BE&K Building Group to Build $98 Million 'City of Light'

The Inspiration Networks of Charlotte recently announced plans to build the $98 million City of Light.

To be built over a 10-year schedule, the development will include a campus encompassing a media production and broadcast facility, a world mission center and corporate headquarters on a 93-acre site in Lancaster County, S.C.

BE&K Building Group of Greenville, S.C., has been named the construction manager. The company mobilized the site in May.

The Inspiration Networks maintains four television networks, reporting that it reaches more than 77 million households in 38 countries.

When completed, the City of Light will include a visitor and welcome center, a prayer center and prayer gardens, administrative offices, a satellite control and distribution facility, a media production facility and a media and ministry training center.

Contract Activity for Both Carolinas Up in April

The value of new contracts signed in April for future construction activity in North Carolina improved by 4 percent, while South Carolina's improved by 22 percent for the month, McGraw-Hill Construction reported.

North Carolina's approximately $2.1 billion total for the month included a nonresidential sector that jumped by 20 percent over the same period of a year ago to total $434.6 million. Residential continued to stay positive, moving up by 2 percent compared to last April and tallying roughly $1.5 billion. The value of nonbuilding contracts fell significantly, declining by 24 percent and totaling $112.1 million for the month.

For the year to date, contract activity in North Carolina remains 12 percent ahead of the first four months of 2005. The nonresidential category, with about $1.9 billion worth of contracts, is 31 percent ahead of the same time last year, while the residential market is 16 percent better with a roughly $6 billion total. The nonbuilding sector, however, is down 32 percent to about $759.1 million.

In South Carolina, the April total of about $1.2 billion was 22 percent better than last April. The biggest market, residential, increased by 7 percent for a total of roughly $733.4 million. The nonresidential market jumped by a significant 96 percent to $360 million for the month. The nonbuilding sector was down by 2 percent compared to last April for a total of nearly $130.5 million.

For the year-to-date, the value of South Carolina contracts is 10 percent ahead of 2005's pace. The nonbuilding category, with a cumulative total of about $423.9 million, is 11 percent ahead, while the residential sector, at $3 billion, is 14 percent ahead. The nonresidential category, valued at about $903.6 million through April, is flat compared to 2005.

O'Neal Awarded Contract with United Therapeutics

Biotech firm United Therapeutics Corp. of Silver Spring, Md., has hired Greenville, S.C.-based O'Neal, a planning, design and construction firm, for consulting services related to its solid dose facility that will be built in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

O'Neal will assist United Therapeutics in the architectural, engineering and pre-construction services of the approximately 125,000 sq.-ft. facility. The facility reportedly will house administrative, research and development and pharmaceutical manufacturing functions. Construction is scheduled to start in the fall.

American Gypsum Co. Building Plant in Georgetown, S.C.

Dallas-based American Gypsum Co. has started construction of a $125 million manufacturing plant in Georgetown, S.C., McGraw-Hill Construction Dodge recently reported. Lockwood Greene of Spartanburg, S.C., is the project's general contractor.

This marks the second major gypsum plant announced for the Carolinas recently. Approximately six months ago, Charlotte-based National Gypsum Co. announced it would build a roughly $125 million plant in Mount Holly, N.C.