MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. � The Washington, D.C., office of HOK was selected to design the new National Cancer Institute research campus, to be built in Montgomery County, Md., as a part of the John Hopkins University property in the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center. The JBG Cos. was chosen by the General Services Administration to build and own the $200 million, 10-acre development, which will house roughly 2,100 employees. HOK will provide planning, architecture, tenant improvements and landscaping for the 575,000-sq-ft building, which will comprise two seven-story towers. The project is targeted for LEED Gold certification. Construction is projected to
A change in the political tide in recent years has stoked the debate over potential use of project labor agreements on government-funded projects in the Mid-Atlantic. During his first month in office, President Obama overturned a Bush administration executive order that banned PLAs on federally funded projects. Stopping short of a mandate, Obama drafted a new order encouraging the use of PLAs on projects valued at more than $25 million. Photo by Bruce Buckley Mark Ayers, president of the Building and Construction Trades Dept. of the AFL-CIO, speaking at the Building and Construction Trades 2010 Legislative Conference, says more project
WASHINGTON, D.C. - District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty selected design firm Perkins+Will of Atlanta as the master planner for the Walter Reed Army Medical Center Campus. The District is planning to receive the 62-acre site from the Dept. of Defense when the hospital relocates in 2011. The reuse plan must present a vision for the site and propose land uses that reflect past use of the property while supporting the future needs of the community and the District.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. � The Naval Facilities Engineering Command has awarded Hourigan Construction Corp. of Virginia Beach, Va., with a $15.2-million firm-fixed-price task order under a previously netted multiple-award construction contract for the design and construction of a C-40 aircraft maintenance hangar at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach. The project entails the design and construction of a new aircraft hangar and associated support infrastructure and will include the demolition of two existing buildings.?
In January, NCR awarded a $73-million contract to Turner Construction of Arlington, Va., for the modernization of Federal Office Building 8—a 547,000-sq-ft building constructed in the 1960s in Washington—into an FDA lab. With the economy still struggling, GSA is getting good value. Guerin says that bids nationally have averaged 8% to 10% below original estimates. In the NCR, Bush says it’s not uncommon to see bids between 15% and 20% below estimates. Fueled by the saving, GSA produced a list of additional projects that could be added to the program. “We looked at our existing inventory of projects that were
The Mid-Atlantic�s cash-strapped transportation departments continue to make the most of every dollar received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. �It�s been a welcome bridge in these economic times,� says Malcolm T. Kerley, chief engineer for the Virginia Dept. of Transportation, which has reduced its six-year project plan by more than $4 billion over the last few years. �The stimulus has helped create some jobs and probably allowed more than a few contractors to stay in business.� Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation Allen Biehler agrees, calling his state�s $1.026-billion ARRA allotment �a godsend in terms of how it has helped
For many contractors working in the Mid-Atlantic region, 2009 represented another year of depressed market opportunities. And the pace of new project starts was certainly down overall. View Top Projects Slideshow At the same time, however, a solid number of major projects moved forward during the previous year. Mid-Atlantic Construction�s annual Top Project Starts ranking highlights the top 25 contracts, by construction contract value, that broke ground during 2009. This year, this ranking is slightly different from the past. Instead of separate rankings by state or region, we�ve presented this year�s list in a single grouping that represents the entire
The Pennsylvania Convention Center, which opened in 1993 in the heart of City Center Philadelphia, lived up to its promise of attracting more convention business to the city and prompting economic growth. The additional convention business in turn prompted hotel construction and economic development projects in the surrounding region and made the area surrounding the Pennsylvania Convention Center its own activity hub. However, demand soon outgrew the convention space in the 1.3 million-sq-ft facility, and city officials wanted that convention center hub to connect to the rest of the city. So in 2008, the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority undertook an
After years of a development boom that brought billions of dollars in work to the region, the economic downturn hit hard in Philadelphia and eastern Pennsylvania. The recession, coupled with limited access to financing, all but dried up opportunities in 2009. Even the area�s colleges, universities and health-care facilities, which typically buzz with activity, dulled to a low hum. Tough times have continued through 2010, although some see a glimmer of hope on the horizon. �The best I can say is that there�s a lot more chatter in the industry today than last year,� says Greg Stewart, executive vice president
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