Going Up
The downtown site had to deal with traffic and no laydown areas, says Trent Lander, project manager for Austin Commercial.
“The difference between here and an open site is [deliveries] cannot show up whenever they wanted,” Trent says. “We had a more sequenced operation and planned accordingly.”
Shimoda Design Group of Los Angeles created the final design of the building, and BOKA Powell of Dallas served as the architect of record.
C.F. Jordan will complete the $45-million, 20-story Vidorra Condominiums in San Antonio this fall. And D.E. Harvey Builders of Houston is working on the $1.5-million, 46-story MainPlace office building in Houston, scheduled for February 2011.
The team aims for LEED certification. Austin Commercial has recycled building materials, with multiple dumpsters on the limited site. The building is near the Katy Trail and will have showers in the fitness center for people riding bikes to work.
Harwood International provided the crane and self-performed the hoisting activity.
The developer also provided all of the landscaping, including a 20,000-sq-ft, 12th-floor garden. It specially mixed the soil, mulched dead trees and grew new ones on a nearby ranch and hauled everything to the downtown site.
Austin Commercial is running utility lines to the former, 1920s-era Saint Ann School, which will become a restaurant and gallery to display the Barbier-Mueller family’s private art collection. The developer agreed when the parcel was purchased from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas to retain the two-story school. A garden will connect the space with Saint Ann Court’s gallery lobby.
The Vistana
Owner: Vistana Ltd., led by Ed Cross, CEO of Cross & Co., San Antonio
Contract: C.F. Jordan, San Antonio
Architects: RVK, Michael G. Imber Architect, B&A Architects, all of San Antonio
Hess Tower
Owner: Trammell Crow Co., Houston, and Principal Real Estate Investors, Des Moines, Iowa
Contractor: Gilbane Construction Co., Houston
Architect: Gensler, Houston
Saint Ann Court
Owner: International Center Development IX, Dallas
Contractor: Austin Commercial, Dallas
Design Architect:Shimoda Design Group, Los Angeles
Architect of record (tower):BOKA Powell, Dallas
Architect or record (cafe, bar and gardens): GDA Architects, Dallas
Structural Engineer:Brockettedavisdrake, Dallas
Mechanical and Electrical Engineer:Purdy-McGuire, Dallas
