A new hotel at Willits is on track to open at the beginning of next ski season, and the Rocky Mountain Institute plans to occupy its new office and Innovation Center near downtown Basalt by the end of 2015.

Both projects broke ground in October. A mild winter helped keep construction on schedule, according to representatives of both sites.

The crews working on the 113-room Elements by Westin hotel are close to starting interior work, such as extending the plumbing and electrical wiring, according to Ed Mace, CEO of Silverwest Hotel Partners. The company teamed with Willits owner and developer Mariner Real Estate Management to build the hotel.

The hotel also will have an indoor pool and hot tub as well as a fitness center. Mace said there will be two small retail spaces incorporated in the building. Basalt Bike and Ski will open a satellite operation in one space; the shops main store is located a couple blocks away. Bonfire Coffee will open a coffee bar, he said.

The hotel wont offer room service and it wont have a restaurant, so its expected to generated additional business for the nearby eating establishments.

Hotel construction has been rare in western U.S. mountain resorts since the recession hit in 2008, Ralf Garrison, head of DestiMetrics, said recently. Garrison works with properties in resorts, including Aspen and Snowmass Village, on travel trends and occupancy rates. He said the only hotels and lodges that got built during the recession were started before the tough times hit. Demand outgrew supply after the recession, driving up the average daily rate in many destinations.

Mace agreed with the market analysis. He said he thought Basalt would be a good match for a hotel in Westins Elements brand before the recession. The concept was on hold until the economy regained steam.

Shaw Construction is the general contractor on the hotel.

The Rocky Mountain Institute is building its office and Innovation Center just west of downtown along the Roaring Fork River. The nonprofit organization has teamed with the architect, engineer and builder on a building that will showcase its energy-efficiency ideals. The institute calls the 15,610-square-foot building a beyond state of the art office and convening center.

The Innovation Center will be among the highest performing buildings in the world, the institute said in a project description it is using the educate people about the construction. More than just energy efficient, it will be a restorative building, generating more energy than it uses.

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RMI office, Willits hotel on schedule to be completed in 2015

Chas P. Smith of CPS Investment Advisorsstands in his office in the company's newly renovated building. The property had been vacant and deteriorating since Wells Fargo moved out in 2010.

LAKELAND | Chas P. Smith is standing on top of his new headquarters, three stories above the streets of downtown Lakeland.

It's late in the afternoon and the roof is bathed entirely in brilliant, warm sunlight. Smith's new office is taking advantage of every bit of space: covering the roof are 220 solar panels, quietly absorbing the light to be used for power in the offices below.

"We're the only solar building downtown," said Smith, the founder of CPS Investment Advisors. "We expect that our electric bill will be cut in half."

The CPS Financial Center at 205 E. Orange St. is a rarity indeed. It is one of a relatively few businesses that are part of Lakeland Electric's net metering program, in which surplus solar power is sent back to the utility and credited to the customer's account.

In 2010 Lakeland Electric installed more than 1,200 solar panels on the roof of The Lakeland Center, which the city owns, but CPS Investment Advisors is the first private company in the downtown area to do the same.

"It's quite an accomplishment," said Jeff Curry, Lakeland Electric's alternative energy coordinator. "It's much more common to see these (panels) on residential rooftops," but not on a towering office building in the heart of the city's business district.

Smith, who relocated his 40-year-old company from its longtime headquarters on South Florida Avenue, said he viewed the new office as a chance to become more environmentally friendly. It is the most extensive construction project to take place downtown in several years.

"It was the last major eyesore in downtown Lakeland," Smith said. "We have a beautiful city, a great downtown, and we saw an opportunity with this building to return some of the success we've had."

The 24,000-square-foot property had been vacant and deteriorating since Wells Fargo moved out in 2010. CPS acquired the site for $1.15 million in 2013, demolished a portion that was beyond repair, and stripped the remaining structure down to a concrete shell.

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CPS Investment Advisors Hopes to Save With New Building

More than a half-million dollars worth of change orders were approved today for the Ward County Office Building that's under construction.

The cost of the building is still under the planned $19.2 million plan -- but JLG architect Don Davison says there is only about a $20-thousand dollar window before the project is over budget.

Contractors are working to save money where they can -- including a $60-thousand dollar savings by modifying the finish on the pre-cast concrete walls.

Davison says big area for spending increases were fire code requirements and social service department modifications.

Following a city of Minot inspection -- fire code compatible elevator parts were ordered at an additional cost of $86-thousand.

Social Services will occupy the third and forth levels of the new building -- that department has under gone several staffing changes since the building was first designed.

Security and additional staff requirements added up to a change order of $221-thousand.

Davison says the changes were implemented before the cost amounts were known in order to meet the November first deadline.

He says many of the cost estimates were reported yesterday --- today's special meeting was the first the county commissioners had heard of the budget changes.

(Devra Smestad, Ward County Auditor) "So technically, we just lost all of our contingency going forward?"

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County Building Costs Mounting

HUNTLEY Advocate Health Care plans to build a new medical office building in Huntley, after the regional medical provider recently acquired six undeveloped acres near the Interstate 90 interchange, a property developer said.

Phillip Waters, vice president of development for Horizon Group, told the Northwest Herald that Horizon closed on the deal with Advocate earlier this winter.

Advocate plans to start construction on the new office building by the fall, as one of its competitors Centegra Health System continues to build a new hospital located on the north end of Huntley.

We are very excited to have them a part of the Huntley community, Waters said. Advocate is the largest health care provider in the state and a premier provider across the nation.

The six vacant acres are near the Huntley Corporate Park on the northwest corner of the I-90 interchange. Waters said he did not know Advocates specific plans for the area.

The health care provider paid fair market value for the vacant land, although Waters did not disclose the terms of the deal. An Advocate spokesperson did not return a request for comment Monday.

Advocates acquisition also follows Life Spine Inc.s recent move to Huntley. The medical device company in 2014 announced plans to move its corporate headquarters into a larger facility near the I-90 interchange.

Advocates medical office building would be located next to the Life Spines new headquarters, Waters said.

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Advocate Health Care acquires land for medical offices in Huntley

Steamboat Springs Construction is abuzz in the Wildhorse Meadows area of Mount Werner, where five residences are nearing completion and a massive office building is beginning to take shape.

The first part of Homestead at Wildhorse includes five three- and four-bedroom residences in two buildings and is scheduled for completion along Bangtail Way in June or July, according to Garrett Simon, partner of Meriwether Companies, a development firm tasked with handling the design, construction and sales of the Homestead residences for the property owner, Real Capital Solutions.

One of the five units is under contract with a family from Texas who was already familiar with the area and was sold on the numerous amenities of the development, including easy access to the Wildhorse Gondola and an athletic club, according to Colleen de Jong, broker with Steamboat Sothebys International Realty and co-listing agent for the homes, along with Arelene Zopf of Steamboat Village Brokers.

Access to the gondola is a huge selling point, said de Jong, who noted that theres been steady interest in the development, mostly from those interested in a second home, including people who already live elsewhere in the Wildhorse area.

Construction broke ground in August on the homes, which range from 1,700 to 3,100 square feet, and will embody a mountain modern design with rich details and lots of natural elements, de Jong said.

Drywall is beginning to go up inside the buildings and interior trim and exterior siding will be added over the next couple of months, Simon said.

A second phase of construction with two more buildings is expected to break ground early in the summer, as the first phase is completed, he said.

Prices for the remaining four residences are listed as ranging from $1.28 million to $1.6 million, depending on size.

When completed, Homesteads will have 17 residences in five buildings.

Nearby on Bangtail Way, offices for a Steamboat Springs hedge fund will soon take shape.

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Wildhorse Homestead and Deer Park Road Corp. developments take shape

TEXARKANA --United States Postal Service officials announced plans to move out of Texarkana's federal building but say they are committed to maintaining an office in downtown Texarkana.

Postal Service spokesman McKinney Boyd said the relocation is expected in the next 15 months.

"The USPS is working with General Services Administration to help them expand the U.S. district courts and [federal] marshals' office that occupy space in that building," Boyd said. "We have our real estate professionals looking at available retail space for a post office in downtown Texarkana, Ark."

Boyd said the USPS was notified by letter from the General Services Administration of the need for the space to accommodate the courts and U.S. Marshals Service offices. The building houses federal court personnel in the Texarkana divisions of the Eastern District of Texas and the Western District of Arkansas.

Boyd said the Postal Service plans involve only relocation, not a shuttering of the office.

"Customers in downtown Texarkana, Ark., will not lose a U.S. Postal Service presence. Postal management is committed to find an alternate location in the downtown area, which will accommodate our employees and serve our customers, in a progressive, new retail environment," Boyd said.

The office is staffed by only one full-time employee. In 2011, Texarkana lost its unique Texarkana, Ark-Tex, postmark when the local mail processing center was merged with one in Shreveport.

Exactly how the space now occupied by the post office will be used is unclear. Calls to the Government Services Administration, which manages the building, were not returned immediately.

Texarkana Mayor Ruth Penney-Bell said she strongly opposes a move from the downtown federal building, the only one in the country that straddles a state line and houses federal courts and a post office that serve two states.

"The historical significance of this is so important to our community," Penney-Bell said. "This is the one place where both sides of the city meet. We come together here."

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Texarkana post office moving

AFI Europe celebrated on Wednesday the opening of the 3rd building in the award winning office project AFI Park. The leading real-estate agencies, professionals and developers attended the event. AFI Park is developed Adjacent but fully integrated into AFI Palace Cotroceni shopping mall. The office park is considered as Bucharests newest and most advanced Class A business Park, which has achieved 100% occupancy rate of its office spaces. AFI Park offers more than 70,000 of office leasable area, currently targeted by multinational IT&C corporations. The first office building AFI Park 1, with 12,250 sqm of leasable area, is 100% leased. In April 2014 AFI Europe inaugurated AFI Park 2 with 12,200 sqm of GLA and has is 100% leased, while AFI Park 3, delivered in December 2014, is 100% leased to Endava Romania and TELUS International Europe. In April 2014 AFI Europe Romania has also commenced construction of AFI Park 4 & 5 office building that will offer additional 32,000 sqm of gross leasable area to the project and is planned to be delivered in Q4 2015, according to Tal Roma, Business Development Manager at AFI Europe.

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AFI Europe celebrated the opening of the 3rd building in the office project AFI Park

Wynyard Precinct Holdings, a joint venture between Goodman Property Trust and Singapore government-owned GIC, has agreed to buy an office tower in Auckland's Wynyard Quarter from Fletcher Building for $86.2 million.

Fletcher Construction expects to complete the office building, which is substantially leased to Datacom, in March 2017.

As well as being part of the group that has conditionally agreed to buy the building, Goodman has agreed to fund the cost of the development until settlement, it said.

Fletcher has separately retained Goodman to provide development management services on the project.

The Overseas Investment Office approved GIC's investment in the joint venture in January.

It owns 49 per cent of a property portfolio initially valued at $313m and with a target to grow to $500m.

GIC is a global investment firm with over $US100 billion ($NZ131.67b) of assets under management.

John Dakin, chief executive of Goodman Property's manager, said the deal with Fletcher "was facilitated through Goodman's relationship with Fletcher Building".

They also worked together to develop Fonterra's corporate headquarters on the same site and are developing the six-level VXV3 building directly behind the Fonterra building.

"Neighbouring our existing Viaduct assets and in an area of substantial private and public development, it's a compelling investment opportunity," he said.

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Goodman Property JV to Auckland tower

Britco's Agassiz office building won an award at a prestigious modular building awards night recently.

image credit: Courtesy Britco

Britcos Agassiz office building won a prestigious award at the recent Modular Building Institute Awards.

The beautifully-designed office earned top honours in the Permanent Modular Office category at the awards night, held in Las Vegas March 16. The office building, which was in full operation by last August, features vaulted boardroom ceilings and modern finishes as well as expanded office space for the growing company. The six modules were built right at the Agassiz plant and was designed so it can be easily expanded as more space is needed.

Britco also won an award for a bank building in High Level, Alberta, recognized in the category of permanent Modular Retail or Hospitality.

These projects truly show the innovation and flexibility that modular construction offers, said Mike Ridley, president of Britco. Were very pleased that the Modular Building Institute recognized the hard work of Britcos design and construction teams.

The Modular Building Institute is a non-profit trade association representing companies in Canada, the United States and 14 other countries involved in the construction and distribution of commercial modular buildings.

Entries were reviewed by an impartial panel of industry and non-industry construction and code experts, architects and engineers, and marketing professionals. Building entries were judged on architectural excellence, technical innovation and sustainability, cost effectiveness, energy efficiency and calendar days to complete.

Britco is a Langley-based company, with modular construction facilities in Agassiz, Penticton and Edmonton as well as in the United States. Britco is one of the largest commercial modular construction companies in North America, providing temporary and permanent residential and commercial modular buildings. The company has had operations in Agassiz since 1988.

These two latest awards add to a long list of accomplishments for Britco, including best in show for the Whistler Athletes Village and best modular building in North America for the Chilliwack Olympic Legacy Housing. For more, see http://britco.com/about-us/company-awards

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Britco wins top industry award

By Jonathan Underhill

March 27 (BusinessDesk) - Wynyard Precinct Holdings, a joint venture between Goodman Property Trust and Singapore government-owned GIC, has agreed to buy an office tower in Auckland's Wynyard Quarter from Fletcher Building for $86.2 million.

Fletcher Construction expects to complete the office building on the corner of Gaunt and Daldy Streets, which is substantially leased to Datacom, in March 2017. As well as being part of the group that has conditionally agreed to buy the building, Goodman Property has agreed to fund the cost of the development until settlement, it said. Fletcher has separately retained Goodman Group to provide development management services on the project.

The Overseas Investment Office approved GIC's investment in the joint venture in January. It owns 49 percent of a property portfolio initially valued at $313 million and with a target to grow to $500 million. GIC is a global investment firm with over US$100 billion of assets under management.

John Dakin, chief executive of Goodman Property's manager, said the deal with Fletcher "was facilitated through Goodmans relationship with Fletcher Building." They also worked together to develop Fonterra's corporate headquarters on the same site and are developing the six-level VXV3 building directly behind the Fonterra building.

"Neighbouring our existing Viaduct assets and in an area of substantial private and public development, its a compelling investment opportunity," Dakin said.

Since announcing the JV in November, GIC has quickly extended its property interests in New Zealand, buying into five shopping centres via a joint venture with Australia's Scentre Group, which owns Westfield malls in Australia and New Zealand.

Goodman Property shares fell 0.4 percent to $1.185 and have gained 23 percent in the past 12 months.

(BusinessDesk)

Scoop Media

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GIC-Goodman Property JV to extend Auckland CBD footprint