Sundt Schools Casa Grande & Completes Litchfield Road Overpass

Construction of the Casa Grande Union High School District's newest high school, Vista Grande, is underway. Sundt Construction Inc. is the contractor. The 260,000-sq-ft facility will consist of six structures, including classroom buildings, a state-of-the-art performing arts center, and varsity and practice gymnasiums. The 60-acre campus will also include a library that will be a joint-use facility with the city of Casa Grande. The $59.7 million school will also have athletic fields for football, baseball and softball, plus lighted outdoor tennis courts. The project is scheduled to be complete in June 2009.

Sundt crews are performing the site work and concrete construction with its own personnel. NTD Architects of Phoenix designed the facility.

Sundt also recently completed construction of a 120-ft-long overpass that will directly connect two areas of Luke Air Force Base that Litchfield Road bisects. Sundt built the $7 million structure under a contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is managing the project for the Air Force.

The new overpass will span the four-lane thoroughfare and connect the commissary, hospital, 56th Fighter Wing Support Center and military housing areas on the east side of the base with the main part of the base to the west.

Previously, service members had to exit the one side, undergo a security check, and then re-enter the facility on the other side. The overpass will now allow free travel back and forth and will also help alleviate traffic congestion on Litchfield Road.

Carter Burgess of Phoenix was the lead engineer.

Summit Gets Aloft in Tempe

Aloft Hotel, Tempe

Summit Builders commenced construction on the new Aloft Hotel at 951 E. Playa del Norte in Tempe for developer Triyar Hospitality.

The Aloft is a new brand being rolled out by Starwood intended to fill the European Boutique niche and will present sleek finishes with a modern flavor. The Tempe hotel will provide 136 rooms within five stories and 68,243 sq ft. Amenities will include a pool, lounge, fitness facilities and meeting rooms.

Summit anticipates completion in the first quarter of 2009. Tempe-based RSP Architects is providing architectural services.

The Phoenix-based general contractor has also commenced preconstruction services for Starwood on an Aloft prototype in Tucson.

SAXA Breaks Ground on Office Condos

SAXA broke ground on its 44,000-sq-ft office condominium community on the Valley's high-traffic corridor of Shea Boulevard west of Tatum.

Two single-story buildings and one two-story building will offer business owners of small- to medium-sized businesses the advantages of owning their own space.

Suites are available from 1,641 sq ft up to an entire building, which range from 7,000 and 10,000 sq ft for the single-story buildings to 27,000 sq ft for the two-story building. The project will have an open, spacious atmosphere enhanced by environmentally sensitive desert landscaping. Space is selling for $280 to $285 per square foot.

Prescott Valley Hits the Books with New Library

Prescott Valley Library

The Town of Prescott Valley and Yavapai College broke ground on a free-standing 52,000-sq-ft library located within the town's Civic Center Complex. The new library will contain an auditorium, viewing terrace, general circulation area, computer lab, cafe and bookstore. In addition to the public space, Yavapai College will utilize a wing of the library for classroom instruction and cultural performances.

The project is designed by Phoenix-based richard + bauer architecture and is being built by contractor Barton Malow.

Custom Renovation Reaches Full Bloom at Hotel Indigo

Design firm DLR Group and contractor Howard S. Wright have completed work on the Scottsdale Hotel Indigo, owned by Everest Holdings. This unique hotel steps outside the run-of-the-mill hotel chain remodel and was given a modern update using custom-designed furniture, light wood laminate flooring and the Indigo trademark giant wall murals.

This full remodel of a 10-year-old, 126-room Hampton Inn consisted of a full gut and redesign of all guestrooms and bathrooms as well as the lobby, the entry stairway, public restrooms, a new fitness center and a completely redesigned and enlarged bar/lounge area with a newly constructed 1,400-sq-ft exterior balcony.

The existing four-story 77,000-sq-ft building is set above a ground level parking lot, capped with a copper colored barrel roof. The pool deck and lounge areas were remodeled and extensively re-landscaped to include a contemporary steel mesh and vine barrier between the pool and parking, a new water feature and a poured-in-place concrete fire pit.

The exterior of the building received a striking gray, blue and cranberry color scheme that contrasts with the existing copper roof.

Massive Southwest-themed murals were added to both exterior ends of the Y-shaped building and to the edge treatment of the balcony.

Weitz to Build New Low Income Senior Housing

The Southwest Business Unit of The Weitz Company has been selected to construct a 69-unit senior housing complex located at 1130 East Monroe Street.

The McCarty on Monroe residential facility, designed by Phoenix-based Orcutt/Winslow, will serve low-income seniors at or above 62 years of age. The 69-unit rental community will offer 66, one-bedroom apartments from approximately 700 sq ft and several two-bedroom apartments at approximately 1,200 sq ft. Eight of the apartments will be totally ADA-accessible. The project is owned and operated by McCarty on Monroe LLC, and has been assisted with tax credits awarded by the State of Arizona, Department of Housing.

The first floor of the four-story building will contain common areas, administrative office and maintenance facilities, while the 69 units are located on the upper floors. The common area amenities will feature a large community room with kitchen, a computer/activity room and large landscaped inner courtyard with walking and seating areas. The complex will be gated, have security access and provide gated garage parking for residents.

The estimated total construction cost for this project is $9.5 million with a construction start date of spring 2008.

Scottsdale Pavilions Purchased for $88 Million

De Rito Partners Development Inc. has purchased the Scottsdale Pavilions, a 1.1 million-sq-ft retail center at Indian Bend Road and the Loop 101 Freeway, for $88 million.

The company plans more than $25 million in renovations, an addition of 150,000 sq ft of retail in the early phases and to initiate a community outreach program to elicit feedback on the future plans for the property.

"Currently, the shopping center is not meeting the needs of the community," says Marty De Rito, CEO of the Phoenix-based developer. "We look forward to working with area residents and other stakeholders to explore the possibilities for reinvigorating this key property."

Originally developed in two phases from 1989 to 1991, Scottsdale Pavilions sits on land owned by the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community at Loop 101 and Indian Bend Road. The development was one of the first joint venture development projects with an American Indian community in the country. The acquisition includes the purchase of the leasehold interest on the 135 acres of land underneath the shopping center owned by members of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.

Ninyo & Moore to Provide Engineering Services on Two Ariz. Projects

Ninyo & Moore has been retained by Arizona American Water Co. and Garney Construction to provide construction materials testing and special inspection services for the White Tanks Regional Water Treatment Plant in Maricopa County. The new plant will treat renewable Central Arizona Project water and reduce continued reliance on groundwater. At full build-out, the plant will treat 80 million gallons of water per day, potentially providing for 160,000 homes and saving 24 billion gallons of groundwater per year. Ninyo & Moore's services will include field density testing of subgrade and fill soils, and aggregate base; inspection, sampling and testing of structural concrete and masonry grout and mortar; inspection and testing of asphaltic concrete paving; laboratory testing of soils, aggregates, concrete, grout, mortar and asphaltic materials; visual weld, ultrasonic testing and bolting inspection of structural steel components.

Ninyo & Moore will also provide a geotechnical engineering evaluation to URS for a new railroad classification yard located on the east side of I-10, between Picacho and Tucson.

To submit New Mexico, Arizona or Nevada news items or press releases, email the editor at scott_blair@mcgraw-hill.com.