BY AMY LAVALLEY Correspondent March 10, 2014 7:32PM

Updated: March 11, 2014 2:01AM

VALPARAISO The FBI has broadened its scrutiny of Porter County, this time going after records regarding the construction of Porter Regional Hospital and an adjacent medical office building.

Agents were at the Porter County Plan Commission office Friday afternoon and Monday morning, asking for copies of building permits for the two structures, said Robert Thompson, executive director of the plan commission.

Thats all I can say, he said.

The document request came less than a week after Porter County Councilman Jim Biggs, R-1st District, held a news conference March 4 questioning whether the medical office building, owned by a trust, should be part of a 10-year tax abatement the council has granted to the hospital.

He also questioned the trusts arrangement with the hospital which owns the land on which the medical office sits and noted the degree of clandestineness on the part of the hospital in regards to the medical building.

A high-ranking official with the trust has said theres nothing unusual about the arrangement, and said Wednesday the trust is not seeking a tax abatement for the medical building.

The building is adjacent to the hospital, at Indiana 49 and U.S. 6.

This is the fourth time since November the FBI has requested documents regarding the county.

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FBI seeks Porter County records for construction of hospital, medical office building

Lake Nona's Medical City is embarking on its next stage of development an ambitious lineup of office, hotel and retail buildings that will support the community's medical school, hospitals and research centers.

The Tavistock Group, which is developing Lake Nona, expects to start work on the first phase of its town center in May, with completion by mid-2015. More than $150 million worth of construction will be underway on the project, which is near the University of Central Florida's College of Medicine.

The town center will include a hotel, office building, restaurants and parking garage. An apartment complex is planned, too. But the office space won't be limited to health care. Pushing beyond the Medical City label, developers are open to leasing space to technology companies and other non-medical businesses.

The commercial boom has been long awaited at Lake Nona and its budding Medical City. The project captured national headlines in 2006 when it landed what is now the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. UCF built its medical school there, and the Nemours Children's Hospital opened in 2012.

Construction delays have stymied its biggest anchor, however the $656 million VA Medical Center, which is two years behind schedule and is expected to open next spring.

While the gleaming medical centers have risen at Lake Nona, services to support them have been slower in coming. Researchers at Sanford-Burnham, for instance, would have to drive four or five miles for a sub sandwich.

"I look at the cup as half full. It's a shame the VA is late because there's so many people in need," said Jim Zboril, president of Lake Nona Properties Holdings. "For us, though, the delays have let us get our housing program into full swing and get all of our builders more ready for this activity."

Lake Nona ended last year with by far the largest number of single-family housing starts in the four-county Metro Orlando area 441 for the fourth quarter, according to MetroStudy. The next busiest project, Sawgrass Plantation in Orange County, had fewer than half that number.

New apartments have emerged as well. Developers last year completed the $40 million Watermark apartments, with 278 units. In May, contractors will start on a 300-unit apartment complex next to the initial phase of the town center at Tavistock Lakes and Lake Nona boulevards.

The city of Orlando is reviewing plans for the town center, and the project is on track to get started in about two months, Zboril said. Anchoring the initial phase will be a long-discussed 200-room hotel building that will house both a Marriott Residence Inn and a Courtyard by Marriott.

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Lake Nona's Medical City opens new stage of development with town center

VOL. 10 | NO. 8 | Saturday, March 08, 2014

Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp. has hired Dr. Mark Swanson to serve as chief quality officer.

Swansons duties in this new role include working with leadership in hospital administration, Baptist Medical Group, Select Health Alliance, medical staff, nursing and risk management to implement and monitor quality initiatives, design quality measurement systems, enhance employee safety efforts and oversee regulatory compliance.

Swanson comes to Baptist from Orlando Health, an eight-hospital, not-for-profit health care system where he has spent the past 28 years. His most recent position was chief quality officer of the organizations physician group and physician clinical integration initiative.

Before going to Orlando Health, he served in the U.S. Navy, spending five years working in naval hospitals. He has been actively engaged in academic medicine, serving 11 years as a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at the Florida State University College of Medicine while on staff at Orlando Health.

Start Co. has added Memphis businessman Scott Vogel to its operation as vice president of civic entrepreneurship, and the organization has promoted current mentorship leader Al Pickett to vice president of diversity.

In addition, Vogel will be responsible for managing Start Co.s newest accelerator, SkyHigh, which will be geared around social innovation. Along with that, Vogel will help Start Co. build public-private partnerships to scale the groups effort. Hell also help facilitate relationships with local and national universities and social groups, and will focus on business development.

The SkyHigh accelerator program is accepting applications through April 15. Applications to the rest of Start Co.s accelerators are open through March 15.

Meanwhile, Pickett in his new role will help grow and lead Start Co.s minority and women inclusion efforts, conduct community outreach and operate Launch University, a weekly founder development program. Hell also continue to lead Start Co.s mentoring platform.

Valero Energy Corp. has moved maintenance work on its Memphis plant to April from March after a key parts supplier went out of business, according to a report from Bloomberg News.

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Construction Spending Up 0.1 Percent in January

Rendering of the medical office building that is being constructed.

Photo by: Courtesy of Scripps Health

Created: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 12:52:00 PST

Updated: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 01:00:30 PST

LA JOLLA (CNS) - Construction got under way Wednesday in La Jolla on a six-story medical office building -- part of the remaking of the Scripps Memorial Hospital campus.

The $175 million Scripps Clinic John R. Anderson V Medical Pavilion will be used for specialty services like cardiology, gastroenterology, pulmonology, neurology, nephrology and endocrinology.

The building, slated for completion in 2016, will also include four catheterization labs that will allow physicians to perform certain cardiac procedures in an outpatient setting.

It is named for the son of longtime Scripps Health supporters Eileen and John "Jack" R. Anderson IV, who donated $25 million toward construction. John R. Anderson V, a Navy veteran, died of melanoma 10 years ago.

"We felt this donation would be an appropriate way to pay tribute to our son John and give others the opportunity to benefit from the medical expertise that our family has trusted over the past three decades," John Anderson IV said. "John had a lot of things in common with Scripps. He was a great thinker, an innovator. He was always trying to make life better for somebody else."

The elder Anderson and his wife have also supported programs at Scripps Clinic and Scripps Green Hospital. He is a retired Pasadena structural engineer who invented a form of pre-cast concrete construction that became an industry standard, according to Scripps Health.

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Construction starts on La Jolla medical office building

Town and Mascoma Valley Regional School district ballot voting will be March 11. The polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Grafton Fire Station.

Grafton On the heels of a state inspection that determined parts of the town office building were in disrepair, voters will go to the polls Tuesday to decide on a course of action.

The Selectboard and Budget Committee are split.

The Budget Committee is recommending the town borrow $296,000 to pay for the construction of a new town office building, located on vacant town land behind the existing building. The borrowed amount would be repaid over five years.

A divided Selectboard, however, opted to go another route. The board voted 2-1 to recommend that voters appropriate $137,000 to demolish the portion of the building that housed the Town Clerks Office and build a two-story addition.

Some of the money would be used to remedy violations found in other parts of the building during the state inspection.

Residents will have a third option, as well. For $12,000, the town could forgo a new building or major renovations and only address violations in the current office building.

The state inspection renewed the debate of how to best address the repair of our buildings and whether it is worthwhile to upgrade our existing structures or to construct a new building, the Selectboard wrote in the annual town report.

Considering the taxpayers limited resources during harsh economic times and lack of a comprehensive long-term plan, board members Steve Darrow and Sean Frost said they favor making renovations over the construction of a new building.

Jennie Joyce, the other member of the board, supports the Budget Committees option to construct a new building.

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Grafton to Choose Among 3 Options for Town Office Building

LA JOLLA, Calif. Construction got under way Wednesday in La Jolla on a six- story medical office building part of the remaking of the Scripps Memorial Hospital campus.

The $175 million Scripps Clinic John R. Anderson V Medical Pavilion will be used for specialty services like cardiology, gastroenterology, pulmonology, neurology, nephrology and endocrinology.

The building, slated for completion in 2016, will also include four catheterization labs that will allow physicians to perform certain cardiac procedures in an outpatient setting.

It is named for the son of longtime Scripps Health supporters Eileen and John Jack R. Anderson IV, who donated $25 million toward construction. John R. Anderson V, a Navy veteran, died of melanoma 10 years ago.

We felt this donation would be an appropriate way to pay tribute to our son John and give others the opportunity to benefit from the medical expertise that our family has trusted over the past three decades,John Anderson IV said. John had a lot of things in common with Scripps. He was a great thinker, an innovator. He was always trying to make life better for somebody else.

The elder Anderson and his wife have also supported programs at Scripps Clinic and Scripps Green Hospital. He is a retired Pasadena structural engineer who invented a form of pre-cast concrete construction that became an industry standard, according to Scripps Health.

We are extremely grateful for the long-standing philanthropic support of the Anderson family, and this latest gift will create a lasting legacy for generations to come, said Chirs Van Gorder, Scripps Health president and CEO. Scripps was founded through philanthropy and its the generosity of donors like the Andersons and others that has made us what we are today. And, it will be that generosity that will shape us into who we become in the future.

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Construction begins on hospital expansion

VALPARAISO | The debate over the starting date of the tax abatement at Porter Regional Hospital became even muddier Tuesday as a result of a smaller, medical office building at the site not owned by the hospital.

Porter County Councilman Jim Biggs, R-1st, held a news conference to share his research that found The Sanders Trust realty firm in Birmingham, Ala., was chosen over 20 companies for the right to develop the 60,000-square-foot building.

This development approach was not discussed when the 10 years of tax breaks were awarded by the County Council in 2009, Biggs said. There is nothing in the agreement indicating the hospital's intention to include more than its main building. The building permit for the medical office structure was issued in the name of the hospital, he said.

Biggs questioned whether the construction and jobs reported by the hospital to meet the obligations of the abatement included positions associated with this outpatient building.

"The degree of clandestineness on the part of the hospital regarding this matter is concerning to say the least," he said.

Biggs said he intends to ask the County Council not to extend the tax breaks to the outpatient building. Council President Dan Whitten, D-at large, agrees.

Whitten said the abatement's intention was to give the tax breaks to the hospital and not other developments attracted to the area.

Steve Hewett, senior vice president of The Sanders Trust, said his firm holds majority ownership of the outpatient building, with the balance owned by other investors, made up mostly of physicians doing business at the site.

The land is owned by the hospital, he said, which is a common arrangement for the firm in its other projects around the country.

Officials at Porter Regional Hospital declined comment Tuesday.

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Outpatient building could be pulled from hospital abatement

Early Office Buildings

Harper & Brothers Building, New York, NY, engraving published 1855. The front of this five-story building was iron. Half thesecond floor was a large office. The rest of the building and an adjoining one were used for producing and warehousing books. Source: Jacob Abbot, The Harper Establishment, or, How the Story Books are Made, Harper & Brothers, New York, NY, 1855.Courtesy of Pat Pflieger, Nineteenth-Century American Children & What They Read.

Except in lower Manhattan in New York City, until 1885 few U.S. office buildings exceeded five stories. In lower Manhattan, after 1865 some office buildings without elevators were taller than five stories, but apparently the top floors generally were not used for offices. In addition, some hotels were taller than five stories. Construction of seven to ten story office buildings with elevators began around 1870.

Plan for War Office, England, 1857

Public Ledger Newspaper Building, Philadelphia, PA, built 1867-68

Left: Banking House of John A Hambleton & Co., Baltimore, MD, 1874 image Right: Ninth National Bank of the City of New York, 1874 image

Buffalo German Insurance Co. Building, Buffalo, NY, built 1879

By contrast, in New York City a 30 story office building was completed in 1899, a 47 story office building was completed in 1908, and a 60 story office building was completed in 1913.

Except to the extent they are constrained by zoning or building codes, owners of new office buildings chose building heights that produced the greatest profits. The incentive to build taller buildings is that they use less land per square foot of office space. One disincentive to building taller buildings is that the cost of construction per floor increases with the height of the building because the entire building structure, including foundations and vertical supports, must be stronger. Another disincentive to building higher buildings relates to the cost of moving people up and down. Prior to the development of practical passenger elevators, the market value of office space declined with distance from the street because people had to walk up and down. After the development of passenger elevators, the cost of providing elevators increased faster than the height of a building, because more and more of the otherwise usable internal space on lower floors had to be turned over to elevator shafts needed to reach higher floors.

With that background, one can see why office buildings generally did not exceed five stories until the late 19th century. First, central city land prices were comparatively low, so there was comparatively little incentive to bear additional construction costs in order to economize on land. Second, the cost of constructing higher floors was high, for either of two reasons. If one relied on stone or brick walls for structural support, the walls in the lower part of the building had to be made thicker, which increased construction costs and reduced usable internal space. One could avoid that by using iron or steel, but these metals were expensive. Third, prior to the development of practical passenger elevators, no one would pay much for offices located above the fifth floor of a building. Thus, the incremental cost of adding a sixth or higher floor was greater than the incremental rental revenue one could earn from the extra space.

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Office Buildings

WASHINGTON U.S. construction spending showed a tiny increase in January as strength in housing helped to offset declines in nonresidential building and government projects.

Construction spending edged up 0.1 percent in January, significantly slower than an upwardly revised 1.5 percent gain in December, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

Home building was up 1.1 percent in January with single-family construction rising 2.3 percent and apartment building up 1 percent.

However, there was widespread weakness outside of housing. Non-residential construction fell 0.2 percent and office building was flat, with bad weather likely a factor in the weakness.

Total government construction was down 0.8 percent in January compared with December.

Construction spending totaled $943.1 billion in January at a seasonally adjusted annual rate.

The 1.1 percent rise in housing construction was just half of the 2.5 percent gain in December.

Economists had expected the January weakness, believing that construction, like other parts of the economy, would be slowed by the unusually cold weather. However, the expectation is that builders will see better gains once spring and warmer weather arrive.

Most economists are looking for sales of new and existing homes to show further gains in 2014, bolstered by an improving economy and steady job growth.

Sales of new homes rose 9.6 percent in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 468,000. It was the fastest pace since July 2008. The surge came as a surprise to economists.

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Construction spending up slightly in January

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. construction spending showed a tiny increase in January as strength in housing helped to offset declines in nonresidential building and government projects.

Construction spending edged up 0.1 percent in January, significantly slower than an upwardly revised 1.5 percent gain in December, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

Home building was up 1.1 percent in January with single-family construction rising 2.3 percent and apartment building up 1 percent.

However, there was widespread weakness outside of housing. Non-residential construction fell 0.2 percent and office building was flat, with bad weather likely a factor in the weakness.

Total government construction was down 0.8 percent in January compared with December.

Construction spending totaled $943.1 billion in January at a seasonally adjusted annual rate.

The 1.1 percent rise in housing construction was just half of the 2.5 percent gain in December.

Economists had expected the January weakness, believing that construction, like other parts of the economy, would be slowed by the unusually cold weather. However, the expectation is that builders will see better gains once spring and warmer weather arrive.

Most economists are looking for sales of new and existing homes to show further gains in 2014, bolstered by an improving economy and steady job growth.

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US construction spending up 0.1 percent in January - Quincy Herald-Whig | Illinois & Missouri News, Sports