ST. PAUL, MINN. — Welsh Construction has broken ground on the conversion of the former Church of St. Andrew into the Twin Cities German Immersion School. The 60,580-square-foot project is located in the Como Park area of St. Paul and will include renovating the existing school, converting the worship space into a gym and auditorium and constructing a new building to connect the existing structures. Construction is slated for completion by the end of November.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ground has broken for the first project at St. Elizabeths East Campus, a 183-acre campus located in southeastern Washington, D.C. The Gateway Pavilion will be a $5 million outdoor space that will provide venues for casual dining, a farmers market, and cultural and entertainment events while the rest of the campus is under development. The D.C. Office of Planning & Economic Development has proposed several adaptive reuse projects for Phase I of St. Elizabeths including: 500,000 square feet dedicated to academic and innovation-minded companies; a 400,000-square-foot, mixed-use town center; approximately 100,000 square feet of trophy office space; and civic space.
ATLANTA — The Georgia Institute of Technology has selected Cooper Carry as the architect of record for the school's new 218,000-square-foot Engineered BioSystems Building. The $100 million project, located on the university's campus in Atlanta, will bring the College of Science and College of Engineering together for collaborative bio-engineering research. The project is the first phase of a four-phase expansion for Georgia Tech's bioscience research department. Lake Flato will serve as the design architect for the project and McCarthy Building Group is the general contractor. Completion is slated for 2014.
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — Skanska has completed construction of the Texas A&M University Liberal Arts and Humanities building, a 120,000-square-foot development that will serve as the permanent home for the school's English and Performing Arts departments. The university held a grand opening event for the five-story brick and limestone property. The building is located on the core of campus, next to the Melbern G. Glasscock building, which houses the History department. The structure features an open-air courtyard, new classrooms, a recording studio, black-box theater and outdoor courtyard with electrical capacity for outdoor performances. Skanska broke ground on the structure in 2010.
NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. – The Civic Center and Park Project has completed construction in Newport Beach. It is located at 100 Civic Center Drive. The $110-million project contains a total of 117,000 square feet. It includes an 88,000-square-foot office building, community room, a 150-seat city council chambers, a 14-acre park and a 450-space parking structure. It also included a 17,000-square-foot library expansion. The center is slated for LEED-Silver certification. The three-phase construction schedule began in May 2010. The project was built by C.W. Driver.
NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. – The Civic Center and Park Project has completed construction in Newport Beach. It is located at 100 Civic Center Drive. The $110-million project contains a total of 117,000 square feet. It includes an 88,000-square-foot office building, community room, a 150-seat city council chambers, a 14-acre park and a 450-space parking structure. It also included a 17,000-square-foot library expansion. The center is slated for LEED-Silver certification. The three-phase construction schedule began in May 2010. The project was built by C.W. Driver.
CHICAGO — Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is expected to announce sometime today plans for a $173 million, 10,000-seat arena for DePaul University’s basketball teams to be built near downtown Chicago, reports the Chicago Tribune. The basketball arena will be located near McCormick Place and be built with $125 million in public funds — $55 million in tax-increment financing and $70 million in hotel taxes, according to the newspaper. Plans also include the construction of two mega hotels on the property in the hopes of growing convention and meeting business in Chicago.
RICHARDSON, TEXAS — The Beck Group has broken ground on the 110,000-square-foot addition for the Naveen Jindal School of Management at The University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson. SHW Group designed the $25 million project to meet LEED standards. The addition will include classrooms, faculty offices, seminar rooms, studios, research centers and an area for the undergraduate honors program. A portion of the facility will be built out while the remaining area will be left as shell space to allow for future growth. The Beck Group anticipates to deliver the addition in fall 2014.
KINGSVILLE, TEXAS — Satterfield & Pontikes Construction has delivered a new $35.8 million border patrol station in Kingsville for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection station features a 47,000-square-foot main station building, a 22,000-square-foot maintenance building, 8,000-square-foot warehouse, 4,000-square-foot canine facility, 2,000-square-foot covered fueling station and a 3,000-square-foot car wash facility. VOA Associates designed the complex to achieve LEED Silver certification, and Satterfield & Pontikes completed the station's construction four months ahead of schedule.
NASHVILLE — Music City Center, a 1.2 million-square-foot convention center, will open its doors Sunday, May 19 in Nashville. The $585 million project spans six city blocks and includes a modern exterior glass curtain wall and limestone panels. The center features 60 meeting rooms, two ballrooms, 32 loading docks and a garage for 1,800 vehicles. In terms of design, the facility's undulating roof “represents the rolling hills of Tennessee and the sound waves that can be overheard by musicians playing in clubs on Broadway,” according to architecture firm tvsdesign. tvsdesign, Tuck-Hinton and Moody Nolan designed the facility, and Bell/Clark/Harmony provided construction services. A grand finale event will be held May 20 with concerts by Sheryl Crow and Phil Vassar, among others.
