Orlando, Magic Sign Turner, Hunt for Arena Team

Courtesy of HOK Sport

The city of Orlando’s plans for new civic venues moved forward with Turner Construction of Orlando tapped to serve as program manager for the $380 million Orlando Events Center, future home of the Orlando Magic and the Orlando Predators arena football team.

Turner expects to break ground this summer on the 18,500-seat arena and complete the project in the third quarter of 2010. Hunt Construction Group of Indianapolis, in association with local minority firms Rey Group, R.L. Burns, HZ Construction and Albu & Associates, will serve as construction manager.

“We’ve partnered with the Magic to manage the overall development of the center,” says Scott Skidelsky, vice president and general manager of Turner’s Orlando office.

HOK Sport of Kansas City, Mo., designed the 800,000-sq-ft, seven-level arena, in conjunction with C.T. Hsu + Associates and Baker Barrios Architects, both of Orlando. The team aims for a LEED-certified building with energy- and water-efficient features. The glass and metal-clad building features a 120-ft tall tower that will serve as a beacon in the downtown neighborhood.

The Magic will develop the events center and the city will operate it. The project is part of a downtown civic-enhancement program that includes a performing arts center and renovation to the Citrus Bowl Stadium.

Florida Starts ’08 With 43% Decline

McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of Southeast Construction, reported that the value of new Florida contracts declined by 43% in January, compared to the same period of a year ago. In January, the value of new contracts totaled just over $2.5 billion, down from the previous January total of about $4.4 billion.

During December, residential continued to decline, dropping 47%, to total about $1.1 billion. Nonresidential registered a 27% drop compared to the previous January and totaled roughly $941.8 million. The nonbuilding segment fell 52% to total about $522.1 million.

Okeechobee Dike’s Cutoff Introduces Japanese Method

Construction began Jan. 19 on a test panel for a cutoff wall to block existing piping under the Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee. The panel will be constructed using a new method developed in Japan, say officials of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The long-planned work is made more urgent by the November 2007 designation of the dike as one of six Corps structures that are “critically near failure or have extremely high life and/or economic risk,” according to a Corps report.

Hayward Baker will construct a 500-ft-long test panel near Port Mayaca, using a hydraulic-driven cutting and mixing arm that resembles a vertical chain saw. If it is deemed successful after 30 days, the Odenton, Md.-based contractor will proceed under a task order to construct a cutoff wall 2 ft to 3 ft wide and 50 ft to 80 ft deep on the dike, says Susan Jackson, Corps spokeswoman. The arm mixes cement with foundation soil as it digs a continuous trench to construct the wall. “We are breaking new ground in engineering technology,” says Col. Paul Grosskruger, the Corps Jacksonville district engineer.

It will be the first work to be done by several different contractors under multiple performance-based contracts, most still to be awarded, Jackson says. Priority will go to strengthening the dike’s northern, eastern and southern reaches by 2024. Increased funding could lead to bolstering the entire dike by 2017 at a cost of about $887 million, says a Corps official. Source: Engineering News-Record

CDM Design-Building Sustainable Water/Wastewater System for Babcock Ranch

CDM has been selected by Town and Country Utilities Co. to design-build a water and wastewater project for Babcock Ranch in Charlotte and Lee counties.

CDM’s contract for the two-year first phase of the project is estimated at more than $20 million. The system, which will be designed to sustainable and environmentally friendly, will include the design and installation of a supply well field, low-pressure reverse osmosis potable treatment system, water reclamation and biosolids handling facility, and an injection well for disposal of RO reject and wastewater.

At final build-out, the community is expected to require approximately 9 million gallons per day of potable water and generate approximately 7 million gallons per day of wastewater.

The 91,000-acre Babcock Ranch is one of the largest remaining undeveloped tracts of land in Florida. Under this approach, 80% of the land will be permanently preserved by the state. The remaining 20% is intended for development as the Babcock Ranch community.

Pavarini Starts New Miami High School

Fort Lauderdale-based Pavarini Construction Co. has been selected by the Miami-Dade County Public School Board to build a new senior high school in North Miami. The QQQ1 school project will measure 165,000 sq ft and have capacity for 1600 students.

The project is scheduled for completion in time for the 2009 school year.

Coastal Building Red Road Commons

Miami-based Coastal Construction Group is progressing on construction of Red Road Commons, a 405-unit  apartment complex in South Miami that will serve the University of Miami.

Developer Wood Partners selected Coastal to construct the six four- and five-story building complex, which will include one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, 10,700 sq ft of retail space; 1,900 sq ft of office space; and parking garages.

Designed by Wolfberg Alvarez, the project is scheduled for completion in summer 2009.

Hardin to Expand Orlando Premium Outlets Center

Chelsea Property Group of Roseland, N.J., has hired Hardin Construction Co. to build a 115,000-sq-ft expansion for Orlando Premium Outlets. Construction began in January, and is expected to complete by fall.

Hennon Group Architects of Mooresville, N.C., is the project architect.

Seawood Builders Constructing Broward Co. Multipurpose Center

Deerfield Beach-based Seawood Builders is under way with the $17.7 million Edgar P. Mills Multipurpose Center for Broward County in Fort Lauderdale.

The three-story, 50,000-sq-ft facility will house Broward County organizations that provide services to elderly, families, veterans and others. The project is scheduled for completion by late 2009.

Town of Nocatee Building $15M Aquatics Park Amenity Center

Ocala-based Edwards Construction Services has been awarded a $15 million contract to build the Nocatee Aquatics Park Amenity Center project in Nocatee. The project is being developed by The PARC Group near Ponte Vedra in St. John’s County.

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