Carolinas HealthCare Seeking Approval for $174M Hospital in Charlotte

Carolinas HealthCare System has announced plans to seek state regulatory approval to expand Carolinas Medical Center-Pineville Level III Trauma Center in Charlotte.

The estimated $174-million project includes 285,000 sq ft of new construction and 50,000 sq ft of renovation work. Upon completion, the hospital will provide open-heart surgery and interventional cardiology, operate a 30-bed intensive-care unit and serve as a satellite facility of the Blumenthal Cancer Center.

Carolinas HealthCare has submitted a certificate-of-need request to the North Carolina Department of Facility Services. A decision is slated to be announced by March 2008. If approved, the project will be completed in 2013. Source: Engineering News-Record.

November Contracts: N.C., S.C. Again Show Declines

Compared to the same period of a year ago, the value of new contracts signed in November for future construction activity fell by 7% in North Carolina and by 21% in South Carolina, according to the latest information from McGraw-Hill Construction.

In North Carolina, the value of new starts totaled roughly $1.5 billion for the month. The residential sector was the lone declining sector, falling by 28% for a roughly $815.1 million total. The value of new nonresidential contracts improved by 14%, for a monthly total of about $421.5 million. The value of nonbuilding starts improved over last November by 99% to total nearly $298.6 million.

Through the first 11 months of the year, North Carolina contract activity is 3% behind 2006’s pace, with $22.7 billion in new starts. The nonresidential category, at roughly $6 billion, is 6% ahead of ‘06, and the nonbuilding sector is now 30% ahead, with roughly $2.4 billion in new project starts. Meanwhile, residential is now 10% behind last year’s pace with a $14.3 billion total.

In South Carolina, November contracts fell by 21% for a $591.3 million total. The nonresidential sector improved by 27% over last November for a $199.4 million total. Residential fell 36%, however, for a $339 million total. The value of nonbuilding starts fell 7% for a total of $53 million.

South Carolina is still 15% ahead of 2006 on a year-to-date basis, with new contracts totaling nearly $13.5 billion so far. Residential remains the only negative sector, however, with about $6.1 billion in new starts through the first 11 months of ’07 for a 24% decline. Nonresidential, at about $6.1 billion, is more than double last year’s pace. And the nonbuilding sector, at about $1.2 billion, is 14% ahead.

Balfour Beatty Wins $47M Hospital Bed Tower in Smithfield, N.C.

Balfour Beatty Construction of Raleigh, N.C., was awarded a $47 million contract to build Johnston Memorial Hospital’s new Bed Tower project in Smithfield, N.C.

The project is comprised of two separate phases. The first phase includes construction of a 101-bed tower, surgery department, central sterile processing admitting, dining kitchen and main lobby. A new main parking lot and drop-off canopy will be built to serve the new addition.

The second phase will include the renovation of the areas and departments relocated due to the new construction.

The total project includes 150,786 sq ft of new construction and 12,790 sq ft of renovation. Balfour Beatty expects to complete the project in 2010. Johnson, Johnson & Crabtree Architects designed the project.

Ethanol Plant Set for Construction in Hoke County, N.C.

Clean Burn Fuels LLC of Cary, N.C., is moving forward on developing an ethanol plant in Dundarrach, N.C., in Hoke County. According to McGraw-Hill Construction, the project had been set to start construction around the first of 2008.

The facility is to be included on a 500-acre site and is projected to initially produce about 55 million gallons of ethanol per year, with possible expansion to 220 million gallons per year.

Diversified Piping of Greenville, S.C., is the project’s general contractor. Clean Burn Fuels is the owner/developer. Completion is targeted for the first half of 2009

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