Its another round of office-space musical chairs among Amherst office tenants.

Architecture and engineering firm Wendel Companies is expanding and moving its headquarters office to Ciminelli Real Estate Corp.s Centerpoint Corporate Park, gaining more space but leaving behind an empty two-story building on John James Audubon Parkway.

Wendel Companies, with seven offices around the country, will occupy 37,000 square feet on the second floor of 375 Essjay Road, the largest building at the Centerpoint complex, with 75,461 square feet of space on two floors. Thats 10,000 square feet more than what Wendel currently has at 140 John James Audubon, where it shares a long, two-story building with Columbus McKinnon Corp.

Meanwhile, the Essjay building currently houses operations and employees of Independent Health Association, which in turn is vacating the entire building after acquiring another one nearby from Ciminelli. Wendel will take up half of 375 Essjay, while the entire first floor will become available for lease, as of Nov. 1, at $22.50 per square foot, according to a real estate listing on CityFeet.com.

Our focus during this process was on productivity and sustainability, said Stewart Haney, president and CEO of Wendel, in a news release. We decided that keeping an Amherst address would best accommodate the majority of our employees and provide access to transportation to support clients in Western New York and across the U.S.

Wendel, which employs more than 200 people in all, will take occupancy of its new corporate headquarters space in April 2015 under a long-term lease.

The firm now has about 145 employees at the Audubon building but is getting cramped as it grows and adds more staff, prompting the move. Plans also call for moving its architecture group to its downtown Buffalo office at the Electric Tower, which it also plans to maintain and expand.

The biggest driver was growth, our need for additional space to grow into in the next five to 10 years, Haney said in an interview. Our intent is to grow in all our offices if we can.

Additionally, he said, the firm decided it wanted to re-use an existing building, not construct a new one.

We thought it best to find something already in Amhersts inventory, and this building works perfectly, he said. He noted the presence of a Wegmans supermarket, nearby restaurants and other services as appealing.

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Wendel Companies moving in an Amherst game of office-space musical chairs

By James Borden, Raleigh Public Record

Following the demolition of an old office building and a former church, permits were issued Nov. 12 for the construction of The Gramercy, an apartment building with ground-floor retail.

Situated on the corner of Glenwood Avenue and West North Street, the six-story project will contain 203 residential units and 6,900 square feet of retail space. According to a site plan filed in 2011, the entire building will come in at around 319,000 square feet.

The initial plans, drawn up by JDavis Architects, list the same number of residential units but included about 4,000 more square feet of retail, so it's likely the final size will be close to the original.

The property, which will also include a 260-space parking deck, will be built by Choate Construction, a multistate firm that has worked on a variety of similar projects, including downtown's 52-unit Dawson on Morgan, a condominium with ground-floor retail.

As construction begins on the Gramercy, work is wrapping up on another multifamily project. Permits were recently issued for the final building at the Fairview Row at Five Points development.

The project consists of three 3-story buildings containing a total of 12 condominium units. The Colonial and Federal style structures were designed by local firm Carter Skinner, and are being constructed by Williams Realty and Building.

To read this entire article, go to Raleigh Public Record.

WRAL.com has a content sharing partnership with Raleigh Public Record, a nonprofit online news organization focused on coverage of Raleigh and local government.

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Construction begins on apartments in Raleigh's Glenwood South

A museum to honor the regions steel heritage is planned as part of U.S. Steels new headquarters that will be constructed on the site of the former Civic Arena in the Hill District, officials announced today.

The steelmaker has reached an agreement with the Pittsburgh Penguins to build a five-story, 268,000-square-footbuildingon the 28-acre site.About250,000 square feet will be used as headquarter offices and the rest will be dedicated to retail and to the museum.

U.S. Steel said the new headquarters will house 800 employees.

Construction is expected to begin in August or September of 2015 and the projects expected to be completed by October 2017.

U.S. Steel belongs in Pittsburgh and it feels really, really good to say that thats the future, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said at a morning news conference announcing the deal.

U.S. Steel did not release cost estimates for the project.

The company is receiving new market tax credits and LERTA (Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance)tax abatements. Nonetheless, U.S. Steel has agreed to pay half of the property taxes -- estimated at roughly $3 million -- all of whichwill help fund development in other portions of the Hill District, according to the company.

Hill District leaders and Pittsburgh-area politicians, including the mayor, reached an agreement with the Penguins in September regarding levels of affordable housing, minority and women business participation, and other matters in regard to the sites $440 million overall redevelopment.

The citys planning commission is expected to vote next week on the Penguins preliminary land development plan for the site.

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U.S. Steel plans to build headquarters on former Civic Arena site in Hill District

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=Among the major office-oriented facilities to open during the third quarter was the $100 million Wexford Health & Wellness Pavillion, a 174,000-square-foot complex that offers a variety of medical services including diagnostic imaging labs, oncology services, physical therapy rooms, a caf, and covered parking. Also known as the Wexford Medical Mall, it is located on Wallace Road Extension in Pine and is owned by Highmark Health.

= Doughboy Square Apartments, a 45-unit building at 3431 Butler St., Lawrenceville, recently opened. It is a 90,000-square-foot building with 16,000 square feet of retail space on the first level containing Senti Italian Restaurant, Pinot's Palate and Paul Michael Jewelry, tenants obtained by Jared Imperatore of Grant Street Associates Inc., Cushman & Wakefield. The three- and four-story building is a development by Michael Polite and Ralph Falbo of Ralph A. Falbo Inc., architect Chip Desmone, principal of Desmone & Associates; and Bob Mistick of Mistick Construction, the general contractor.

= Pittsburgh's retail market remained basically unchanged at the end of the third quarter from the second as the vacancy rate declined to 3.8 percent from 3.9 percent. The quoted rent rate increased to $12/27 per square foot per year, according to CoStar's Third Quarter 2014 Market Report.

=Among the major office-oriented facilities to open during the third quarter was the $100 million Wexford Health & Wellness Pavillion, a 174,000-square-foot complex that offers a variety of medical services including diagnostic imaging labs, oncology services, physical therapy rooms, a caf, and covered parking. Also known as the Wexford Medical Mall, it is located on Wallace Road Extension in Pine and is owned by Highmark Health.

= Doughboy Square Apartments, a 45-unit building at 3431 Butler St., Lawrenceville, recently opened. It is a 90,000-square-foot building with 16,000 square feet of retail space on the first level containing Senti Italian Restaurant, Pinot's Palate and Paul Michael Jewelry, tenants obtained by Jared Imperatore of Grant Street Associates Inc., Cushman & Wakefield. The three- and four-story building is a development by Michael Polite and Ralph Falbo of Ralph A. Falbo Inc., architect Chip Desmone, principal of Desmone & Associates; and Bob Mistick of Mistick Construction, the general contractor.

= Pittsburgh's retail market remained basically unchanged at the end of the third quarter from the second as the vacancy rate declined to 3.8 percent from 3.9 percent. The quoted rent rate increased to $12/27 per square foot per year, according to CoStar's Third Quarter 2014 Market Report.

- Sharpsburg will install 10 rain barrels at public spaces throughout the borough next spring, following receiving funds from Heinz Endownments Youth Philanthropy Program. The Sharpsburg Neighborhood Organization, which received the initial grant, will work with Volunteers of America, the borough and Allegheny River Towns Enterprise Zone. The Neighborhood Organization will work with children of Volunteers of America's All of Us Care afterschool program on setting up the barrels.

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Real estate notes: New spec office building going up Downtown

VOL. 129 | NO. 228 | Friday, November 21, 2014

Inked

Amos Maki

Memphis-based Boyle Investment Co. hopes to break ground next year on a new office building at its Ridgeway Center complex near Poplar Avenue and Shady Grove Road, according to company officials.

Were talking to prospects now, said Mark Halperin, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Boyle. Weve had a couple of close calls, and we hope well be able to start it in a reasonable period of time.

Halperins comments come as the availability of Class A office space in East Memphis shrinks. The vacancy rate for Class A space in East Memphis ended the third quarter at 2.9 percent, according to CB Richard Ellis Memphis.

Basically, all the Class A space is occupied, said Halperin. The true Class A buildings are very tight, so its a simple supply-and-demand issue.

Boyle has a 7-acre site at Shady Grove Road and Briarcrest Avenue that is cleared and ready for development. Halperin said plans call for a 175,000-square-foot office building there.

Helena Chemical headquarters at Schilling Farms

(Boyle Investment Co.)

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Boyle Sees Opportunity in East Memphis

Gokongwei-led Robinsons Land Corp. on Thursday topped off the 20-storey green office building Tera Tower near the Ortigas Avenue and C-5 intersection in Quezon City, bringing to the property market its 11th office tower.

Tera Tower will have 34,500 square meters of gross leasable area (GLA) which will be turned over to tenants by the third quarter of 2015. Office space is now being contracted out by RLC to future tenants at a starting price of P650 per sqm a month, RLC general manager for office building division Faraday Go told reporters at the topping off ceremony on Thursday.

Topping off is a traditional rite held when the last beam is placed on a building to mark the completion of the main structure. After this, the developer will have to work on the interior finishing and the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems.

Go said this new office buildingthe first among the seven office buildings to rise at RLCs eight-hectare master-planned developmentwould mostly target the business process outsourcing, call center and knowledge process outsourcing locators as well as host some office headquarters.

To date, RLC has about 280,000 sqms of GLA in its office portfolio spread across 10 buildings. The office segment contributes 9 percent to overall revenues of RLC. Occupancy rate is close to 100 percent for the mature office buildings.

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RLC completes green office tower

Renuka Land (Pvt) Ltd, a joint venture between Renuka Hotels Ltd and Cargo Boat Development Company PLC has initiated a project to construct a modern rentable 'Class A' office building in Colombo catering to the much needed requirement of such a facility in the rapidly developing city. Enabling convenience and affording accessibility, the building will be located on company owned land at No 29, Braybrooke Street, Colombo 2, at the heart of the metropolis.

The total investment for the Board of Investment (BOI) approved project has been estimated at two billion rupees. The building will adhere to modern international standards and criteria at all stages of construction along with the introduction of new and innovative features to its design. The construction of the building, which is scheduled to commence in December this year, will be seeing its culmination in April 2017.

The property will consist of 204,343 sq ft out of which 108,138 sq ft will be available for rent. The design comprises of the ground floor, basement and 13 levels, out of which five levels will be allocated for parking with 160 parking bays, and eight levels will consist of state of the art rentable office space. The ground floor will consist of the main entrance lobby, coffee shop, administration offices and services.

The construction contract will be awarded to a C1 contractor and the design has been done by a dedicated team at Design Group 5, one of Sri Lanka's well established architectural firms and the winner of Best Office Architecture Award for the Asia Pacific Region.

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Renuka Hotels, Cargo Boat Company embark on Rs. 2 b office complex in Colombo 2

AMHERST Fulcrum Associates, Inc., of Amherst, has completed construction of a new 2,550 sq. ft. medical office building at 2 Washington Place in Bedford. The new building is located at the entrance to the Washington Place Medical Park off of South River Road. The new multi-gabled single story building has a blend of shingle and clapboard siding with classic New England style trim detailing. The building will provide space for the practice of Dr. Daniel Sterling, MD, FACS previously located in Manchester.

Dignard Architectural Services of New Boston provided design services while Meridian Land Services of Amherst, provided the civil engineering services for the project. ... Subscribe or log in to read more

AMHERST Fulcrum Associates, Inc., of Amherst, has completed construction of a new 2,550 sq. ft. medical office building at 2 Washington Place in Bedford. The new building is located at the entrance to the Washington Place Medical Park off of South River Road. The new multi-gabled single story building has a blend of shingle and clapboard siding with classic New England style trim detailing. The building will provide space for the practice of Dr. Daniel Sterling, MD, FACS previously located in Manchester.

Dignard Architectural Services of New Boston provided design services while Meridian Land Services of Amherst, provided the civil engineering services for the project.

Fulcrum Associates also recently completed construction of a 3,600 square foot addition to Primary Care of Hudson. Originally developed in 2006 by Foundation Medical Partners and the Southern New Hampshire Health System, the addition will house Primary Care of Hudsons expanding practice. The existing facility also houses Southern New Hampshire Rehabilitation Services as well as laboratory and radiology services.

Fulcrum Associates partnered with Dennis Mires The Architects P.A. of Manchester for the design-build effort with site engineering prepared by Hayner & Swanson of Nashua.

Gary Manoogian and Ralph Fair lead the team for Fulcrum along with Steve Peach from Dennis Mires P.A.

Please visit our website at http://www.fulcrum-nh.com to learn more about this project.

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Fulcrum Associates completes additions in Bedford and Hudson

The campus that was once the legendary Hollywood headquarters for CBS will become home to a new generation of popular broadcasters.

Cable television networks MTV, Comedy Central, BET and Spike TV will consolidate in a new building at Columbia Square, a $420-million office, residential and retail complex under construction at Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street.

The networks' owner, Viacom Inc., agreed to rent 180,000 square feet of space, Los Angeles developer Kilroy Realty Corp. said.

The lease, which will see Viacom fill most of a six-story building, is the largest signed in Hollywood in the last decade, said David Simon, executive vice president of Kilroy. The deal validates Kilroy's strategy to turn the former CBS site into a live-work campus aimed at attracting entertainment workers, he said.

"The decision by one of the giants in the entertainment industry to relocate some of its most popular networks from Santa Monica and Burbank and consolidate them at Columbia Square further demonstrates that office environments matter," Simon said. "This is a bellwether event for both Columbia Square and the ongoing rebirth of Hollywood."

The office building is the larger of two, with a combined total of 350,000 square feet, being built at Columbia Square. Both are slated for completion in early 2016, with Viacom expected to take occupancy in phases starting in the middle of that year. The lease is set to last 12 years.

It is the second significant lease to be signed at Columbia Square since Kilroy broke ground on the project in February. NeueHouse, a New York operator of avant-garde communal office space, agreed in July to lease 93,000 square feet in the original CBS office and studio complex completed in 1938.

At the time, it was America's biggest and most technologically advanced broadcast facility. During the 1940s and 1950s, audiences there watched live productions of radio shows featuring Jack Benny, Orson Welles, the comedy duo of George Burns and Gracie Allen, and many others.

CBS radio station KNX also operated out of the Art Deco-style studios and CBS television programs originated there until operations wound down in the mid-2000s. NeueHouse is expected to take occupancy in spring 2015.

Inducing Viacom to relocate its operations from other neighborhoods is a sign that Hollywood is reaching critical mass, said real estate broker Carl Muhlstein of JLL, who represented Kilroy.

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Viacom signs 12-year lease at Columbia Square in Hollywood

At 29.5 metres, the Wood Innovation and Design Centre in Prince George isnt that tall in conventional building terms officially six floors, but topping out at a height of about eight storeys.

As a wooden structure, however, the centre is anything but conventional. It is a towering example of all-wood construction, which, for better or worse, now stands as the provinces poster building and ambassador for promoting the use of innovative techniques and products for constructing tall structures made out of B.C. wood.

Its kind of a perfect showcase, said Guido Wimmers, the newly hired University of Northern B.C. professor who heads a unique wood design program that will be taught out of the building.

It is bragging a little bit in terms of showing off the material. Everything is transparent and you can actually see how it was built.

That means showing off the cross-laminated timbers and panels, made by Pentictons Structurlam Products Ltd., the envelope-pushing designs of visionary architect Michael Green and structural building techniques that will allow wood builders to reach for the sky in terms of height.

Built by the province at a cost of $25 million, WIDC opened last month as a more modest manifestation of grandiose promises of former premier Gordon Campbells dating back to 2009, which once envisioned a $161-million, 10-storey block-long highrise that would be the focal point for educational programs housing 420 students.

Wimmers program, the master of integrated wood design in UNBCs engineering department, will take perhaps 10 students in its first group next year, growing to between 30 and 45 students in courses that will occupy three floors of the WIDC building.

The program, however, will be leading edge and graduates will be in demand in the growing field of sustainable design where wood is prized for its carbon-sequestering properties. And WIDC is still the tallest contemporary all-wood building in North America.

It stands as an example of the possibilities (for using) wood in British Columbia, said Shirley Bond, Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training, and MLA for the Prince George constituency that is WIDCs home.

Yes, its not as big as wed have assumed at the beginning, but the building is substantive, it is visually impressive in our community and the program UNBC is offering is going to make a difference in terms of working with wood in B.C. Bond added.

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Prince George centre opens as towering presence in all-wood construction sector