TORRANCE, CALIF. — Barnhart Balfour Beatty has begun construction of the $22 million J.H. Hull Middle School, a 61,000-square-foot complex located at 2080 W. 231st St. in Torrance. Slated for completion before September 2011, the five-building development will consist of classrooms, a technology center, administrative offices, a food-service facility and cafeteria, a gymnasium, basketball and volleyball courts, and soccer and baseball fields. Funded by a $265 million bond program passed in November 2008 and designed by Irvine, Calif.-based IBI Group Architects, the. J.H. Hull Middle School is the first new school to be built in the Torrance Unified School District in 40 years.
CARBONDALE, ILL. — Southern Illinois University Carbondale has completed the development of Saluki Stadium and athletic facilities in Carbondale. Located on Saluki Way, the project was constructed by Holland Construction Services and J.E. Dunn Construction Co. The $38 million stadium facility offers 15,000 seats with more than 1,000 seats with chair backs and 14 air-conditioned suites. Holland provided construction services for the stadium, which was designed by Carbondale-based Image Architects. The athletic building and arena upgrades were completed by J.E. Dunn, and designed by Kansas City, Mo.-based 360 Architecture. The new Boydston Center houses locker rooms, meeting rooms and staff offices. The overall construction costs for the first two phases is approximately $78 million.
LEXINGTON, KY. — Nicholasville, Ky.-based Southland Christian Church has acquired Lexington Mall, a four-parcel vacant retail property located in Lexington. Situated on 31.22 acres, the 327,068-square-foot property sold for $8.13 million. Ken Silvestri of Silvestri-Craig Realtors brokered the transaction. The seller was Saul Centers Inc.
DALLAS — The grand opening has been held for the new Stephen B. Swann Athletic and Wellness Center at the campus of the Episcopal School of Dallas. The 114,000-square-foot facility contains a competitive gymnasium, an indoor running track, workout rooms, a dance studio, sports medicine facilities, locker rooms, a team room, coaching offices, and concessions and equipment storage areas. The facility also contains a 480-seat dining commons, offices for school auxiliary services and a campus bookstore. The development team for the project included ARC/Architecural Resources Cambridge and The Beck Group.
SYLVANIA, OHIO — Athena Career Academy has leased 8,004 square feet of space at Starlite Plaza, which is located on Monroe Street in Sylvania. The academy is a career education school that focuses on nursing. John Healey and Mike Scannell of Toledo, Ohio-based Park West Realty represented Athena; Robert Saggese provided in-house representation for the landlord, Centro Properties Group. Terms of the lease not disclosed.
ORLANDO, FLA. — Construction is under way for a new 53,351-square-foot aircraft maintenance facility for Avocet Capital at Orlando Sanford International Airport in Orlando. The $5 million project is scheduled for completion in January. It consists of 44,000 square feet of hangar space, 5,351 square feet of administrative offices and 4,000 square feet of maintenance space.
WINTER PARK, FLA. — The groundbreaking has been held for the new Winter Park Community Center. The project will include the demolition of the existing center and the construction of a 38,572-square-foot facility that will contain a swimming pool, an ancillary building, a playground, an exterior stage and additional parking. The project will be seeking LEED-Silver certification. The general contractor is Turner Construction Co., and the project architect is SchenkelShultz Architecture.
NEW YORK CITY — Stalco Construction has begun construction for the new Battery Park City Community Center. The 60,000-square-foot project will comprise two cellar levels, a street level and a mezzanine. It will feature a curving, 550-foot long glass arcade wall that will face West Street immediate north of Ground Zero. The wall will sit opposite of two swimming pools and a gymnasium inside the building, and two ball fields and a soccer field outside the building. The community center will also feature a fitness center, a theater/auditorium, dance studios, locker rooms, classrooms, offices, a cafeteria and a kitchen. The project architect is Hanrahan Meyers Architects, and the construction manager is The LiRo Group. The owner, the Hugh L. Carey Battery Park City Authority, anticipates the project receiving LEED-Platinum certification.
MOORPARK, CALIF. — Construction has begun for the new $12.7 million home of Moorpark College’s Exotic Animal Training and Management Program (EATM). Replacing two portables that have served EATM’s staff, students and 150-plus animal inhabitants, the new facility will include two 50-seat classrooms, a veterinary medicine laboratory, a bookstore, a ticket booth and faculty offices. Overcoming the challenges of working in close proximity to exotic animals and building the structure into the campus’ hillside, Heery International is providing construction management services for the 13,000-square-foot facility, which is slated for completion in April 2011. Based at Moorpark’s Ventura County, Calif., campus, the EATM prepares students for careers working with animals in television, film, zoos, theme parks and more.
ST. LOUIS — St. Louis-based Kwame Building Group has completed the construction of William J. Harrison Northside Education Center for St. Louis Community College in St. Louis. Located in the Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood, the $10 million, 31,000-square-foot center opened for classes in August. Designed by KAI, the property is seeking LEED Gold certification as a green building. Green elements include heat pumps in classrooms and offices, controllable lighting, the use of recycled materials, low VOC paint and non-toxic building materials and furnishings.