The Atlanta Braves named a trio of local firms as the team's partners in developing a $400-million mixed-use project adjacent to the $670-million baseball stadium in Cobb County, Ga. According to the team's July 30 announcement, Fuqua Development, Pope & Land Enterprises and Pollack Shores Real Estate Group will work with the Braves to develop the 74-acre project. The development will include roughly 630,000 sq ft of office space, 500,000 sq ft of retail, 450 hotel rooms and 500 residences. Related Links: Brasfield & Gorrie Team Named as Atlanta Braves Ballpark Builders Atlanta Braves Expand Plans for New Ballpark Fuqua
All Aboard Florida, the Florida East Coast Industries subsidiary funding a $2.3-billion, 235-mile passenger-rail system, announced July 24 that it has hired Suffolk Construction Co. to build its $150-million, 3-million-sq-ft Miami transit station. Suffolk’s hiring as construction manager came one week after the Miami-Dade County Commission unanimously approved All Aboard Florida’s land-use plans for the downtown Miami site. Related Links: Despite Vocal Opposition, Fla. Passenger Rail Line Project Moves Ahead Owner of Delayed Miami Science Museum Switches CMs The company says preliminary site work will start this summer, with construction moving ahead this fall.In a press announcement released by AAF,
At last year's high-stakes interview for a lead architect to shape a $1.2-billion retractable-roof stadium for the National Football League's Atlanta Falcons, 360 Architecture's Bill Johnson staged quite a show.
Despite concerns raised by citizens groups about project funding and community impacts, the company developing a $2.3-billion Miami-to-Orlando passenger rail system is moving full speed ahead with its ambitious plans for the 235-mile-long line. Officials with All Aboard Florida (AAF)—a division of Florida East Coast Industries (FECI), Coral Gables—held its latest unveiling of design for its third south Florida station, in West Palm Beach, on July 21. In conjunction with the event, AAF tweeted this from President Michael Reininger: "All initial steps for our stations are now underway. This is now, in fact, happening." Related Links: Bi-Partisan Panel Pushes Importance
With his signature on June 20, Gov. Rick Scott (R) and Florida lawmakers disbanded the scandal-plagued Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority and rechristened it as the Central Florida Expressway Authority, which has a new board. Three Florida counties already have appointed new board members, and Scott will appoint the remaining ones. Related Links: Beers, Burgers and a Bribe? The Case Against a Florida Expressway Official A grand jury indicted two board members, one for violating public-meeting laws in connection with a plan to oust former board Chairman Max Crumit. An engineer seen by many as a transparency advocate, he now works
In its latest report on Everglades restoration, the National Research Council tempered mild praise for "fairly modest progress" in the $13.5-billion plan with its concerns over climate change, rising sea levels and the invasion of non-native plant and animal species. Photo courtesy South Florida Water Management District The report highlighted successes, such as the 85-percent completion of the Kissimmee River Restoration project, which undoes a 1960s channelization of the river. Related Links: NRC Fifth Everglades Quality Report Expected Court OK Will Launch $880M Worth of Everglades Work The fifth congressionally mandated biennial report on the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP),
GLF Construction Corp. has agreed to pay $42,000 in penalties to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as the result of an accident that killed an 18-year-old who had just started working on a Taylor County, Fla., bridge project earlier this year. OSHA officials told ENR Southeast that GLF signed an Informal Settlement Agreement on June 30. Related Links: OSHA, Industry Launch Safety Push on Fall Protection According to OSHA, on Jan. 16, 2014, a nearly 1,800-pound Acrow bridge panel fell upon and killed David Kimberl while he was helping to dismantle a section of the Aucilla River Bridge
Along the curving road leading up to Tampa Bay Water's $129-million reservoir renovation project in Lithia, Fla., signs implore crews to work safely and deliver quality work. One message, "Do it right the first time," is ironic given the project's history. The 8-year-old, 15.5-billion-gallon reservoir already was the focus of a lengthy, expensive legal battle after cracks developed. Therefore, TBW will have to settle for getting it right the second time. Related Links: Tampa Bay Water's Cracked Reservoir Rebuilt and Ready for Refilling As Reservoir Redo Starts, Tampa Bay Water Seeks New GM Jury's Verdict for HDR is Major Setback
GOUVEIAJeffrey Gouveia was named president of Suffolk Construction Co.'s Southeast region, based in West Palm Beach, Fla. Gouveia, who helped launch the firm's regional presence, replaces former region general manager Rex Kirby. Gouveia had served as Suffolk's executive vice president of operations and assisted with growing the Southeast office. Related Links: Call for Entries: Top 20 Under 40 Contest SLIDESHOW: The Southeast's Top 20 Under 40 Richard "Dick" Wells, vice president of Kleinfelder and its transportation market manager in Greensboro, N.C., has been elected chairman of the American Council of Engineering Cos. Wells had been president and a director of
Three years ago, when Coastal Construction Group CEO and Chairman Tom Murphy Jr. predicted to ENR Southeast readers that an "unprecedented" building boom was coming to Miami, skeptics scoffed. "Everybody laughed," says Dan Whiteman, Coastal president. Related Links: 2014 Southeast Top Contractors Ranking 2011: Coastal Construction CEO Says Miami is Set to Boom Again Whiteman—who adds that Murphy "has a stronger sense of the market than any individual I have ever met"—is exaggerating slightly about the reaction. After all, contractors who know the well-connected Murphy would be reluctant to dismiss his insider perspective.Still, back then there was reason for skepticism,
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