STATESBORO, GA. — JE Dunn Construction will soon break ground on a $46 million teaching and research facility for the engineering programs at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. The new Center for Engineering and Research (CEAR) will centralize the various departments and multiple disciplines of the Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Computing, whose operations currently take place in three buildings. The 130,000-square-foot CEAR building will span three stories and will offer advanced equipment and technology, classrooms, seminar and conference rooms, computer labs and administrative offices. JE Dunn is serving as the project’s construction manger, and Stevens & Wilkinson/SmithGroupJJR is the architect. The development team will break ground on the CEAR building in January 2019, with completion scheduled for the 2020 fall semester.
CONWAY, ARK. — Abby Development has broken ground on Ridgemere, a 92-unit seniors housing community in the Little Rock suburb of Conway. Located on 14 acres, Ridgemere will offer independent living, assisted living and memory care units. The previously announced project was formerly known as Arabella of Conway. Independent living units will be split among 20 cottages offering a variety of floorplans averaging 1,485 square feet. Abby Development is a Dallas-based seniors housing developer, owner and operator. The company’s portfolio includes five communities in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.
ATLANTA — Lincoln Property Co. Southeast (LPC Southeast) has broken ground on Union 85 Distribution Center, a 243,540-square-foot speculative warehouse/distribution center in Atlanta. The facility will be located at 3725 Royal South Parkway, less than a half-mile from Interstate 85 within Atlanta’s I-85 South industrial submarket. The building will feature 32-foot clear heights, 38 dock-high doors, two drive-in doors, front-load configuration and 40 existing spaces for excess trailer storage. LPC Southeast will handle the project’s leasing assignment upon completion, which is scheduled for later this year. The company delivered Flat Shoals 85 Distribution Center at the end of 2017. The building is fully leased to Future Forwarding Co.
ELK GROVE, CALIF. — Koelsch Communities has announced plans for Laguna Springs Senior Community, a 240,000-square-foot seniors housing property in the Sacramento suburb of Elk Grove. Groundbreaking is scheduled for June for a planned opening in December 2019. Development costs were estimated at $71 million. Located on 11 acres, the project will feature The Park at Laguna Springs Independent Living and The Gardens at Laguna Springs Memory Care. The independent living portion will be a three-story building housing 135 apartments plus 16 single-story homes. The memory care portion can house up to 70 residents in various stages of memory loss. Koelsch Communities will manage the property upon completion. The company is developing the project in partnership with RJ Development, with Koelsch Construction acting as general contractor. Judy Koelsch and David Goularte of JSK Design will design the interiors.
RENO, NEV. — The Wolff Company has announced plans for Revel Damonte Ranch, a 156-unit independent living community in Reno. The project will be located within the Damonte Ranch mixed-use community. It will be Arizona-based Wolff’s second community in Reno. Wolff plans to open Revel Damonte Ranch in 2020.
HOUSTON — Arch-Con, a general contractor with offices in Dallas and Houston, is underway on construction of a 251-unit multifamily community within Redemption Square, a 52-acre mixed-use district in northeast Houston. Designed by Steinberg Dickey Collaborative LLP and Looney Ricks Kiss, the project will feature 17,000 square feet of retail space. Amenities will include a 75-foot pool, fitness center, a dog park, business center and multiple outdoor grilling areas. McCord Development is developing the property, which is expected to be complete by the end of 2019.
SOUTHFIELD, MICH. — 601W Cos., the owner of the 2.2 million-square-foot Southfield Town Center, is nearing completion of a $56 million renovation to the office complex. Property manager Transwestern is overseeing the renovations. Improvements include updates to the walkway that connects the buildings, complete renovations to the front lobby and entranceway and upgrades to the parking structures. A new entrance to the 3000 building has also been added. Expanded tenant amenities include the addition of multiple green spaces, collaborative areas, a new conference center and Starbucks coffee bar. 601W Cos. purchased Southfield Town Center for $177.5 million in 2014. The five-building property was originally completed in 1989.
WACO, TEXAS — Paint manufacturer and retailer Sherwin-Williams has opened its $39 million distribution center in Waco. The 615,000-square-foot center will service eight states, including Texas, and will require a workforce of 326 employees. The company projects that daily activity at the center will involve the rolling out of 65 trucks delivering roughly 3 million pounds of paint to 700 stores. Bob Moore Construction served as general contractor for the project.
TIMNATH, COLO. — The Neenan Co. has started construction for The Plaza at Riverbend, a mixed-use retail center in Timnath, a suburb of Fort Collins. The project will total 39,000 square feet and include two freestanding single-story buildings with retail, office and restaurant space. The larger building will feature 23,000 square feet of commercial space. Studio 68 will own 9,307 square feet of space, slated to open by the end of the year. The second facility will feature 16,000 square feet of speculative commercial space. Serving as the project’s developer and design-builder, The Neenan Co. will sell the retail and office condominiums to each end user upon the project’s completion in late 2018.
MCDONOUGH, GA. — PNK Group has broken ground on the first building at Southern Gateway at Lambert Farms, a more than 3 million-square-foot speculative industrial development in McDonough, a southern suburb of Atlanta. The first building is a 1.1 million-square-foot, cross-dock distribution facility with 40-foot clear heights. Additional plans for the Southern Gateway project include an adjacent 1.5 million-square-foot cross-dock building and two rear-load facilities totaling 358,000 and 275,000 square feet. Pat Murphy, Ray Stache, Lisa Pittman and Tara Healy of Cushman & Wakefield are handling the development’s leasing assignment. Upon completion, the park will feature a 1.2-mile landscaped walking trail, a food truck court and electric vehicle charging stations. Pattillo Construction Corp. is the project’s general contractor, Macgregor Architects & Associates is the architect and Eberly & Associates, Contour Engineering and Contour Environmental make up the project’s engineering team.