Last Updated: March 16, 2012 12:23pm ET

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The Spire, located south of the Dallas Arts District, has 350,000 sf planned for its first phase.

DALLAS-Following years of planning and land acquisition, Spire Realty Group LP is ready to move dirt on its 12-acre mixed use project that is dubbed, appropriately enough, The Spire. The local commercial real estate owner and developer has pulled permits and signed construction documents to begin its first phase on this CBD project: a 350,000-square-foot office building that will also offer 35,000 square feet of retail space.

Jon Ruff, Spire Realtys senior vice president tells GlobeSt.com that the next step is finding a lead tenant for the development, which will then spur a groundbreaking. Were also turning attention to other sites in the project for development. Right now, based on the master plan, we could build approximately 3 million square foot of space, he adds. The current master plan calls for a mix of office, retail and residential, with enough space for a 500-key hotel. The 12-acre development is located just south of the Arts District, and is bordered by Ross Avenue, North Central Expressway (U.S. 75) and Leonard Street.

Ruff says that, in addition to holding office and retail space and multifamily properties, the space would also be ideal for art-related uses and venues that could tie into the nearby Arts District. The Arts District features the Winspear Opera House, the Crow Collection of Asian Art and Trammell Crow Center, the AT&T Performing Arts Center and Meyerson Symphony Center.

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Spire Readies for 350,000-SF in MXU Development

After several years of marching in place, developers of a huge housing, retail and office complex along Tacomas Ruston Way are moving forward with construction.

The first fruits of that renewed activity at Point Ruston, on the site of a former Asarco copper mill near Point Defiance Park, will open to the public late this spring.

Mike Cohen, Point Rustons development manager, said this week he expects to open a new Ruston Way roadway extension through the development in May. That boulevard will bypass the historic Ruston tunnel, which will be filled with soil from the site and sealed.

Grand opening for the new road, which will once again connect the Commencement Bay Waterfront with the town of Ruston, is set for April 21 with a five-kilometer run. That ceremonial road opening will proceed the public road opening to traffic by about a month, said Cohen.

Well have a few details to wrap up before were able to let traffic use the new road, he said. The $28.7 million infrastructure project not only built a new road but also added new utility capacity to serve the Point Ruston development and surrounding areas.

The opening of the first segment of a nearly mile-long waterfront esplanade will follow the roadway opening in June, said Cohen. That 100-foot-wide strip of parkland will include a 20-foot-wide paved sidewalk for walkers and a nearby crushed stone path for runners. The esplanade, called the Waterwalk, will be heavily landscaped and furnished with benches. The full length of the esplanade extending from the present Ruston Way waterfront path to Metropolitan Park District property at Point Defiance is due for opening by the end of the year, said the developer. He put the esplanades cost at $5 million.

Meanwhile, construction continues on the first multi-unit housing in the development. That housing, the Copperline apartments, is scheduled for opening in September. Cohens development company had begun construction on the Copperline several years ago, but halted construction when the housing market collapsed in 2008. The multi-story building was originally scheduled to be condominiums, but the structure was redesigned as apartments.

The 173 units in that building will range in size from 900 to 1,300 square feet. Rents will vary from $900 to $2,000 monthly, said Cohen.

The building includes three levels of covered parking on the lower floors and retail spaces on the ground level.

Plans call for construction to begin by summer on 44 lower rise condominium units between the apartment structure and the esplanade, the developer said. The units, which range in size from 1,350 to 3,000 square feet, will be priced at $500,000 to $1.7 million.

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Point Ruston springs to life with developments

The design for 51 Astor Place, now under construction.

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON | With the last remnants of The Cooper Unions old Engineering Building finally demolished, construction is moving ahead on its far glitzier replacement.

Edward J. Minskoff Equities Inc. is developing a 400,000-square-foot office building at 51 Astor Place on a design by Fumihiko Maki.

Influenced by the sites triangular shape, the new edifice will feature a geometric design, sporting a sharply angled glass facade.

In January, Minskoff closed on a $165 million construction loan.

Jones Lang LaSalle will market and lease the 12-story structure, which a Minskoff press release touted as a trophy office building.

According to the release, not only will 51 Astor Place have advanced technology and infrastructure, but will also provide tenants with above-standard electricalpower and generator capacity.

Located at Astor Place and Third Ave., 51 Astor Place is expected to be completed by early next year.

The building will be constructed to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification.

Amenities at 51 Astor Place will include a tenant-accessible green roof on the fifth floor, a penthouse and aThomas Basely-designed urban plaza at Astor Place.

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Astor Pl. ‘trophy office building’ angling for early ’13 completion

March 15, 2012

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Steve Joseph, head of Joseph Enterprises, discusses the Inyo County Consolidated Office project with the Board of Supervisors with partner Scott Piercey (r) and consultant Allan Kotin (center). Photo by Mike Gervais

County leaders voted Tuesday to move forward with a non-binding agreement that will allow them to pursue construction of a new consolidated office building in Bishop. The agreement the Board of Supervisors signed with Joseph Enterprises Tuesday is a term sheet that outlines all necessary steps and a time line that must be completed before the county can build a new, 4,200 square-foot consolidated office facility. The term sheet is non-binding, which means the county has the right and ability to stop negotiations up until the lease agreement for the new building is signed. With the term sheet in place, Inyo County and Joseph Enterprises can begin working on a site plan and design for the property, located just north of Bishop on U.S. 6, and work on preliminary specifications and costs for the project. County staff will also conduct a thorough space needs analysis and develop a final concept plan that will determine what departments will be located in the new facility. Until the final cost and site plans are approved, and the lease is executed, Inyo County reserves the right to back out of the agreement. Before signing the term sheet this week, the Board of Supervisors reviewed an analysis of potential savings, to see if there is any chance that the new consolidated office would save the taxpayers money. Allan Kotin, of ADK&A, which conducted the cost savings analysis, said the county is currently paying $330,000 per year in leases for several office buildings in Bishop. Due to increasing rent prices and tenant improvements, Kotin said over the next 20-50 years, the amount of money the county spends on its leases will skyrocket. Though the consolidated office building comes with a heavy price tag, an estimated $14 million, Kotin said in the long-run, a new building will be cost effective. The benefits of this are substantial, Kotin said. Why do this now? For one, for construction and financing, its a good time. And secondly, government is the ultimate long-term investment, its almost immortal and this will get you out from under inflation. Kotin also said that, because the county will own the property and eventually the building, it will not be paying taxes on its office space. County Administrative Officer Kevin Carunchio said the goal is to have a long-term, 20-year lease with the option of buying the building for $1 when it expires. Under the preliminary agreement, Joseph Enterprises will be responsible for designing the building and construction. In exchange, the county will trade 5.69 acres it owns south of Bishop on U.S. 395 for the three-acre parcel owned by Joseph Enterprises. Under the preliminary agreement, the county will invest $2 million in initial rent, pay $600,000 a year for rent, with three additional payments of $250,000. We havent spent a long time fine-tuning these numbers, Kotin said, pointing out that final numbers will be established once the county knows exactly how large the building will be and what departments will be housed there. While four board members have committed to continue looking in to the construction of a new office building, Fifth District Supervisor Richard Cervantes and some residents have voiced their objections, saying the county should not put itself into debt. The defining issue of America today is massive amounts of public debt, Cervantes said. From the White House to the State House, we are drowning in a sea of red ink. Cervantes also said the county has not adequately explored alternative locations and costs for the proposed project. My constituents in Lone Pine, Keeler, Cartago, Olancha, Pearsonville, Darwin, Stovepipe Wells, Homewood Canyon, Death Valley, Tecopa, Shoshone, Charleston View and Sandy Valley will be forced to pay for something they will never use, he said. This county does not have the money and we are facing declining revenues. No time is a good time to go into debt, and to add to the taxpayers burden under these conditions, I believe, would be fiscally irresponsible. Russ Aldridge, local business owner, board member of the Owens Valley Contractor and Vendors Association and candidate for District 2 Supervisor, said he would like to see the county consolidate its offices, but is not convinced that now is the time to take on the debt. If the county cant afford it, whats going to happen? Aldridge asked. Talk to the people. Find out what the people want. None of us want higher taxes. Carunchio said he does not see the county raising taxes to cover the cost of the new building and believes that, through unfilled positions within local departments, Inyo could save enough money to keep business going as usual and make the necessary payments on the building, if the county chooses to continue its agreement with Joseph Enterprises. Dan Stone, president of the OVCVA, said he supports the project. Im all about business and putting people back to work, but go conservatively, Stone said. Id like to see this building go in. Id like to see solar go in to help reduce utility costs. The time is certainly right, right now, Second District Supervisor Susan Cash said. We can have control over our own destiny, and we can very carefully walk down this road before we have to write a check. Cash said that the project may be feasible because Joseph Enterprises has agreed to handle site planning and other preliminary work that would generally cost the county money. If the plans dont turn out the way county leaders envision them, they can always back out and continue paying the leases the county currently holds.

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County to pursue idea of consolidated office building

Crissy Pascual/California WatchAn addition to the Rady School of Management is one of the new buildings under construction at UC San Diego.

Construction cranes sprout from the campus of UC San Diego like towering palm trees in the Southern California sun.

Theres a new engineering building under construction, and a new addition to the school of management. A new office building is now open, along with a new parking garage, biomedical research and marine labs, cardiovascular center, $400 million student apartment and dining complex, and $55 million music center. New clinical research and biological and physical sciences buildings are scheduled to get under way next year.

In all, $2 billion worth of brand-new facilities are in the planning, design, or construction stages at UCSD. The broader University of California system has more than 200 building projects under way at its 10 campuses and five medical centers, together valued at $8.9 billion. The cement never dries on a UC campus, Carolan Buckmaster, a researcher active in the UCSD faculty union, observed wryly. In the California State University system, $161 million worth of new construction is going up.

All of these new buildings seem an odd contradiction in a state that has cut billions of dollars in operating money from its public universities, which have responded by reducing enrollment, dramatically increasing tuition and laying off employees. And since theres not enough money to operate them once theyre finished, theyre further stretching maintenance and energy budgets. At least one new campus building is sitting virtually empty and unused because the university cant afford to run it.

University officials say all this construction was already in the pipeline before the 2008 economic downturn squeezed state spending for higher education. Some is being paid for by part of a $10.4 billion bond issue voters approved in 2006, for instance, from which more than $3 billion went to public higher education. Some is being underwritten by private donations, government research grants and student fees. About $1 billion came from bonds issued in 2009 under the federal stimulus program which the universities will have to repay and $325 million in bonds the UC system issued that year on its own. Individual campuses also issue their own bonds, and community colleges often get construction money from local bond issues.

More importantly, these officials say, the money for construction is kept in strictly separate capital, not operating, accounts. It cant be used for expenses such as increasing salaries or enrollment.

But David Kline, spokesman for the California Taxpayers Association, said that, by insisting on continuing to build in spite of the financial downturn, the universities are missing the point. The cost of construction is ultimately bankrolled by taxpayers, Kline said. Thats because Californias public universities and colleges are now paying a staggering $1.1 billion a year in interest on those construction bonds, more than double the amount of 10 years ago, the Legislative Analysts Office reported in August.

People discuss bond money as if its free money that isnt coming out of the taxpayers pockets, and thats exactly where it is coming from, Kline said.

The universities also have to clean, heat, light, cool and maintain these new buildings, the burden of which comes out of hard-pressed operating budgets that were cut by $1.4 billion this year, including $650 million at UC.

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Public universities plow ahead with construction despite tight budgets

Plans for the tall building in the middle have been changed but are still grand.

Plans for San Francisco's tallest building have been changed to be less grand, but if built, the "skyline-busting" skyscraper next to the Transbay Terminal would still be quite the edifice.

New plans for a 60-story, 1,070-foot tall building at First and Mission streets have been submitted to the city, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. That'd make for 1.35 million square feet of office space soaring 220 feet above the city's current tallest building: the Transamerica Pyramid, built in 1972.

While scaled back, the plans prove that there's faith in the city's economy, especially in the office-hungry technology sector, according to the newspaper.

The building could be completed in 2016 at the absolute earliest, the newspaper reported. That's dependent on plans for the new Transbay Terminal, which would be next door to the huge building, being approved in May.

Original plans for the building called for it to be 200 feet higher, and have about 550,000 extra square feet of office space.

The building would be shrouded in glass painted "pearlescent white," the newspaper reported. It should "glint even on cloudy days," an expert said. Shiny!

The top 150 feet of the building would be an empty crown, with metalwork "encasing only air," the newspaper said.

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New Plans for SF's Tallest Building

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Published: 3/14/2012

BY GABRIELLE RUSSON BLADE STAFF WRITER

By summer 2013, a new commercial office building could generate up to 100 jobs in Oregon, a real-estate developer told city officials.

The two-story building is proposed for an empty lot near the Oregon Clinic at 3851 Navarre Ave.

Oregon City Council is considering the developer's request to change the property's zoning from residential to commercial.

Council is expected to hold a public hearing and vote on the issue at a March 26 meeting.

Construction could start as early as the summer, and the new tenant could be in place by spring of 2013. The business could create 80 to 100 jobs, said developer Bruce Kearns of JMS Real Estate.

He told the city planning commission that because of a confidentiality agreement, he did not want to disclose the building's tenant.

Oregon Mayor Mike Seferian speculated that the new building could be either a doctor's office or another business related to the medical field.

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Offices proposed for Oregon site

Three representatives from Attorney General Lisa Madigans office, three people from FQC (the construction company involved with building the Law and Justice Center), two from PSA-Dewberry (the architectural firm), States Attorney Tom Brown and Alina Hartley, Livingston County Board administrator, toured the Law and Justice Center March 8 to view and discuss infractions found to be in non-compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Livingston County Board Chairman Bill Fairfield said he feels the tour went well. They discussed topics that had been taken care of and cleared up, then they shared ideas on what they still had to do, he said. Fairfield said Madigans office will be taking those discussions under advisement and will issue a letter to the county when any decision or plan of action has been made, but Fairfield said they were given no time frame as to when the county could expect a response. This will not be cured in two weeks. We just have to see where this goes, Fairfield said. He also said its very sad that this happened with the new building and that it has always been important to make it accessible to every person that uses the building and it is their goal that it will be. Its very tragic that it came to this. Everybody thought we were doing things right. They went according to 1991 codes and since then, theyve come out with 2010 codes, which are quite different, he said, noting that the 2010 code didnt become effective until construction of the facility was well under construction. Fairfield said there were no statements issued from Madigans office the day of the tour, as it was just an investigation. The door pressure has been fixed and signs have been ordered. When the complaints were made, some of the signs that were noted were there were only temporary, so those have been replaced and taken care of. I would say probably two-thirds of the things on the list (of 99 non-compliance issues) have been addressed, he said. Fairfield added that when the building was built, he and others were under the assumption that it was built to code I would have to say that I was pretty disappointed that someone anonymously made the complaint. It all started over one urinal that was only 17 inches from the wall and progressed from there, Fairfield said. Its unfortunate. Were very proud of that building and it is our goal and always has been to make the building accessible to every person who will ever use it.

Originally posted here:
AG office reps tour Law & Justice Center

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

After years of assisting clients in achieving LEED certification for their facilities, Balfour Beatty Construction earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certifications for two of its own office locations on the East Coast.

In Fairfax, Virginia, the company's North Region achieved Gold certification under the LEED for Commercial Interiors (LEED C-I) rating system for its new headquarters facility at the Bridgewater Corporate Center. And in Charlotte, North Carolina, the company's Carolinas Division achieved LEED C-I Silver certification for its new headquarters in Charlotte's historic South End. LEED for Commercial Interiors is the U.S. Green Building Council's rating system applicable to tenant improvements in new or existing office space.

"Our commitment to sustainability goes far beyond helping others achieve environmental design. We work to incorporate this same responsible design into the facilities we occupy and work in," said Tracy Browne, the company's vice president of sustainability.

The North Region headquarters was designed and built using an Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) method, which earned the project two LEED Innovation and Design pilot credits. Balfour Beatty worked with design partners Fox Architects and Engineered Systems Alliance to design and build a space that reflects the company's collaborative culture and commitment to sustainability.

In support of Balfour Beatty's global Sustainability Roadmap, the IPD team designed and installed systems to track carbon emissions and electrical use, allowing Balfour Beatty to track actual performance of energy-saving strategies and seek ways to continue reducing energy consumption. Steve Smithgall, division president, emphasized, "The LEED C-I Gold certification of our new headquarters starts us off on the right sustainability path. Now we are striving to continue to find ways to reduce our impact through constant monitoring, aggressive strategies and innovative thinking."

In Charlotte, North Carolina, the new office encompassed 30,000 square feet of converted space, from a former 1920s knitting mill and adjacent office space. The company chose the South End location for many reasons, including the adaptive reuse of a historic site, easy access to Charlotte's center city via the Lynx Light Rail, as well as the wide range of nearby amenities.

Balfour Beatty collaborated with architecture firm Gensler and Charlotte-based Optima Engineering to create a space that preserved the building's historic significance while incorporating innovation characteristic of the modern workplace. The space also earned a City of Charlotte's Commercial Building Retrofit Energy Efficient Grant in October 2011.

"The location in Charlotte fulfills Balfour Beatty's priority to provide additional service and convenience for our corporate, professional services, and public sector clients and enhances our ongoing community engagement focus," said John Woodcock, Carolinas division president.

These two new resource-efficient office spaces and the eco-friendly construction practices that created them are helping Balfour Beatty achieve several environmental sustainability goals under its ambitious Sustainability Roadmap. These goals for 2012 include reducing both greenhouse gas emissions and water use by 10 percent, reducing landfill waste by 50 percent, and maximizing the use of recycled content in building products and materials. The following are some of the sustainable features that helped the new offices achieve their LEED status:

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Balfour Beatty Construction Offices Achieve LEED Certification

(Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune) The ICBM Building is the first commercial building developed at Falcon Hill National Aerospace Research Park, a massive business park being developed on the west side of Hill Air Force Base.

Clearfield Utahs top political leaders, developers, a contractor and Air Force brass snipped the ribbon Monday on a new office building, the first of many planned for the massive Falcon Hill National Aerospace Research Park.

The park, visible along Interstate 15 in Clearfield, is being touted as the largest enhanced-use lease project in the Department of Defenses history.

Through such projects, DoD allows a private developer to lease land on base for commercial development, with the promise that the military share in the profits by way of new buildings for its own employees.

In this case, defense contractor Northrop Grumman and its sub-contractors will fill the new five-story structure, dubbed "building 1575," and the Hill Air Force Base (HAFB) team that works with them on the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile program will get a new building next door.

Hill already has a new security forces building and a new West Gate entrance, thanks to revenue from Falcon Hill.

Gov. Gary Herbert on Monday hailed Falcon Hills first commercial building as an example of an "unprecedented partnership" between government and the private sector.

"This is a new model," said Herbert.

Sen. Orrin Hatch and Rep. Rob Bishop, both Republicans involved in persuading the Air Force to give such a project a try, also spoke at the ribbon-cutting.

HAFB will get up to 1.4 million square feet of office space in return for the use of its 550 acres for the park, Hatch said.

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1st commercial building opens in Hill air base aerospace park