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First Contract Awarded for Chicago Spire
The first contract has been awarded for The Chicago Spire, the 2,000-ft-tall residential tower at 400 N. Lake Shore Drive. Roselle-based Case Foundation Co. received the contract, and Chicago’s Department of Construction and Permits has granted a building permit, announced Dublin-based Shelbourne Development Group, the developer.
Case will provide 34 concrete and steel caissons that will comprise the foundation of The Chicago Spire. The caissons will be drilled 120-ft deep into the bedrock to support the 150-story building’s structure. Case will also excavate a 104-ft-diameter cofferdam 78-ft deep to create a dry work environment. The cofferdam will serve as the foundation for the core of the building.
Construction of this underground phase is expected to be finished in first-quarter 2008. Environmental remediation has already been complete and Vernon Hills-based environmental consultants STS have completed gathering field samples at DuSable Park, which is being built as part of the project.
The Spire is scheduled for completion in late 2010.
Two Projects Planned
At College of DuPage
The College of DuPage has announced two projects for its campus in Glen Ellyn, the Health Careers & Natural Sciences Building and the Technology Education Center.
The $50 million health sciences building will be located on an existing six-acre parcel. The 188,000-sq-ft facility will house a combination of laboratory, classroom, office and instructional space—with two levels devoted to health careers development and services, and another three levels dedicated to the natural sciences program.
The project will also include a small parking lot, pedestrian walkways and an outdoor lab. Completion date is January 2009.
The $37 million technology center will be located on five-acres and occupy 173,000 sq ft. The three-level facility will contain a combination of classrooms, offices and instructional space for architecture, automotive, HVAC, integrated engineering and manufacturing technology, interior design, welding and ornamental horticulture.
Special areas will include high bay space for automotive, a student lounge, study zones, 100-seat lecture hall, 40-station computer lab, greenhouse and faculty offices. Completion date is February 2009.
The Chicago office of Providence, R.I.-based Gilbane Building Co. was named construction manager for two new projects. The buildings are being constructed in partnership with architects HOK of St. Louis and DeStefano + Partners of Chicago.
Rush Breaks Ground for
Orthopedic Ambulatory Building
Rush University Medical Center in Chicago recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for an orthopedic ambulatory care building, the first visible phase of construction in the medical center’s seven-year comprehensive redevelopment.
The 222,000-sq-ft orthopedic ambulatory care building will be located on the Rush campus immediately west of Ashland Avenue between Harrison and Flournoy streets. Outpatient offices and related facilities of the department of Orthopedics will occupy four floors of the five story building.
Construction also began this summer on a parking structure and a power plant for the Rush campus. Related underground construction will give Rush a new loading dock and materials delivery system for the campus.
Together, with the Orthopedic Ambulatory Building, this first phase of construction will cost $137 million and is expected to be completed in 2009. The entire Rush Transformation project will cost more than $800 million.
The architect for the orthopedic building is Chicago-based Perkins +Will. Chicago-based AMDC is the contractor.
The Power/Jacobs Joint Venture is the project manager for the overall redevelopment.
Heroic Crane Operators Save
Life of Severely Injured Motorist
St. Louis crane operators Rocky Rhodes and Steve Leslie likely saved the life of a man whose arm was nearly amputated in an auto accident.
The accident happened near the interchange of Interstate 55 and Interstate 270 in south St. Louis County in late June.
The operators were on their way to construction jobsites, when a cement truck blew a tire and collided with the car next to it. The cement truck then fell on the car, pinning the driver inside.
Rhodes and Leslie stopped to help, checked on the cement truck driver and turned their attention to the motorist, who was injured. They broke the car’s windshield and entered.
The victim’s arm was severely injured and nearly amputated. Rhodes took off his belt and put a tourniquet on the arm and then extracted the victim from the car with the help of Leslie.
“His arm was nearly severed and blood was squirting out,” Rhodes said. “It appeared the gentleman might bleed to death. He kept saying, ‘Don’t let me die,’ and Steve and I reassured him he wouldn’t.”
They ensure the victim remained conscious and kept his arm elevated until emergency vehicles arrive.
One of the responders said that Rhodes and Leslie had saved the motorist’s life because he would have bled out before emergency help would have arrived.
Both left the scene shortly after being cleaned up by ambulance crews and went to their scheduled jobs. They work for Budrovich Contracting.
AIA: Strong Nonresidential Activity
Through 2007, Stabilizing in 2008
Despite the continued sagging housing industry, the nonresidential construction market has shown solid gains this year and spending is expected to increase by 7.2% in 2007 in inflation adjusted terms, the American Institute of Architects announced.
Led by heavy demand for institutional projects, the growth in 2008 is expected to be at a slower pace, closer to a 3% gain in total activity.
These are highlights from the American Institute of Architects’ semi-annual Consensus Construction Forecast, a survey of the nation’s leading construction forecasters.
“Construction activity in the nonresidential market has been robust this year so far, even exceeding the optimistic projections at the beginning of the year,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker. “This pattern should continue for the rest of the year, with more tempered growth moving into 2008.”
The market segment consensus growth forecast is as follows:
• Hotels 26.4% 1.3%
• Office Buildings 11.2% 3.5%
• Industrial facilities 6.5% 5.2%
• Retail 3.7% -0.9%
• Health Care 8.5% 5.0%
• Public Safety 8.6% 3.3%
• Education 5.9% 4.1%
• Amusement/Recreation 4.2% 2.7%
• Religious 1.3% 4.3%
The full report can be viewed at the following address on the Internet, www.aia.org/aiarchitect/thisweek07/0629/0629b_econforecast.cfm
Chicago Retail Demand Study
Shows Demand for Space Leveling
Demand for new or converted retail space in metropolitan Chicago may be leveling off, despite maintaining historically high levels of activity, according to the recently released 2007 Chicagoland Retail Demand Study.
The study, compiled by Oak Brook-based Mid-America Real Estate Corp., a retail real estate firm, suggests that major retailers are searching for nearly 78 million sq ft of space to complete their expansion efforts, less than a 1% reduction over 2006 figures.
Of the 32 retail categories tracked, the top five in 2006 were: 1) Grocery/Discount Combination Stores, 2) Home Improvement Stores, 3) Traditional Grocery Stores, 4) Restaurants (Combined), and 5) Health, Beauty and Fitness Stores, which narrowly edged out an invigorated Apparel Stores sector for the fifth spot. The top five categories remain consistent with the previous year’s study.
“The aggregate demand for these five categories alone accounts for just over 46 percent of the region’s overall retail demand, a one percent reduction from 2006 figures,” said Mid-America Principal Jeff Kuchman.
Kuchman projects that given Chicagoland’s historic levels of retail supply (on average, approximately 4.98 million sq ft of new space is created each year), it would take more than 15.6 years of new construction to satisfy the market’s present demand notwithstanding surplus property absorption. This figure represents a 1.9% reduction over 2006 figures.
However, when one factors in the heightened projected pace of 2007 construction (11.85 million sq ft of proposed shopping center development projects), present demand equates to 6.6 years worth of new supply, which is a 32.7 percent decrease over 2006 projected development/demand figures.
Small Business Research Study:
Taxes Now Leading Concern
Taxes were the leading concern of business owners during the second quarter of 2007 replacing health care which previously was cited as being the single greatest issue impacting small according to the latest Small Business Research Board study.
Business owners in the U. S. responding to the nationwide poll co-sponsored by Buffalo Grove, Ill.-based International Profit Associates said taxes were closely followed by overall economic conditions and energy/fuel costs as key concerns affecting small businesses during the current quarter. Health care was fifth on the list of concerns as voiced by the more than 770 respondents.
The quarterly poll of small business owners and managers also indicated that taxes were the leading concern in two of the four U. S. regions—ranking No. 1 in the South/Southeast and in the Western states. Taxes were ranked second in the Midwest and fourth in the Northeast. Economic conditions were identified as the leading concern by business owners in the both the Northeast and Midwest.
Energy and fuel costs were tied as the second greatest concern in three of the four regions—the Northeast, Midwest and South/Southeast. Health care was fifth in each of those regions. Interestingly, neither energy and fuel nor health care finished in the top five in the Western U.S. where taxes and economic conditions were followed by foreign competition, the cost of materials and finding quality employees as the leading concerns.
The same business owners also disclosed their expansion and productivity improvement priorities for the coming 12 months. Nearly one-third (32%) of the owners said they plan to expand their businesses.
Business owners are making plans with increased confidence. The SBRB recently reported that its U.S. Small Business Confidence Index (SBCI) rose to 46 for the second quarter of 2007, a jump of 5.22 points from the previous quarter.
Businesses in the Northeast, Midwest and South / Southeast all reported increased confidence from the prior quarter. The SBCI was only lower in the Western region, falling 3.82 points to 45.66. |
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