ASU College of Nursing Phase II Breaks Ground

The second phase of the College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation at the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus recently broke ground.

Scheduled for completion in fall of 2009, this 84,000-sq-ft, five-story facility will be located at the corner of Third and Fillmore streets. ASU will occupy floors one through four, while City of Phoenix offices will be located on the fifth floor. The design-build project team includes architect SmithGroup and contractor DPR Construction Inc.

Envisioned as a hub and the academic center for the college, phase two will contain classroom, office and administration spaces with a 200-seat auditorium and a 60-seat computer classroom. A significant portion of the ground level will be wrapped in glass, promoting an active street-front through transparency. Other components include multipurpose space, a two-story atrium lobby and public outdoor spaces.

Sundt Construction Inc. has been selected by the City of Glendale to make improvements to 67th Avenue. The roadway will be widened where it intersects with Olive Avenue, Cactus and Thunderbird roads. In addition, right turn lanes will be created onto Olive and Cactus, and Cactus and Thunderbird will be widened west of 67th Avenue. The majority of the work will include installation of a large storm drain trunk line and replacement of a 2.3-mi water line system.

The $18.1 million project will also entail landscaping, new sidewalks and upgraded street lighting. The project is scheduled for completion in February. Jacobs Carter Burgess is the lead designer.

Bruckal Redevelopments Group introduced its newest urban infill project in Central Phoenix, the Victor. Consisting of 37 condominiums, it is located at 15th St. and Highland Ave. in the Biltmore area. Developers hope to attract buyers with the project’s sustainability in design and construction coupled with the variety of layouts.

The Victor is comprised of five unique unit types: one bedroom flats, two bedroom flats, live/work units, units with private garages and units with private yards, contributing to the urban quality of the spaces.

Designed by [merz]project architects, the Victor will feature a variety of sustainable and green building materials and finishes to achieve LEED silver certification for environmentally sensitive building quality.

Light-Rail Repairs: Who Gets Blame, Bill?

Repairs to cracks found along the $1.4 billion, 20-mile light rail project in PHoenix are nearly complete, but deciding who’s to blame is still far from done.

Officials found fissures up to 7.5 in. wide across three of the project’s five line segments during routine inspections. In January, consultant Zeta-Tech Associates, Cherry Hill, N.J., was hired for $60,000 to conduct a three-month investigation to determine the cause and recommend repairs. High heat from handheld plasma welding torches used to cut drainage openings into the line changed the steel’s structural properties resulting in brittleness and microscopic cracks that worsened with expansion and contraction during seasonal weather changes.

Thirty-one flaws were found in total over line section three, built by Archer Western Contractors, and line sections four and five by Sundt/Stacy & Witbeck JV. The contractors are responsible for $600,000 in repairs, including grinding away damaged portions, and removing and replacing 12-ft to 16-ft-long line sections.

“Anything failing a magnetic particle test used to find microscopic cracks is being replaced,” says Marty McNeil, a METRO spokesperson. All of the repairs were completed last month.

The project is still within budget, thanks to a $177.2 million contingency fund that is now 85% exhausted, and is still on track for its December 27 debut.

“There is no fault being assigned,” McNeil says. “Discussions are still underway with our contractors, consultants and designers. Those talks are going well.”

Valley Metro Rail Inc., the project’s owner, will ask the party responsible for the use of torches to pay for the repair costs.

Tempe Lakefront Project Morphs into South Bank

A groundbreaking ceremony was held for South Bank. Previously known as The Pier at Town Lake, the 3.6 million-sq-ft project under development by Scottsdale’s The Wolff Co. includes retail, office, hotel and residential. It is located on a 27.3 acre-site on the south shore of Tempe Town Lake along Rio Salado Parkway between Rural Road and McClintock Drive.

Since acquiring the land from Pier 202 Tempe LLC in August 2007 for $43 million, The Wolff Co. has been enhancing the master plan and vision for the development. The Barker Pacific Group is a partner in the development.

The new master plan provides greater waterfront accessibility and includes a central plaza, a lakeside boardwalk, an iconic pier and a continuous linear park connecting the district to Mill Avenue.

Work on the $25 million infrastructure began in February. Vertical construction is expected to begin early next year.

New Student Housing Grows up Near Tempe’s Light Rail

Construction is now underway on the Campus Suites on the Rail student housing development in Tempe. The five-story, 299-unit structure is the latest development to be positioned along the light rail near the Arizona State University campus.

The 299-unit student housing complex will contain over 730,000 sq ft and cover approximately 7.5 acres along Apache Drive and house over 950 individual bedrooms. Other project components include: a 10,000-sq-ft clubhouse and over 14,000 sq ft of ground-level retail. The project was designed by Scottsdale-based L.R. Niemiec Architects, and is being constructed by Adolfson & Peterson Construction. The project is being developed by Campus Suites LLC.

Emergency Road Work Completed

A $6.2 million emergency road repair on U.S. 70 has been completed. DBM Contractors worked with both the Arizona Department of Transportation and the San Carlos Apache nation to fix the road just outside the Salt Creek basin. Under the design/build contract, DBM also handled design, with support by Redmond, Wash.-based Ground Support PLLC.

To get the much-needed repairs underway as fast as possible, ADOT used a unique two-phase procurement process to select the winning bidder.

The project began construction in April 2007, and the project team completed the work under difficult conditions such as 100+ degree heat and endured flash flooding during the monsoon season.

Offices Being Converted into Hilton Hotel

Summit Builders has been awarded the design/build contract for the conversion of an existing office building to a new Hilton Garden Inn located on Van Buren Street just west of 40th Street in Phoenix.

The existing 121,000-sq-ft building served as the corporate headquarters for Ramada Inn. The facility will undergo complete interior demolition back to the structure and removal of exterior skin. When complete, the new Hilton Garden Inn will encompass 192 rooms within its 10 stories. Project scope also includes a new swimming pool, lobby, lounge, restrooms, conference rooms and stair well. Additional amenities include a new kitchen, restaurant and lounge, laundry facility, fitness center and business center. All mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems are being replaced.

The developer is Windsor Hotels LLC and the design is being handled by Orcutt/Winslow. Interior demolition is underway and the anticipated completion date is set for late fourth quarter 2008. This project has been registered for LEED and will strive to achieve certification.

MCC Red Mountain Learning Center Breaks Ground

Mesa Community College’s Red Mountain Campus broke ground on a 42,000-sq-ft Learning Center.

The science portion contains state-of-the-art labs, student and faculty support spaces, classrooms and undergraduate research space. The performing arts component contains practice rooms and a multi-purpose classroom as well as performance space for theater, dance and music students. The building’s support spaces will include student study areas, tutoring resources and faculty offices.

SmithGroup designed the building using a palette of red masonry, corten steel and glass. Johnson Carlier will construct the building under a CM at risk contract.

The project is slated for construction completion July 2009 and will seek LEED silver.

LGE Begins $30 Million in Work

LGE Design Build has begun work on five new projects in the Valley. The largest is a 66,011-sq-ft office/warehouse facility at 92nd Street and Bahia in Scottsdale for American Audio Visual, with a value of $14.2 million.

Other projects include the $8.1 million Higley Village Retail project, a 42,307-sq-ft project at Higley and Baseline in Gilbert; the Miller/McDonald office project covering 31,000 sq ft and valued at $3.3 million in Scottsdale; Able Technologies’ 16,225 sq ft, $2.6 million office building at Price and Frye Roads in Chandler; and Mesa Family Medical, a 9,357-sq-ft medical office building valued at $1.3 million at Stapley and McKellips in Mesa.

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