| Chicago Spire Receives Approval from Planning Commission
Dublin-based Shelbourne Development Group Inc. has announced
that The Chicago Spire received approval from the City of
Chicago Planning Commission.
The 150-story, 2,000-ft-tall twisting tower is expected to
house 1,200 residences if financing is received.
The approved plan features several changes to earlier designs,
including a four-story transparent glass lobby, an underground
parking garage for residents and one-acre landscaped public
plaza.
Confirmation by the full city council was expected in mid-April.
Construction is expected to begin spring 2007, with completion
anticipated in 2010.
For more information on the spire, see the Top
Projects section in this issue.
Missouri Retail Center to Get
$70 Million Expansion
The $70 million Wentzville Crossroads Marketplace expansion
in Wentzville, Mo., was announced, making what was once the
rural fringe of greater metropolitan St. Louis a hub of retail
growth.
The expansion will more than double the size of the retail center
to 768,000 sq ft. Situated on Wentzville Parkway at Interstate
70, the development has drawn customers from 40 miles away as
a destination retail center serving residents in three adjoining
counties.
Located at the epicenter of growth near the crossroads of Interstate
70 and Highway 40/61 in far west suburban St. Louis, the development
serves St. Charles county-Missouri's fastest growing county
in the 2000 census-as well as Lincoln and Warren counties.
Wentzville has also boomed, growing from a town of roughly 5,000
in 1990 to more than 20,000 people. The city projects that its
population will reach 46,000 by 2010 and 54,000 by 2015. It
issued more than 900 new home permits in 2006 and anticipates
issuing a like number in 2007.
Wentzville Crossroads was opened in 2002 and has expanded its
tenant roster to keep pace with growth. This year, the center's
existing 372,000 sq ft will get another 396,000 sq ft.
Riverside Brookfield High School
To Get $64 Million Renovation
Ground was broken for the $64 million renovation and expansion
of Riverside Brookfield High School in Chicago's Southwest
suburbs.
In the first phase, the team is building a new music center
into a 70-ft-square courtyard and constructing a vocational
education building across the street. A portion of the second-floor
classrooms will be closed off and updated as well.
A swimming pool will be built in the existing aquatic space,
replacing an aging pool too narrow to be used for official
swim meets, during the second phase.
The third phase, the most extensive, will include construction
of a new academic and administrative wing, with a new main
entrance, on the northwest corner of the property; a student
commons area; and a new field house.
The team also will renovate much of the rest of the school,
including the cafeterias, library and computer labs, auditorium
and theater, and main gymnasium. Stairwells, corridors and
bathrooms, many with the original 90-year-old fixtures, will
be renovated, bringing them up to current accessibility standards.
All work is scheduled to be complete by September 2009 despite
the scope and complexity of the building program.
While every project has its quirks, Riverside Brookfield is
the first where the construction team is sharing space with
a bunch of animals-literally.
Part of Riverside Brookfield's site actually is located on
the nationally renowned Brookfield Zoo's property, and the
school occasionally must turn over parking lots and athletic
fields for use as overflow parking for the zoo.
Chicago-based James McHugh Construction Co. is the contractor
on the project.
Last Building Renovated in
St. Louis' Gaslight Square
The Ben J. Selkirk & Sons Building at 4160-4166 Olive
Street, the last original structure still standing in the
once thriving Gaslight Square area of St. Louis, was recently
renovated to become the Motorworks loft apartments and commercial
space.
The project is part of the ongoing redevelopment of Gaslight
Square.
The building features 14,000 sq ft of commercial space on
the first floor and 10,000 sq ft of loft apartments on the
second level.
The first tenant at Motorworks, the American Civil Liberties
Union of Eastern Missouri, moved into the renovated structure
in February. Plans also call for a restaurant and other retail
operations to be housed on the first floor. External remodeling
has been completed on the single-story structure, which has
approximately 4,700 square feet of space. The two-story structure
that adjoins it, which has about 10,000 sq ft, includes the
ACLU headquarters.
The Selkirk building was built in 1919 and originally housed
the Oliver A. Haupt Lincoln-Mercury automotive dealership.
Featuring an elaborate facade with a shaped parapet, a terra
cotta cornice and a pedimented terra cotta door surround,
it later became the St. Louis location of the Selkirk auction
house from 1937 until 1995.
For several years after that it served as a storage facility
for St. Louis Opera Theatre. With just three owners, the building
has retained much of its original integrity. It has been nominated
for the National Register for Historic Places by the City
of St. Louis Preservation Board.
Part of the Gaslight Square Place III redevelopment, Motorworks
is the lone remaining structure of the original Gaslight Square,
which flourished from the mid-1950s through the mid-'60s as
the cultural mecca of St. Louis before falling into decline.
St. Louis-based Pinnacle was the contractor on the project.
USG Named Development
Of the Year in Chicago
Chicago-based real estate developer Fifield Cos. took home
one of the top honors at the 19th Annual Chicago Commercial
Real Estate Awards.
The USG Building, Fifield's recently completed 479,000-sq-ft
office tower at 550 W. Adams St. in Chicago's West Loop, was
named 2006 "Development of the Year."
Sponsored by the Greater Chicago Food Depository, the Chicago
Commercial Real Estate Awards Dinner drew more than 2,000
of the Chicago metropolitan area's top brokers, developers,
property managers, interior contractors and design professionals,
while raising funds for the Food Depository.
The USG won for multiple reasons, including the fact that
it was completed in 2006.
Another factor was the prominence of its namesake tenant USG
Corp., which occupies 70 percent of the building. Overall,
the building is 95 percent leased.
The building's size and architecture also played a key role.
Designed by Chicago-based architects DeStefano+Partners, one
of the 18-story USG Building's notable features is a contemporary
glass exterior that recalls the light-reflective properties
of gypsum, a crystal mineral that is a fundamental material
in many USG products.
Finally, the record-breaking sales price of the building was
another factor. In November, the building was sold to Frankfurt-based
real estate fund manager SEB Immobilien-Investment GmbH for
$178 million. This $372-per-square-foot price tag was the
highest price per square foot ever achieved for an office
property west of the Chicago River.
Partnership Missouri Withdraws
From Safe & Sound Consideration
Partnership Missouri, a consortium of engineering, construction
and financial service companies led by Transfield Services
and Macquarie Securities, has withdrawn from consideration
to improve more than 800 of Missouri's worst bridges.
Two teams-Missouri Bridge Partners and Team United-remain
in contention to deliver MoDOT's Safe & Sound Bridge Improvement
Program.
Partnership Missouri submitted a letter to the Missouri Department
of Transportation saying it would no longer pursue the Design-Build-Finance-Maintain
contract that will be awarded this summer. The team selected
will replace or improve 802 bridges on the MoDOT system by
the end of 2012, then maintain them in good condition for
a minimum of 25 years.
Wisconsin Wastewater Plant
Gets Grand Award
Madison-based Strand Associates received recognition for the
Greater Bayfield Wastewater Treatment Plant project.
The Engineering Excellence Grand Award was given by the American
Council of Engineering Cos. of Wisconsin.
Stewardship of Lake Superior was a high priority for the City
of Bayfield and Pikes Bay Sanitary District, because the area
enjoys recreational and tourism benefits throughout the year.
The existing 1970s-era wastewater treatment plants, which discharged
to Lake Superior, met discharge limits, but there was concern
about the ability to meet long-term demands.
Strand was hired to prepare a facilities plan. It found that
one regional Greater Bayfield Wastewater Treatment Plant would
achieve a higher standard of treatment in an environmentally
friendly way.
The plant applies oxidation ditch activated sludge technology
with biological nitrogen and phosphorus removal, minimizing
the use of chemicals. After clarification, cloth disk filters
polish the effluent to well beyond typical DNR standards.
High efficiency ultraviolet disinfection occurs before discharge
to Lake Superior. Biosolids are managed with reed beds that
provide natural dewatering through transpiration, a very energy
efficient technology that only requires sludge removal approximately
every seven years.
Dormitory Coming to
Scott Air Force Base
An $18.3 million contract was announced to build a dormitory
at Scott Air Force Base in the Illinois' southwest.
Highland-based The Korte Co. received the contract.
Corrections
The Illinois-only billings of Elgin-based IHC Construction
Cos. LLC was incorrectly reported as $78 million in the Top
Contractors tables in April.
The correct number is $108, 871,000.
Walton Construction was inadvertently left off the table for
worldwide rankings in Top Projects. The firm had $752 million
in billings, placing it as the No. 13 firm.
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