Pulse:  12/03/2008
Planning

NEW YORK Gene Kaufman Architect has been selected by the McSam Hotel Group as the architect for a 36-story, 270-room four-star hotel at 33 Beekman St. in Lower Manhattan. The project will feature exterior glass elevators that provide views of the plaza and the river, four floors of common facilities and amenities, including restaurants, meeting rooms, spa and fitness center. Gene Kaufman Architect P.C., 525 Broadway, New York City 10012; McSam Hotel Group, 13 Mayflower Pl., Floral Park 11001. DR #08-844030.

OHIO Modular Genetics has recently received job-creation tax credit and will go forward with plans to build a bio-refinery in Dublin. Phase one of a two-phase, $175.5-million project includes creating a pilot-scale biorefinery and phase two will involve construction of a full-scale biorefinery and acquisition of machinery and equipment. The project is expected to create 130 positions within three years of the initial operation of phase two. Modular Genetics Inc., 325 Vassar St., Cambridge, Mass. 02139.

Contracts/Bids/Proposals

CALIFORNIA McCarthy Building Cos. was selected as general contractor by the San Diego Community College District for the new three-story, 49,000-sq-ft Allied Health Building currently under construction at the San Diego Mesa College in the Clairemont area of San Diego. The $20-million project will include classrooms, various labs, faculty and staff offices, and phase-three road realignment. Construction began in May and is slated for completion in August 2009. McCarthy Building Cos., 6165 Greenwich Dr., Suite 340, San Diego 92122. DR #08-601303.

ILLINOIS Construction is well under way on a $10.2-million design-construct contract awarded to K&S Associates by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the construction of new squadron operations facilities at Scott Air Force Base near Belleville. The project consists of a 52,000-sq-ft facility to accommodate mission support, administrative, training and briefing areas for the U.S. Air Force 932nd Airlift Wing’s C-9C and C-40 airlift squadrons, and space for maintenance parts storage. Completion is expected by December 2009. K&S Associates Inc., 516 Hanley Industrial Court, St. Louis, Mo. 63144-1902.

NEW YORK The State University Construction Fund awarded a contract to Turner Construction Co. to provide construction-management services for the 130,000-sq-ft School of Engineering on University of Buffalo North Campus in Buffalo. Completion of the $70-million project is scheduled for 2011. Turner Construction Co., 135 Delaware Ave., Buffalo 14202. DR #06-797901.

OHIO A new heart hospital is being built in Dayton by Skanska and joint-venture partner Shook Construction under a $75.6-million contract awarded by Miami Valley Hospital. The eleven-story, 400,000-sq-ft building will feature a heart center with cardiac surgery suites and 180 private patient rooms, general patient rooms and underground parking. Work is expected to be complete by end 2010. Skanska USA Building, 1633 Littleton Rd., Parsippany, N.J. 07054; Shook Construction, 4977 Northcutt Place, Dayton 45413. DR #08-581617.

TEXAS URS Corp. has been awarded a contract by Waste Control Specialists LLC to provide design, engineering, procurement and construction-management services for waste disposal facilities and infrastructure improvements in Andrews County. The project consists of construction of new facilities and infrastructure improvements, including the addition of a rail loop and rail tipper-dumper to allow for the unloading of waste materials from trains, a waste byproduct landfill and a low-level radioactive-waste disposal facility. URS Corp., 600 Montgomery St., San Francisco, Calif. 94111.

VIRGINIA R.J. Griffin & Co. was selected as the general contractor for a 116-bed replacement hospital for Johnston Memorial Hospital in Abingdon. Designed for LEED Silver certification, the 251,000-sq-ft hospital will feature high-end finishes and a clock tower. The project also includes 27,000 sq ft of tenant finish in an adjacent medical office building. R.J. Griffin & Co., 800 Mount Vernon Highway, Atlanta, Ga. 30328.

Bid/Proposal Dates

GEORGIA 12/16 (prequalified bidders)—Clayton County Board of Education, 1058 Fifth Ave., Jonesboro 30236, K-8 school at 11809 Panhandle Rd. in Hampton. The two-story, 207,893-sq-ft school is estimated to cost between $22.5 million and $28.5 million. Manley Spangler Smith Architects, 525 E. Taylor St., Griffin 30223. DR #07-852996.

NEW YORK 12/16 Metropolitan Transit Authority, Bridges and Tunnels/TBTA, Two Broadway, 24th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10004, reconstruction of Building 104 on Randall’s Island. Estimated to cost between $50 million and $75 million, the project consists of renovations to house TBTA administration functions and the New York Police Dept.’s street crimes unit. Urbahn Associates, architect, 49 W. 37th St., New York City 10018. DR #00-832078.

CONNECTICUT 12/17 State of Connecticut, Dept. of Public Works, 165 Capitol Ave., Room G36, Hartford 06106, addition and renovation of H.H. Ellis Vocational Technical School in Danielson. With cost estimated between $52.4 million and $57.9 million, the project includes 180,000 sq ft of renovation and a 67,000-sq-ft addition. S/L/A/M Collaborative, architect-engineer, 80 Glastonbury Blvd., Glastonbury 06033; O&G Industries Inc., 112 Wall St., Torrington 06790, is project manager. DR #04-769531.