Tucson Zoo Goes Wild over Platinum Learning Center

The new conservation learning center at Tucson’s Reid Park Zoo was completed. It is registered as LEED platinum and awaits certification.

A & P Starts Medical Facility, Completes Learning Center

Adolfson & Peterson Construction was awarded the new Arizona Oncology - Phoenix Radiation facility. The medical service provider, Texas based US Oncology, has given A&P the notice to proceed on the renovation/addition project at the Biltmore Medical Mall located at 2222 E Highland St.

The medical services and support center will consist of approximately 5,300 sq ft of renovation work at the existing medical office building. The project will also include an 1,800 sq ft addition that will house a linear accelerator and extensive utility relocation. A&P will be partnering with Minneapolis-based contractor TIMCO, who has a long-standing relationship with US Oncology. Phoenix based Corgan Associates is the architect for the project.

A&P also recently completed the Lee H. Brown Family Conservation Learning Center. The educational building at Tucson's Reid Park Zoo is the first zoo facility in the nation to be registered as LEED platinum. If certified, it would become the third LEED platinum project in Arizona.

The 10,000-sq-ft facility will be used as an educational tool to teach as many as 450,000 visitors a year on how to live sustainably. The building itself was built with maximum use of recycled materials. The facility features old blue jeans for insulation, rain water that is harvested in 2,000-gal vats and reused solar panels on the roof. Overall, the building will use approximately 80% less energy than a typical building of the same size.

The project was designed by Swaim Associates and Green Ideas served as a green consultant on the project.

New Additions Break Ground at Wilson Elementary

A new library addition and multi-purpose classroom building broke ground at Wilson Elementary School at 415 N. 30th Street in Phoenix.

Designed by Emc2 Group Architects Planners, PC and being built by Concord Construction, the cost for both projects is $6 million, with a scheduled completion of March 2009.

The 4,000-sq-ft library addition will be available to the community after hours and weekends, and exterior glazing promotes the community's connection with the interior education space. One project challenge was to combine interior campus circulation and grades 4-8 student use with perimeter security, while allowing grades K-3 students to circulate from classrooms one-half block away.

The library includes a classroom, storytelling area, computers and several flat screen monitors.

The 24,000-sq-ft two-story multi-purpose and classroom building includes classrooms for music, art, and writing, creative learning plus three special education and eight small reading classrooms. The project also contains a community center to assist and educate homeless and migrant families within the community; the space includes donated item storage, a classroom and a babysitting room. There are also offices for the school's Head Start program, adjacent to the program's existing classrooms and playground.

New Bridge Tower Being Built for Scottsdale Healthcare

Construction manager Barton Malow Co. is constructing the Scottsdale Healthcare North Campus Medical Bridge Tower.

The 39,000-sq-ft project, designed by Devenney Group, involves the addition of a three story, steel-framed medical/surgical bridge tower adjacent to Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Campus Hospital's existing Tower A. It will consist of 28 patient beds with nurse station support areas, charting and medication areas, storage, housekeeping areas, restrooms and a staff lounge. Construction is scheduled for completion in December.

W.L. Gore Chooses Facility Design Team

W.L. Gore & Associates has selected Reece Angell Rowe Architects, Caruso Turley Scott Structural Engineers and GLHN to serve as the design team for a new office and manufacturing facility for the firm's medical division. The campus will be located in Sonoran Foothills north of Phoenix near the Carefree Highway.

The medical and industrial product manufacturer is best known for its GORE-TEX® fabrics.

PetroSun Moves Forward With Biorefinery

PetroSun BioFuels Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of PetroSun Inc., has formed a joint venture entity with Optimum Biofuels LLC of Gilbert to construct and operate a biodiesel refinery near Coolidge named Coolidge Biorefinery LLC. Both companies plan to participate in the construction and operation of the plant.

The biorefinery is sited next to a rail line and the firm has initiated the process of obtaining the authorizations required to install a private rail siding on the property.

The joint venture is currently awaiting a zoning use permit to be issued by the Pinal County Zoning Board. Engineering and building plans are underway along with permitting and pre-construction operations.

The plant is engineered for an annual production rate of 30 million gallons with the ability to produce double that capacity when the market demands such an expansion. PetroSun BioFuels will provide algal oil as the feedstock for the biorefinery.

New Luxury Community Rises in Oro Valley

Electronic Communities Inc. has begun sales of Ponticello, a new $100+ million master-planned luxury residential community in the foothills of Oro Valley. Road and infrastructure construction has been underway for three years at the 250-acre, gated private mesa. Accessed only by a private bridge, the development features 85 premium estate lots ranging in size from one-third acre to four and three-quarter acres and are priced from $250,000 to $2,000,000.

Ponticello will offer winding streets, fountains and massive gardens that evoke the intimacy of a small European village. The town center, named Centrale', will offer resort amenities such as workout facilities, tennis, swimming, golf simulator, health spa, historical museum, roman-style mini-amphitheater and a restaurant.

Approximately 50% of the Ponticello is reserved as "green space" with low-impact, groomed walking and hiking trails. Buyers may choose their own architect and builder or utilize ECI's sister company, Benchmark Homes, Inc., for the design and construction of their custom home. Builders will follow strict design guidelines to achieve energy efficient homes, eco-friendly landscapes and European architecture.

HFF Arranges $92.75 Million for Multifamily Development

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP arranged a construction loan and joint venture equity together totaling $92.75 million for Mirabella, a 715-unit multifamily development in Avondale.

HFF worked on behalf of Fore Property Co. to secure a $74.2 million, four-year fixed-rate construction loan through a life insurance company. An institutional equity partner provided $16.695 million in joint venture equity for the project. Aries Capital of Phoenix was the co-broker for this transaction.

Due for completion in February 2010, Mirabella will consist of two phases-Mirabella Village and Mirabella Gardens. Mirabella Village will have 369 units in one-, two- and three-bedroom and loft layouts ranging from 739 sq ft to 1,040 sq ft. Mirabella Gardens will have 346 units in the same floor plans as Mirabella Village plus 55 two- and three-story townhome units ranging in size from 1,722 sq ft to 1,907 sq ft. Community amenities will include two clubhouses, four swimming pools, a fitness center, theater, sauna, playground and a business center. The 33.7-acre site is located at the corner of West Indian School and El Mirage Roads.

Bloomingdale's to Open at CityNorth

The first Bloomingdale's store in Arizona will open at CityNorth, the 144-acre mixed-use development in Phoenix's Northeast Valley. Bloomingdale's will join Nordstrom as one of the retail cornerstones of CityNorth's phase two, The Boulevard, opening in fall 2009. Phase one is currently under construction and slated to open in October.

Bloomingdale's will encompass approximately 180,000 sq ft on three levels and will feature upscale apparel and home merchandise.

CityNorth is being designed by Nelsen Partners, Inc. of Scottsdale and Boston-based Elkus | Manfredi Architects.

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