Choate Construction Co. of Atlanta completed excavation in May on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill�s $243-million, 343,000-sq-ft Biomedical Research Imaging Building.

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte awarded Turner a $61.5-million contract to provide preconstruction and construction services for a 200,000-sq-ft Energy Production Infrastructure Center on campus. Completion is scheduled for November 2011.

Turner received a $63-million contract in January to provide construction services on the 220,000-sq-ft G. Wayne Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons for the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

Student Housing Contractors report greater interest in housing facilities than classroom buildings.

�There are not enough beds,� BE&K�s Pierle says. �And you�re seeing aged residential facilities at several of the campuses.�

Housing complexes present opportunities for private developers to partner with universities to provide modern residences for students, and Pierle expects to see more public-private partnerships to allow universities to meet their growing needs.

�That is one area when we will see great change and great movement,� he says. Pierle adds that his company is in discussion about such projects in the Southeast but does not have any at the moment.

Balfour Beatty is working on the new $66-million, 1,200-bed Innovation Village apartment complex at Florida Atlantic University�s Boca Raton campus. The project broke ground in January.

It includes a 30,000-seat, open-air stadium and shopping and dining venues. The complex will be ready for students in August 2011. Financial partners include Balfour Beatty Capital Group of Newtown Square, Pa.; Capstone Development of Birmingham, Ala.; and Crocker Partners of Atlanta.

�Universities find themselves in competition for students,� says Clint Glass, senior vice president of Balfour Beatty in Plantation, Fla. �Key things are recruitment and retention. And students are looking for convenient, safe and current accommodations.�

Glass says he views public-private partnerships as a way to overcome a difficult construction market.

�All of us are looking for ways to help projects get started,� Baker says. �The need to accommodate all the student enrollment is not going to go away.�

Useful sources:

� University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business
http://mooreschool.sc.edu/about/newbuildingplans.aspx

� University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Biomedical Research Building
http://www.fpc.unc.edu/Projects/CompleteProjectListing.aspx

� University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Dental Sciences Building
http://www.fpc.unc.edu/Projects/CompleteProjectListing.aspx

� FAU Innovation Village
http://www.fau.edu/innovationvillage/

� Duke Medical Pavilion
http://www.dukemedicine.org/construction