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Donald Trump, SimDag-RoBEL Developing Downtown Tampa Condo

Donald J. Trump announced plans in January to build a 52-story, luxury condominium in downtown Tampa to be called Trump Tower Tampa. The project will be developed in partnership with Tampa-area developers SimDag-RoBEL, LLC. Tampa-based Smith Barnes Santiesteban Architecture designed the building, which will be built by Turner Construction Co., Orlando.

Developers estimated a cost of $220 million for the development, which will be located on a 1.5-acre site along the Hillsborough River in Tampa's financial and cultural districts. The building will feature 190 condominium and penthouse residences ranging from 1,991 sq. ft. to 6,150 sq. ft. and priced from $700,000 to more than $5.5 million.

Turner Lands More Projects

In addition to Trump Tower Tampa, Turner Construction's Orlando office has signed contracts for $183 million for three of Orlando's highly anticipated projects. Turner has been named construction manager of the Vue, a 35-story luxury residential and retail project located in downtown Orlando. The $90 million project will include 323 condominium units, a 660-space parking garage, 3,000 sq. ft. of health club space and 6,000 sq. ft. of retail space. Forum Studios is the project architect.

Turner has also been selected to provide construction management services for Reunion Grande, a 12-story condominium project at the Reunion Resort and Club of Orlando. Guy Butler Architects is the architect of this 85-unit, $35 million, luxury condominium project.

Turner was also selected to provide construction management services for the $58 million expansion of the University of Central Florida's Library. This project involves the remodeling and renovation of the 206,346-sq.-ft. existing library as well as the construction of a new 164,554-sq.-ft. facility.

Florida Ends '04 Up 14 Percent

With a 3 percent gain in December, the overall value of all 2004 contracts for future construction in Florida increased by 14 percent over 2003's pace, McGraw-Hill Construction reported recently.

In December, the value of residential contracts increased by 8 percent to total slightly more than $3 billion for the month, up from the year-ago period's $2.8 billion. Nonresidential starts also increased, by 4 percent, to total roughly $732.7 million, compared to last year's $704.5 million. The nonbuilding category recorded a 28 percent decline in December. That month's tally of $368.9 million was well below the year-ago period's $512 million pace.

For all of 2004, overall activity in Florida increased by 14 percent, from the $49.5 billion experienced in 2003 to a total of $56.6 billion total. Residential was the leading sector, gaining 23 percent and totaling roughly $40 billion. Nonresidential ended the year 4 percent ahead of 2003, with approximately $10.5 billion in contracts reported, compared to last year's $10.1 billion. The nonbuilding sector declined 11 percent compared to 2003, with a roughly $6.1 billion total.

Huizenga Announces Dolphins Stadium Project

Well-known Miami businessman H. Wayne Huizenga, owner and chairman of the board of the Miami Dolphins, announced significant plans to renovate and expand the football stadium. In addition to renaming it Dolphins Stadium, Huizenga announced that other immediate developments would include the addition of a parking deck, remodeling of the stadium's club level and the installation of new scoreboards.

Later developments could include the creation of an "entertainment street" connected to the facility, installation of a roof and other amenities. Huizenga said his family would fully fund this project - which has been reported could cost up to $300 million - without public assistance.

"We will not ask the city, the county, the state for any money," he said at a press conference. "It will all be funded by the Huizenga family."

He added that the developments would be phased, and that plans had not been finalized.

Weitz Co. Building Metropolitan

The Weitz Co. of West Palm Beach is heading for a fall completion of the Metropolitan, a 10-story condominium in downtown West Palm Beach. The 237,112-sq.-ft. project includes 227 units and two levels of parking.

Summit Building Senior Housing Project in Bartow

Jacksonville-based Summit Contractors is building The Meetinghouse at Bartow, a senior-housing project in Bartow for project owner Finlay Development of Jacksonville Beach. The 192,456-sq.-ft. facility will feature 160 units spread across four buildings.

Forum Architecture of Altamonte Springs is the project architect. Completion is scheduled for October.

Kaufman Lynn Starts New FAU Building Project

Boca Raton-based Kaufman Lynn Inc. General Contractors has started work on the $1.7 million Harriet Wilkes Building at the Florida Atlantic University's Jupiter campus. The multi-use building will feature 3,000 sq. ft. of multi-purpose rooms, as well as labs and classrooms.

Garcia Brenner Stromberg Architecture of Boca Raton is the project architect. Completion is set for June.

The general contractor also recently announced completion of a $2.4 million first phase of the Louis and Anne Green Alzheimer's Research Center and Care Facility at FAU's Boca Raton campus.

DBCC Names Designer for Hospitality/Tourism Facility

Daytona Beach Community College has selected FLA/Florida Architects Inc. of Orlando to design the school's new Hospitality/Tourism/Museum facility at its Daytona Beach campus. The $8.5 million, 60,000-sq.-ft. facility is scheduled to begin construction in July, with completion set for June 2006.

The building will provide expanded quarters for DBCC's college and tourism management programs as well as for its Southeast Museum of Photography.

HuntonBrady Designing New Fish Memorial Medical Offices

HuntonBrady Architects of Orlando has been chosen to design the new Fish Memorial Medical Office Building in Orange City. The two-story, 39,000-sq.-ft. building will be located adjacent to Florida Hospital Fish Memorial. The new building is scheduled to open in winter of 2005.

Developer Announces 22-Story Cap D'Antibes for Pelican Bay

Gulf Bay Group of Companies, Naples, has announced sales for phase one of Cap d'Antibes, the last high-rise that can be built in Pelican Bay.

Cap d'Antibes will be located at Waterpark Place, a gated community in Pelican Bay. Phase one of the 22-story, luxury high-rise will offer 110 residences. Pre-construction pricing ranges from under $1.5 million to over $3 million. Penthouses are available from $7 million.