1959, becomes the first LEED-Platinum Certified law enforcement facility in Missouri. The property is located at 10 S. Brentwood Blvd. Pinnacle Contracting Inc. served as general works contractor on the project, which introduced 21st century technology and energy-wise features to approximately 83,000 square feet. Pinnacle helped achieve LEED Platinum status by developing construction waste management and indoor air quality plans followed by its sub-contractors. Other LEED features at the building include on-site energy generation (via the largest single-site solar array in Missouri); the installation of high-efficiency HVAC, lighting and water systems; and a facility-wide commitment to optimal indoor air quality plus thermal and lighting controls for all building users. The facility hosts a state-of-the-art police headquarters; forensic laboratories; a municipal court and offices; a back-up data center for the City of Clayton; and parking spaces for more than 150 vehicles in an adjacent structure. St. Louis-based The Lawrence Group served as architect for the project. Pinnacle's work at the facility exceeded $5 million.
SILVER SPRING, MD. — Washington Property Co. (WPC) and Montgomery County have signed an agreement to develop Progress Place, a homeless services center that will be located at 8110 Georgia Ave. in Silver Spring. The new facility is scheduled to break ground in a year, according to WPC. The first three floors of the facility will service the county’s homeless community and the fourth floor will feature 21 personal living quarters for individuals transitioning into permanent housing. Under the terms of the recently signed agreement, WPC will build Progress Place at no cost to the county and the county will operate the facility. WPC will obtain the deed to three contiguous land parcels totaling about 1.5 acres in exchange. The site of the current Progress Place sits in that parcel, which is located adjacent to WPC’s new Solaire-Silver Spring property at 1150 Ripley St.
ST. LOUIS — The city of St. Louis has contracted Kwame Building Group Inc. to provide construction supervision and materials testing services for a taxiway reconstruction project at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. Construction is set to begin in September and wrap up in 2015. The contract includes three projects: reconstruction of a taxiway, removal of a taxiway, and reconstruction of an apron. Kwame currently is the project manager on Lambert’s nearly complete $70 million Airport Experience renovation project.
CARBONDALE, ILL. — A new $3.1 million fire station will open July 1 in Carbondale, a city in southern Illinois. The new Carbondale Fire Station will be a 12,400-square-foot, single-story brick building, which will replace its 50-year-old fire station. The new facility will feature four apparatus bays, seven bunk rooms, a living and kitchen space, a workout room, a training room and office space. In addition, the city of Carbondale’s Emergency Operations Center and Storm Watch Center will relocate from city hall into a new space at the new fire station. The building has been designed to be energy efficient, meet all energy codes and seismic standards. Design features will include a backup generator, capable of powering the entire building; geothermal heating and air-conditioning for the living area; and provisions for the addition of future solar equipment. FGM Architects and general contractor Fager McGee Commercial Construction are a part of the design team for the project.