Choate Building Midtown Redevelopment

The Charlotte office of Choate Construction Co. was awarded a contract to build the Midtown Redevelopment project, in Charlotte. The first phase of the two-phased project, currently under construction, will include a Home Depot Expo Center, with a Target store situated above in a two-story vertically stacked design totaling 262,000 sq. ft., and a parking deck. Both stores are slated to open in fall 2007.

The second of the two phases, known as Metropolitan, is reported as costing $120 million and includes a mix of residential, retail and offices. This portion of the project will feature 150,000 sq. ft. of office space, 148,000 sq. ft. of retail, 45,000 sq. ft. of restaurants and more than 200 condominiums. Early 2008 is the target completion date for this phase.

Cooper Carry is the project architect. Pappas Properties and Collett and Associates are the project's developers.

N.C. Up in August, but S.C. Drops

The value of new contracts signed in August for future construction activity increased by 6 percent in North Carolina and fell 23 percent in South Carolina, McGraw-Hill Construction reported.

North Carolina's approximately $2.4 billion total for the month included a nonbuilding sector that fell by 36 percent over the same period of a year ago to total nearly $151.5 million, and a nonresidential sector that jumped 77 percent to tally $828.3 million. The volume of residential contracts fell by 8 percent compared to last August and totaled roughly $1.4 billion.

Despite the August decline, year-to-date contract activity in North Carolina remains 9 percent ahead of the first eight months of 2005, with a total of approximately $17.8 billion so far. The nonresidential category, with about $4.3 billion worth of contracts, is 24 percent ahead of the same time last year, while the residential market is 10 percent higher with a roughly $12 billion total. The nonbuilding sector, however, is down 20 percent to nearly $1.5 billion.

In South Carolina, all three construction sectors were negative for August, with the month's total for new contracts down by 23 percent to about $1 billion. The biggest percentage drop came in the nonbuilding market, which fell 68 percent compared to last August and totaled just $57.5 million. Residential declined by 3 percent to total roughly $767.7 million for the month. The nonresidential market declined by 44 percent to total $202.8 million.

Despite the significant slowdown in August, the year-to-date value of South Carolina contracts remains 4 percent ahead of 2005's pace, with new contracts totaling about $8.8 billion through the first eight months of '06. The nonbuilding category, with a cumulative total of about $719.5 million, is 14 percent behind last year, while the residential sector, at nearly $6.1 billion, is 5 percent ahead. The nonresidential category, valued at about $2 billion through August, is still 9 percent ahead of 2005's pace.

T.A. Loving Building Cardiovascular Institute

T.A. Loving of Goldsboro, N.C., is serving as construction manager for the $170 million Eastern Carolina Cardiovascular Institute project at Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville, N.C. The owner of the project is University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina. HDR, Dallas, is the project architect.

The project includes construction of a six-story, 375,000-sq.-ft. heart hospital. McGraw-Hill Construction's Network reported the value of the construction contract as $88 million. The completion target was reported as 2008.