Groundbreaking is set for this fall on a 25-story office tower at Tryon and Third streets, a timetable that would make it the first tower to start construction in uptown since the end of the recession.

Babson Capital Management will be the anchor tenant for the new 634,000-square-foot building, to be called 300 South Tryon. Construction is slated for completion by the spring of 2017.

The building will be next to the Latta Arcade, on the site of a parking lot that was Googles temporary home during the Democratic National Convention.

The new office building will be the first office tower completed in uptown since 2010, when the 48-story Duke Energy Center and 32-story 1 Bank of America Center opened. No new office buildings have begun construction uptown since the recession ended in 2009, said Andrew Jenkins, a real estate analyst with Karnes Research.

Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, a global real estate investment management firm, owns the property and will oversee development; Spectrum Properties will develop, manage and lease the property.

Babson and Cornerstone are affiliates of the MassMutual Financial Group of financial services companies. Babson, which when combined with its affiliates has more than $200 billion under management, employs at least 130 people in Charlotte.

The firm plans to relocate its existing Charlotte operations from the 45,000 square feet it currently leases in the Duke Energy Center.

Tom Finke, Babsons chairman and CEO, said the firm plans to occupy about 200,000 square feet in the new building. He said Babson has enjoyed good success in Charlotte, growing from about 60employees in 2008 or 2009.

The firm expects that to continue, and is positioning itself for continued long-term growth.

Weve grown quite frankly a little faster than we thought we would, Finke said. A lot of people came out of the (economic) crisis and struggled. We came out of it well.

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New 25-story office tower planned in uptown Charlotte

HOUSTON, TEXAS (PRWEB) May 19, 2014

Crescent Real Estate Holdings LLC announced the selection of Balfour Beatty Construction as the general contractor for 6 Houston Center, a new Class AA office building to be located on the thriving east side of Houstons central business district. The selection of a general contractor is a milestone toward the groundbreaking of the property which is scheduled for this summer.

The 30-story, 600,000-square foot 6 Houston Center will be a premier office building featuring 10 to 12 ceiling heights, a concierge floor, rooftop gardens, fitness and conference center, a 9-level parking garage, and a skybridge connection to 1 Houston Center/LyondellBasell Tower. The building will achieve the prestigious LEED Gold certification.

Balfour Beatty has an exceptional reputation of delivering projects on schedule and on budget and their experienced project team was an ideal choice for 6 Houston Center, remarked Joseph F. Pitchford, senior vice president, development, Crescent Real Estate Equities, LLC. Previously, Crescent and Balfour Beatty partnered on several projects in Houston and Dallas. In addition, Balfour Beatty is the general contractor for Energy Center Four, located in Houstons Energy Corridor and a joint venture partner on the new Convention Center Hotel Marriott Marquis in downtown Houston.

6 Houston Center will be a state-of-the art office building which, combined with the growing amenities on the east side, will make it one of the most attractive properties in downtown Houston, said John Waltz, senior vice president of large projects, Houston Division, Balfour Beatty.

Located on Block 95, bounded by Rusk, Caroline, Walker and San Jacinto streets, 6 Houston Center will be ideally situated near the light rail and within walking distance of numerous hotels, restaurants, and retail destinations. 6 Houston Center is being leased by Chrissy Wilson of Jones Lang LaSalle.

About Balfour Beatty Construction An industry leader for more than 80 years, Balfour Beatty Construction Services US provides general contracting, at-risk construction management, and design-build services for a wide variety of markets, serving clients in both the public and private sector. With more than 3,000 employees across the U.S., the company has been cited as a Top 10 Domestic Building Contractor and Top 10 Green Builder by Engineering News-Record. The company is part of London-based Balfour Beatty plc, a global infrastructure services business operating in more than 80 countries, with a worldwide commitment to providing assets that help societies function, develop, and thrive. To learn more about the company, visit http://www.balfourbeattyus.com or look for BalfourBeattyUS on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

About Crescent Crescent Real Estate Holdings LLC, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is a fully-integrated real estate company owned by Barclays Capital and Goff Capital. Through its subsidiaries, Crescent manages and develops premier, Class A office buildings. Crescent also holds investments in resort residential developments in locations such as Scottsdale, Vail Valley, and Lake Tahoe; a luxury hotel, The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas; and the wellness lifestyle leader, Canyon Ranch. For more information, visit Crescent's Web site at http://www.crescent.com.

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Crescent Selects Balfour Beatty Construction as General Contractor for 6 Houston Center

In March 2014 compared with February 2014, seasonally adjusted production in the construction sector fell by 0.6 % in the euro area and by 0.5% in the EU.

According to the first estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, in February 2014 production in construction rose by 0.4 % and 0.5 % respectively. In March 2014 compared with March 2013 production in construction increased by 5.2% in the euro area and by 5.3% in the EU, while for Bulgaria the raise was by 4.7%.

The decrease of 0.6% in production in construction in the euro area in March 2014, compared with February 201 4, is due to building construction falling by 0.7 % and civil engineering by 0.6 %.

In the EU, the decrease of 0.5% is due to building construction falling by 0.6 % and civil engineering by 0.3%. The largest decreases in production in construction were observed in Portugal (-3.0 %), the Netherlands (-2.6%) and Germany (-2.2%), and the highest increases in Romania (+10.3%), Slovenia (+8.9%) and Italy (+1.9%).

The increase of 5.2% in production in construction in the euro area in March 2014, compared with March 2013, is due to building construction rising by 5.0 % and civil engineering by 6.3%. In the EU, the increase of 5.3 % is due to building construction rising by 5.4 % and civil engineering by 4.3% .

The highest increases in production in construction were registered in Slovenia (+ 44.9 %), Hungary (+34.1 %), Spain (+19.1%) and Poland (+18.4%), and the largest decreases in Portugal (-13.8%), Sweden (-2.8%) and Italy (-1.4%).

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Bulgaria's Production in Construction on the Rise Eurostat

A decision by the President's Office to take 21 out of the 60 offices in the section of the main parliamentary building under construction has angered MPs. The Legal and Parliamentary Affairs committee members learnt of this decision on May 16, while inspecting construction works on parliament's sixth floor.

"Members, don't go that side because the offices there don't belong to parliament; they are for the President's Office," Ahmed Kagoye, the sergeant-at-arms, told bemused MPs.

This did not go down well with some MPs, with the chairman Steven Tashobya (Kajara, NRM) wondering why the President's Office wants to take over offices constructed on parliament's vote.

Calling for a review of the decision, Yona Musinguzi (Ntungamo municipality, NRM) said "spending Shs 11bn and getting only 39 offices is never heard of", and amounts to no value for money.

"How can Parliament construct offices for the President's Office, which has all the money it wants?" Musinguzi asked.

The MP noted that the same President's Office had refused to shift from the parliamentary building, even after their new twin-tower building nearby was completed. Kagoye explained that the reason behind it was that if MPs occupy offices on top of the President's Office, it would compromise his security.

In response, some MPs suggested that the President's Office finds alternative space for the legislators. An earlier attempt by the President's Office to claim parking lots in the newlybuilt multi-billion car park was rejected by Speaker Rebecca Kadaga. Another controversial issue was the cost incurred in constructing the extra floor on the east, north and south wings of parliament, which MPs say is too big.

"The cost against benefit is worrying because we are spending about Shs 11bn to have 39 offices, which comes to about Shs 300m per office," said Tashobya.

Together with Development House on Parliament avenue, when the extension is complete, MPs expect to created an extra 167 offices, excluding the 21 claimed by President's Office.

Excerpt from:
Uganda: MPs, President's Office Clash Over New Offices

Media Release from Amalgamated Builders May 19 2014

Amalgamated Builders take out two titles at annual New Zealand commercial building awards

Leading South Island construction company Amalgamated Builders (ABL) is celebrating having taken out two titles at the second annual New Zealand Commercial Building Awards this weekend.

Announced at a gala dinner in Auckland, the awards were both for the companys outstanding work on the $2 million new SculptIllusion Gallery at the world-famous Puzzling World attraction in Wanaka.

ABL was Gold Award winner in the PlaceMakers Tourism and Leisure Project category, and also took out gold in the Under $2million category.

The 530sq m illusionary sculpture room, complete with moving, living walls, floating objects and 3D illusions, is the companys fifth and largest Illusion Room and was built over eight-and-a-half months by ABL.

The attraction features a number of larger-than-life commissioned sculptures utilizing visual trickery at its best, including a turned-on tap that seems to float in the air, benches that appear to have no stands, a cascading ceiling, columns that become people, a vertical garden and a unique collection of sculptures from local and national artists. Amalgamated Builders quantity surveyor for the project, Brett Squire, said he and the team were incredibly proud to win category awards for the second year running.

This personally ranks as one of my favourite projects in my eight years with the company, said Mr Squire.

Any building poses challenges but because of the Central Otago climate it required careful consideration throughout the planning and build process.

Aside from a very cold construction site, the ground froze which affected the logic of the build and the way we continued. So its great to now see the completed build and know we had a hand in building it.

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Amalgamated Builders take two titles at NZ building awards

Kalama, Washington (PRWEB) May 19, 2014

As a quiet yet powerful economic engine in Cowlitz County Washington, the Port of Kalama exists to induce capital investments in an environmentally responsible manner while sparking quality job creation. The Port not only constructs transportation infrastructure, buildings and capital improvements, but partners with other local agencies and private organizations to bring jobs to the community.

New project jobs have recently been created in the region because of two new capital construction activities at the Port of Kalama. Port commissioners recently awarded two contracts for the construction of a new administrative office building and Transportation Interpretive Center as well as significant rail improvements and relocation at the Temco LLC site.

Because the Port of Kalama is a government agency, its construction projects are advertised, bid, and awarded according to procedures established under state law. Once the Port awards a project contract to a general contractor, the hiring of subcontractors and local workers then becomes the responsibility of the contractor. The Port is not responsible for the hiring subcontractors.

Interested job applicants should contact the general contractors directly: for the administrative building, Olympia-based Berschauer Group was awarded the job; and for the Temco rail project, Chehalis-based Railworks Corporation was awarded the contract.

With so many eager and skilled workers in Cowlitz County, the Port caught up with Regan Berschauer to discuss all of the resources available to those looking to work on public and private capital projects around the region. Berschauer recommends reviewing public notices posted in the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce and the Daily Journal of Commerce in Oregon and signing up for the project walk-through events for an overview of the pending project before contracts are awarded. Berschauer says this is a terrific way to meet the prospective general contractors and get on hiring lists.

Additional regional resources to stay up-to-date on construction projects include:

More growth is anticipated at the Port as the commission recently approved the annexation of 260 acres at East Port for the development of mixed use business center to attract new business and family-wage jobs. At full build-out, the multi-use business property is slated to bring in an estimated $184 million in commercial and industrial business each yearsignificantly boosting the areas economy and job opportunities while strengthening the citys revenue base. Be watching for more news on growth and opportunities at the Port of Kalama.

About Port of Kalama Where rail and water meet: The Port of Kalama is located in Southwest Washington on the Columbia River and immediately off of Interstate Highway 5. The port exists to induce capital investment in an environmentally responsible manner to create jobs and to enhance public recreational opportunities. Port of Kalama's industrial area includes five miles of riverfront property adjacent to the 43' federally-maintained deep draft navigation channel of the Columbia River. The Port is served by the Burlington Northern/Santa Fe and Union Pacific railroads. There are over 20 industries located at the Port of Kalama, employing over 830 people. Port of Kalama offers all the superior facilities businesses need to thrive, and an unsurpassed quality of life. The port offers shovel ready sites, a new Industrial Park, state of the art Marine Terminals and transportation accessibility to rail and highway all just a 30 minute drive to the Portland International Airport. Port of Kalama also offers high-bandwidth communications, with dual access fiber-optic service to Seattle and Portland. Properties currently available at the port for businesses wishing to expand and thrive: Visit http://portofkalama.com/industrial_property.

CONTACT: Claudia Johnson, Strategic Communications, 503-799-2220/cell

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New Capital Projects at the Port of Kalama Create Local Jobs

View Larger The Bottom Line Other Business Features Local Stories from ThisWeek More Articles By Steve Wartenberg The Columbus Dispatch Sunday May 18, 2014 11:10 AM

Like many other high-school students, Alyssa Cuzzolini didnt think of the construction industry as a career path.

I didnt know anything about it, she said.

Then she went to a meeting of the local chapter of the ACE Mentor Program while attending Columbus Downtown High School & Career Center. ACE stands for architecture, construction and engineering.

The goal is to get students to look at the construction industry as an option, said Brian Moran, chairman of the local ACE chapter and a project executive with the Columbus office of Turner Construction.

Its also a goal that has become increasingly urgent as the industry faces a growing worker shortage, especially as construction work rebounds from the recession.

Moran and others in the construction industry hope to increase the number of high school and college students involved in mentoring, vocational and apprentice programs.

Were not seeing anywhere near the number of young people entering the industry as we need, said James Smith, CEO of Elford, a Columbus-based construction company. It hasnt really affected us yet, since were not seeing the volume of work we did 10 or 12 years ago, but we could soon."

In other words, Cuzzolini, 21, probably wont have a tough time finding a job.

She completed the ACE program while in high school; she graduated in 2012. She is majoring in electrical engineering at Ohio Northern University and will spend the summer as an intern at HAWA Inc., a Columbus engineering firm.

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Construction industry faces worker shortage

Northampton County's sale of the Governor Wolf Building to Easton developer Mark Mulligan closed Wednesday.

The hand-off comes two months after employees moved out of the former school building in Easton and into their new headquarters in Bethlehem Township.

Construction to convert the old schoolhouse-turned-government building into 50 high-end apartments will begin May 27, Mulligan said Thursday.

"We're really excited," he said. "The county's been a great partner in the sale and we're looking forward to redeveloping the building."

County officials agreed to sell it last year, saying it was ill-suited as an office building, especially one that caters to veterans and young families.

The building on North Second Street rests atop a hill with rear views of the Delaware River. Out front stands the modest penny arch, a 125-year-old reminder of the children who gave life to a building that was adapted for elementary, middle and high school students.

The new rental units will help meet the city's rising demand, Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. has said, picturing young people living in $1,000-a-month apartments and walking their disposable incomes west to Centre Square.

"This building is a landmark," Panto has said. "It gives you a sense of time and place."

The Governor Wolf Building, along with a host of other Lehigh Valley urban redevelopment projects, in December was awarded a key tax incentive meant to encourage developers to take on difficult properties.

The Keystone Opportunity Expansion Zone designation exempts developers and future tenants from many state and local taxes.

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Northampton County hands off Wolf building to developer

SCHERERVILLE | A new owner recently completed an extensive renovation of the Crossings of Schererville office building.

LM Value Investors LLC overhauled the prominent 115,443-square-foot office tower at the southwest corner of U.S. 30 and Indianapolis Boulevard. The company, which is adivision of the Chicago area development and construction firm Lagestee Mulder Inc., renovated both the inside and outside of the building after buying it out of foreclosure in December 2012.

Occupancy has shot up while LM Value Investors hasmodernized the office's mechanical system and added new aesthetic features, including a glass atrium that connects two four-story office sections. The office had been about 59 percent full at the beginning of the project, and now it is 90 percent occupied.

"These renovations have brought new life to this premier building in one of Schererville's most active business corridors," said Don Price, senior vice president with Lagestee Mulder Inc. "The success of the project illustrates the strength of the Northwest Indiana market and its ability to continue to attract businesses."

The building's lobby, atrium and main entrance received significant upgrades. The roof was replaced.

New carpeting, art and lighting were added inside to create a more cohesive look between the two office sections, since one was built in the 1970s and the other was construction in the 1980s.

Amenities were added, including a gym with locker rooms and a completely renovated conference center.

New marquee signs will be installed along both U.S. 30 and Indianapolis Boulevard this summer.

The improvements have helped lure more tenants. Tenants that recently moved in or expanded includeO'Neill McFadden & Willett LLP, Clifton-Larson-Allen LLP, Honeywell, Core Construction, Knight Hoppe, Help at Home Inc. and Northwest Indiana Immediate Care.

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Renovation of prominent office building completed

CARPENTERSVILLE District 300 officials will spend about $960,000 less than anticipated on a new administration building, as uncertainty clouds their lobbying effort to have lawmakers relinquish overdue construction money that would fund the project.

District board members earlier this week approved the final bids for the new administration building that crews already have started building near Jacobs High School.

The move puts the $3.91 million project about $960,000 under budget and might help appease some community critics who have questioned the need for the project, Chief Financial Officer Susan Harkin said.

"We are certainly happy where the bids came in," Harkin said. "We are taking a lot of heat on this project. ... Having the bids lower for the school district is definitely good."

Administrators from the Carpentersville-based school district unveiled plans in February to build the two-story administrative building shortly after announcing a plan to renovate their current office building for students at the alternative Oak Ridge School to use.

The Oak Ridge renovation is already underway, with crews working to finish the project by the summer.

The combined projects now total $5.08 million, nearly $2 million less than officials originally expected to spend on the building moves.

As construction unfolds, district officials will try and up the pressure on state lawmakers to release overdue capital construction grants that would pay for the projects.

The district already has sent emails to Gov. Pat Quinn, General Assembly members and state education organizations about its 10-year wait to receive construction money originally awarded in 2004.

But state lawmakers may take months to answer District 300's concerns.

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Construction costs for D-300 administration building under budget