Development at Montelucia Gains Momentum

Crown Realty & Development of Calif. is redesigning the former La Posada Resort into the Villas at Montelucia, a Solis Resort & Spa, with groundbreaking scheduled for early 2006. The property, located on 28 acres at the foot of Camelback Mountain in Paradise Valley, will cater to the luxury-class travelers and homebuyers. The resort is planned to include 271 hotel rooms and suites and a 2,400-sq.-ft. Andalucia suite with private yard and pool. The property will include a signature restaurant with breathtaking views with a tapas and piano bar. A 35,000-sq.-ft. resort spa with a full service salon will be located on the property. The facility will also include 70,000 sq. ft. of outdoor meeting and event space, 31,000 sq. ft. of indoor meeting and banquet space, a 5,000-sq.-ft. boutique shopping area, a 9,450-sq.-ft. Grand Ballroom and five pools.

Montelucia also features 34 luxurious detached, single-family Villas, ranging from 3,800 to 4,700 sq-ft, meticulously designed to create a magnificent private living environment in a traditional Southern Spanish architecture with state-of-the-art appointments. California architectural firms Backen & Gillam and Sheurer Architects, along with Scottsdale, Ariz. firm Allen + Philp Architects, are performing design work on the project, which is set to open in the fourth quarter of 2007. VCC Contractors will be the general contractor for the resort.

D.L. Withers Breaks Ground on Public Safety Building

D.L. Withers Construction joined officials of Surprise, Ariz. to kick-off construction of a 93,000-sq.-ft. public safety facility, designed by Architekton. This $32.5 million complex, located on Statler Drive, west of Litchfield and south of Bell Road, will house the police department, municipal court, fire department administration and the Surprise 11 television studio.

Upon completion, Surprise police will occupy 40,000 sq. ft. of the building, doubling the size of their current home. Special features include a prisoner processing and holding facility, a laser simulation room where officers can practice real-life scenarios, K-9 rooms, swat team facilities, a state-of-the-art 911 communications center, spacious lobby, and offices for administration, and patrol, investigations.

The Surprise Municipal Court will trade its cramped quarters for 27,000-sq.-ft. that will include three courtrooms, a jury assembly and deliberation room, and interview rooms and offices. The Fire Administration, the communications department's government access television studio, and traffic operations and emergency operations centers will occupy the additional space. The complex will also include training facilities with a 65-seat auditorium, two 30-seat training rooms and a 15-seat conference room. The project is target for completion in late 2007.

The Weitz Company Awarded Childsplay Renovation in Tempe

The Weitz Company has been awarded the contract for the renovation of Childsplay's new consolidated operations at the Campus for Imagination and Wonder in Tempe.

In September of 2006, Childsplay will consolidate its performing operations at the Tempe Center for the Arts on Tempe Town Lake. This move will necessitate a consolidation of the company's business operations in the 26,000-sq.-ft. renovation project, located at the Mitchell School in the Mitchell Park West neighborhood of Tempe. The new Campus is located less than one mile from the Tempe Center for the Arts and will house Childsplay's administrative, production and education programs.

The contract value is approximately $1.2 million with the project completion slated for spring 2007. Architekton is the project architect.

Summit Builders to Be Acquired

Summit Builders of Phoenix, Ariz. has agreed to a letter of intent to be acquired by Kraus-Anderson Construction Company of Minneapolis, Minn. Privately held Kraus-Anderson will purchase Summit for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition is expected to be finalized in early 2006, upon the completion of due diligence. Summit, which will retain its name, will remain intact as a separate operating group and will continue to be managed by its founder, Jeffrey C. Stone. All employees will retain their jobs as a result of this transaction.

The acquisition is expected to result in combined sales of over a billion dollars, making it one of the nation's largest construction companies.

The Weitz Company Begins Construction on Portland Place

The Weitz Company has begun construction on Phase I of Portland Place, a high-end condominium project in downtown Phoenix.

Phase I of the $22 million project features a six-story condominium tower, a below grade parking garage and two, two story brownstones.

The condominium tower, a post tension concrete structure, will be clad with standing seam metal, glass, plaster products and masonry. This six-story building will house 46 condominiums ranging from 950 to 2,550 sq. ft., each with private patios/balconies, and will include a pool/party deck on the rooftop. The brownstones, which provide a total of eight units, will be comprised of a wood frame structure and clad with the same materials as the condominium tower. The brownstone units will each have two private patios/balconies.

DFD CornoyerHedrick is the architect for the project and Portland Group LLC is the owner.

Linthicum Tops Out Steel Structure at Cesar Chavez Library

Workers for Linthicum have topped off the steel structure at the Cesar Chavez Library in south Phoenix. Representing the city's 14th branch, the 25,000-sq.-ft. library is being built alongside a lake in the Cesar Chavez District Park.

The library will feature floor-to-ceiling windows providing natural light and feature energy conservation systems and green building materials for achieving a LEED certification. The branch will serve as a community meeting place and include a computer lab, meeting room, teen center, youth area and a public art display.

Project architect is Line and Space of Tucson. Linthicum is scheduled to complete construction of the library in early summer 2006.

Summit Builders Begins Pre- Construction Services
for Flagstaff Healthpark

Summit Builders Construction Company has begun preconstruction services for the Flagstaff Healthpark located at San Francisco St. and Forest Ave. in Flagstaff, Arizona for CAVAN Real Estate Investments.

Located on a 15-acre site, the development will consist of two phases. Phase 1 construction will include three, two-story Class "A" medical office buildings totaling 60,000-sq.-ft. and associated site work. The project scope for Phase 2 construction is comprised of a 330,000-sq.-ft., two-level parking garage providing 1,105 spaces and a 122,000-sq.-ft., two-story medical office building. Patrick Hayes Architecture of Scottsdale is providing architectural services.

Summit Builders is currently providing preconstruction services for Phase I with actual construction scheduled to begin early second quarter 2006 with a fourth quarter 2006 completion. Phase II construction is expected to commence third quarter 2006 with a summer completion in 2007.