March 2017 Hoffmann Architects, an architecture and engineering firm specializing in the rehabilitation of building exteriors, announces that Lawrence E. Keenan, AIA, PE will assume management of the technical staff at the firms Hamden, Connecticut headquarters from Arthur L. Sanders, AIA, who managed the Connecticut technical staff for nearly 20 years.

Lawrence E. Keenan, AIA, PE, Vice President and Director of Engineering, has been selected to manage the architecture and engineering staff at Hoffmann Architects Connecticut office, where he will oversee project management, allocate technical resources, and see that work is done on time, within budget, and to exacting quality standards. A licensed structural engineer and registered architect, Keenan has more than 25 years experience in building envelope rehabilitation and design. In May, he will celebrate his 20th anniversary with Hoffmann Architects. An owner of the firm who is recognized in the industry for his innovations in concrete structural design, Keenan holds two U.S. patents for precast concrete connections. As President of the Connecticut chapter of the International Concrete Repair Institute (ICRI), he is a sought-after presenter not only for ICRI, but also for the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) and the Structural Engineers Coalition (SEC). With a degree in structural engineering from the University of Connecticut, Keenan is a mentor to staff and a trusted resource on industry standards, code compliance, and structural evaluation. His projects include engineering analysis and project management for Phoenix Life Insurance Company, The Travelers Companies, M&T Bank, BMW of North America, the University of Connecticut, and Foxwoods Resort Casino.

Arthur L. Sanders, AIA, Senior Vice President and Director of Architecture, has ceded staff management responsibilities to Lawrence E. Keenan, AIA, PE but will continue to oversee challenging envelope projects, serve as an expert witness, provide peer review for new construction, and act as a technical resource for staff. Since assuming leadership of the Connecticut technical staff in 1998, Sanders notable contributions include restoration of the Dome of the U.S. Capitol, design of a 70,000-square-foot copper roof replacement at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, peer review of the U.S. Judiciary Office building, consultation on the new Oklahoma state capitol dome, Lawrence E. Keenan, AIA, PE Arthur L. Sanders, AIA Hoffmann Architects Names Lawrence Keenan Manager of Connecticut Office Page 2 restoration of the landmarked iconic Fish Church in Stamford CT, and technical review for the Airforce Academy Chapel. A Yale University alumnus, Art has been an active member in the professional community throughout his 40+ year architecture career. Currently Vice President of the Connecticut chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA CT), he has served three terms as President for the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) Housatonic Chapter and has been a representative to the Industry Practice Committee for the Connecticut Building Congress (CBC) for over 15 years. He also continues his longstanding membership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Hoffmann Architects is fortunate to have benefited from Sanders leadership, and, even as he hands over his administrative and managerial responsibilities, the firm will continue to gain from his expertise, mentorship, and technical guidance.

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Hoffman Architects names Lawrence Keenan Manager of Connecticut office - Building Design + Construction (press release) (registration)

Frank Gehry, the legendary starchitect who designed the Walt Disney Concert Hall and myriad other Los Angeles landmarks, is leaving his mark on El Segundos growing creative office landscape.

Construction is underway on an 80,000-square-foot standalone building designed by Gehry at Utah Avenue and Douglas Street, part of a campus that was formerly home to Xerox Corp.

Set to open by the years end, Ascend at Utah Avenue Campus will feature 24-foot clear-height ceilings, towering glass panel walls and a 16,000-square-foot balcony.

Unlike other creative offices taking shape in repurposed warehouses once used by aerospace and defense manufacturers, Gehry is starting from scratch, demolishing existing structures and raising the building onto a podium that will house ground-level parking.

Renderings show a vast open space filled with natural light, skeletal support beams, lights hanging from exposed high ceilings and a mix of hip work stations and lounge areas. The space also can be divided for two 40,000-square-foot tenants.

The $50 million project is being developed by NSB Associates, a Beverly Hills-based commercial real estate firm founded by Gehrys longtime friend, Larry Field.

In a video highlighting the project, Gehry said tenants like creative office space because it offers the freedom of not being locked into a cubicle.

Its not architectural in the sense that youre making an architectural statement, it is really creating an environment that energizes and promotes interactivity in a less formal way, said Gehry, who also designed Facebooks 430,000-square-foot campus in Menlo Park.

Seven years ago, Gehry came close to moving his own offices to El Segundo. He also designed a 43,500-square-foot research and development facility on the Utah Avenue Campus for Kite Pharma.

In the video, his son, Sam Gehry, called the city an up and coming area with a nice, sort of small-town feel in L.A., but theres always been sort of these quirky little warehouse spaces leftover from the aerospace industry kind of moving out.

Utah Avenue Campus promotes its location near Los Angeles International Airport, the 105 and 405 freeways, and the Metro Green Line as selling points, as well as the citys business-friendly reputation.

Several years ago, El Segundo embarked on an ambitious rebranding and marketing effort to draw in tech companies getting priced out of Silicon Beach, highlighting incentives, such as lower business tax rates, a streamlined permitting process and accelerated plan checks.

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More than 100 companies have opened up shop since in the small city of 16,500 residents, where the population swells to more than 70,000 mostly professionals in the daytime.

Sending parking underneath the building breaks the mold of a standard warehouse, Sam Gehry said in the video.

Because we had the freedom to break from a traditional warehouse in the sense that theyre pretty much boxes with no windows, we were able to incorporate all of the windows into the facade at this point in the design of the building as well as a lot of skylights and natural light, he said.

A website marketing the property gives visitors a 360-degree virtual tour of the building and patio.

Anthony OCarroll, vice president of NSB Associates, said the firm originally planned to refurbish a couple existing buildings it acquired on the site.

But when we had the opportunity to work with Frank, he suggested to us building across those two lots, taking them down and solving the parking problem by going up, he said. He thought it would really work here and I think its the first time Im aware of that this sort of ground-up construction is being done in El Segundo.

NSB Associates began acquiring property in El Segundo 12 years ago, OCarroll said, and in that time, the city has transformed from an aerospace hub to a magnet for creative offices. He called the Ascend project a vote of confidence in the city.

Its a kind of pioneering building and it speaks to the way that El Segundo is going to continue to grow and to develop, OCarroll said. Theres a lot of interest from real estate investors and builders down there.

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Frank Gehry designed this hip, creative office building in El Segundo - The Daily Breeze

Kansas City Star

Huge building fire in Overland Park ignites blazes at many homes blocks away Kansas City Star A massive fire Monday at an apartment building under construction at a multimillion-dollar development in Overland Park sparked blazes at numerous homes blocks away. The eight-alarm fire broke out about 3:30 p.m. in a four-story unoccupied apartment ... Flames destroy apartment complex and several homes in Overland Parkfox4kc.com all 91 news articles »

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Huge building fire in Overland Park ignites blazes at many homes blocks away - Kansas City Star

The "for sale" sign outside the 14-acre parcel where White Oak Construction had its office and kept its huge fleet of highway and bridge equipment has gotten the town's attention.

"It's a key piece of downtown property, a cornerstone parcel," Mark DeVoe, the local economic development director and town planner, said Monday of the 1 West Main St. site.

The company, founded by the Toffolon family, ceased operations a decade ago and sold off the heavy equipment that used to fill the complex's 10-bay garage. The parcel is listed for $1.4 million with a commercial real estate agent.

Town Manager Robert Lee said the White Oak property, next to the municipal complex, "is the key parcel in the town center."

Potential buyers have concerns about possible contamination of the soil from years of construction equipment storage, and the town is seeking state grant money to test the soil. The council has given permission for staff to pursue an "access agreement" from the property owner so the land can be accessed and tested.

"We want to take away the unknown about the site," without using town funds, Lee said.

Testing the site is crucial before any decision is made to pursue the property, DeVoe said.

For years, White Oak was one of the biggest bridge and highway construction and repair contractors in the region. The company once had its own tugboat to work on marine bridge projects.

The lobby of the closed main office building is lined with enlarged photographs of highway and bridge projects done by White Oak.

The real estate property listing says the site has 60,000 square feet of space in three buildings on the site, including 12,000 square feet in a two-story office wing built in 1991.

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Plainville Moves Forward With Plan To Test White Oak Construction Site - Hartford Courant

From the ashes of an imploded 10-story building will rise two new State Farm Class A office towers over the next five years as part of the companys Park Center development adjacent to the Dunwoody MARTA station.

A rendering of the completed State Farm development adjacent to the Dunwoody MARTA station. (Special)

State Farm imploded the 1111 Hammond Exchange building early March 4 using 500 pounds of dynamite. The building, about 250,000 square feet, crashed to the ground in 30 seconds. Two more office towers will be built on the Hammond Exchange property.

The entire State Farm development will be approximately 2.2 million square feet.

Dallas-based KDC is the developer for the project and is working with general contractor Holder Construction. The 21-story office tower up now in Perimeter Center opened in November.

The State Farm building in Dunwoody was imploded on March 4. (Phil Mosier)

KDC received $34 million in tax abatements last year from the citys Development Authority for its second phase so it could start construction of the new office buildings in 2017, rather than the originally proposed 2019.

Construction of the second 22-story office tower is expected to begin this year and be completed by 2019. The third office tower, at 19 stories, is expected to be finished by 2020.

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One building down, two to rise at State Farm's Dunwoody site - Reporter Newspapers

A rendering of one of the eight-story office buildings within the Menlo Gateway development.

MENLO PARK, CALIF. Square Mile Capital Management LLC has provided a $145 million construction loan for the development of the first phase of Menlo Gateway, a 16-acre, master-planned project in the Menlo Park area of Silicon Valley.

Located on Independence Drive near the Marsh Road exit of U.S. Route 101, the development will consist of approximately 705,000 square feet of office space across three eight-story buildings. The 16-acre parcel, located roughly two miles from Facebooks headquarters, was previously zoned for industrial use.

The Marriott Autograph Collection Hotel, a 250-room hotel currently under construction, will also reside on the land. The 11-story hotel offers a pool with cabanas and poolside bar, a spa, a lobby restaurant and coffee market, as well as 20,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space. Delivery is slated for late 2017.

The Bohannon Development Co., which is based in northern California, is serving as the project developer. San Francisco-based Heller Manus Architects designed the project.

Phase I of Menlo Gateway will include an eight-story, approximately 210,000-square-foot building located at 100 Independence Drive, as well as a 1,040-space parking deck. Phase I also includes delivery of The Bay Club, a 41,000-square foot fitness center with a sauna and cafe. Completion of all buildings is scheduled for late summer/early fall 2017.

Phase II will deliver two eight-story buildings totaling 500,000 square feet of office space, to be located at 101 and 150 Constitution Drive. Both buildings will feature large collaborative workspaces and offer green initiatives that promote efficient use of air, water and lighting. The developer plans to pursue Gold LEED certification. AS timetable for delivery of Phase II has not yet been established.

John Kerslake and Briana Smith of Northmarq Capital, a Minneapolis-based mortgage banking firm, arranged the financing for this transaction.

The Bohannon Cos. have been at the forefront of real estate development in Silicon Valley for over 80 years, says Michael Mestel, principal of Square Mile Capital Management. We are excited to provide financing for the creation of an iconic building in an irreplaceable location.

Taylor Williams

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Square Mile Capital Provides $145M Construction Loan for Menlo Park Office Development - REBusinessOnline

Nashville Business Journal

Exclusive: Swiss giant pays record-smashing price for Nashville office building Nashville Business Journal Hamilton said this marks the first sale of a multi-tenant office building that was built following the recession, under what he termed "the latest set of post-crash construction costs." Those costs continue skyrocketing as Nashville's blitz of ...

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Exclusive: Swiss giant pays record-smashing price for Nashville office building - Nashville Business Journal

Even before the Lincoln City Council considers a redevelopment plan request from Nebraska Innovation Campus to begin the next phase of construction at the research park, interest in the 80,000-square-foot building has been high, particularly among entrepreneurs.

What we have a lot of demand for is 200- to 500- to 1,000-square-foot offices for companies that are just kind of getting going, said Dan Duncan, executive director of Nebraska Innovation Campus.

Small space is difficult to come by in the commercial real estate world, which typically caters to larger, more-established companies looking to rent entire floors rather than individual office suites.

The latest building planned for Innovation Campus a proposed $15.3 million facility (with an estimated $3.1 million in tax-increment financing) privately funded by Tetrad Property Group is a clean slate for the lead developer.

The first phase of construction at the research park focused on transforming the Industrial Arts Building and the 4-H Building icons from the days of the Nebraska State Fair into offices, laboratories and conference halls.

Two additional facilities Innovation Commons and the Plant Innovation Center were designed to connect to those structures both architecturally and conceptually, with specific needs in mind.

Targeted for a space to the north and east of the corner of 21st Street and Transformation Drive, the still-unnamed, mixed-use office building will shed the constraints that the first wave of projects were built under.

Drawing from ideas gleaned during tours of Pinterest, DropBox and others tech companies, the new design is set up to be a more modern take on office space, according to Josh Berger, Tetrads director of operations.

The team representing Innovation Campus connected with University of Nebraska-Lincoln alumni at tech companies and research parks in San Francisco and Toronto including Apple and Google to learn what Duncan called spaces younger people, especially, will want to work in.

A big takeaway from the trip was a design featuring an innovative hub to serve mid-sized companies relocating to Lincoln, as well as small companies and startups spun off from UNL seeking to grow out of single offices.

The goal is to create a space that is both an asset in business recruitment, as well as fully functional as a workplace for Innovation Campus partners.

Obviously, we cant copy everything thats being done, but if we could take a few key pieces and replicate those, it helps us with recruiting companies, he said. That in turn parlays into those companies recruiting employees when they are here on campus.

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Duncan said the new building will be built to quickly adapt to the needs of tenants, including anchor tenants and the dozens of companies they are in talks with at any given time.

They are going to build that space out with an open concept that is easy to put walls in so, number one, we can get people in quickly, and, number two, we can have multiple sizes of offices, Duncan said.

About 370 full-time workers, plus some 100 part-timers and interns, are employed at the research park. Students enrolled in food science courses at UNL add to the activity there, along with creative projects at the Innovation Studio and dozens of conferences each year in the conference center.

Later this summer, The Mill will add a coffee shop and bistro and continue to demonstrate the campus is open for business, Duncan said.

Were getting to that critical mass where it helps, he said.

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Developers of Innovation Campus building draw inspiration from tech, social-media HQs - Lincoln Journal Star

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) Raleigh firefighters battled the largest fire the city has seen in almost 100 years Thursday night.

The fire was first reported shortly after 10 p.m. and five alarms were quickly sounded. It took crews until 1:10 a.m. to get the fire under control, officials said.

The biggest concern at this point is rekindling, officials said. Three buildings were cleared by Friday morning.

Fire officials told CBS North Carolina the fire started in an apartment building under construction at the intersection of Jones and Harrington streets.

The total loss of that building is estimated at more than $12 million, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. A number of other buildings were also damaged.

The building was last inspected Monday and was completely compliant, Raleigh Fire Chief John McGrath said Friday morning.

The construction had been inspected 50 times but was at an extremely vulnerable state before a sprinkler system was installed.

Officials said the fire started on the third floor of the building and spread quickly because it was a wood construction and had many flammable construction materials inside.

The main building involved in the fire spread to four other buildings, according to Raleigh fire officials. Overall, 10 buildings were damaged five severely, said Raleigh Fire Division Chief John Fanning.

This was the largest fire in the city of Raleigh since the 1920s, according to McGrath.

Some of the buildings damaged included an office building and a residential building. The office building had windows blown out on one side and the apartment building suffered heavy smoke damage and also had windows blown out.

A few hundred people lost power in the immediate area and a construction crane collapsed.

Around 130 firefighters battled the flames with crews working in 90 minute to 2-hour shifts. In addition to the firefighters, 25 apparatus helped work the fire. Fanning said it was one of the worst fires hes seen.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, McGrath said. It will take until at least Friday evening for crews to get inside the remains.

One first responder suffered a puncture wound due to falling glass but his injuries are non-life threatening and he should be released from the hospital soon, Fanning said.

According to Raleigh police, Harrington Street and West Street are closed from Edenton Street to North Street. Lane Street is closed from Harrington Street to Dawson Street and Jones Street is closed from Glenwood Avenue to Dawson Street. Motorists are advised to avoid the area.

Fanning advised that people stay away from downtown Raleigh, if possible. At the very least, people should avoid the area of the fire. Smoke will most likely hang around downtown for at least another day.

An investigation into the fire hasnt begun yet, Fanning said. Investigators are expected to arrive at the site and begin working around lunchtime.

The company behind the structures construction issued the following statement:

We thank the heroic firefighters and all first responders who risked their lives to contain this fire and that no loss of life occurred. While the cause of the fire has not yet been determined, we are working closely with authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and review of the incident.

To our neighbors and to the surrounding community, we are saddened by this unfortunate situation and ask for your patience as the investigation continues and as we begin the process of site clean up.

At least one local business is helping feed first responders and the Raleigh Chamber is offering up their building for local businesses to continue working.

Barrys Cafe went to the area of the fire around 12:30 a.m. Friday to feed first responders and they plan to come back later today to feed more and are already prepping food.

The Raleigh Chamber tweeted that their office is available from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. to displaced business owners and business leaders who need a downtown base of operations with WiFi, copiers and coffee. For more information, call the Chamber at (919) 664-7000.

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Massive downtown fire damages 10 Raleigh buildings, 5 severely - WNCN

Architect Frank Gehry, internationally recognized for his swashbuckling designs, has turned his talents on a comparatively demure new office building under construction in El Segundo.

The designer of Walt Disney Concert Hall has conceived a one-story office structure reminiscent of former industrial buildings common in El Segundo that are increasingly being repurposed as offices for businesses in creative fields.

So-called creative office buildings, usually created by upgrading old structures that have outlived their original purpose such as manufacturing, are the darlings of todays real estate market and often command higher rents than glitzy skyscrapers do.

The $50-million building in El Segundo with one big floor containing 80,000 square feet is intentionally unassuming, the architect said in a videotaped interview.

Its not architectural in the sense that you are making an architectural statement, Gehry said. It is really creating an environment that energizes and promotes interactivity in a less formal way.

Ascend, as the building is known, is the first that Gehry has designed for his longtime friend Larry Field, the founder of Beverly Hills real estate development company NSB Associates Inc.

The men have been close for more than 40 years, when both were starting their careers in Venice and Santa Monica, said Anthony OCarroll, vice president of NSB.

NSB is erecting Ascend at the intersection of Utah and Douglas avenues, where it will be the sixth building in a creative office complex NSB fashioned among former Xerox research and development facilities.

NSB considered trying to renovate two old buildings on the site, but knocked them down when the famous architect entered the picture.

When we had the opportunity to work with Frank Gehry, we decided to pursue ground-up construction, OCarroll said.

While Ascend will share some traits such as high ceilings with other open-plan offices in the neighborhood, it will have some striking differences.

Commonly such buildings are like islands surrounded by parking lots. Ascend will effectively be on stilts, standing over 280 ground-level parking spaces and nearly filling the boundaries of its lot.

It will open onto 16,000 square feet of outdoor balcony patios and be illuminated by multiple windows and skylights.

We had the freedom to break from a traditional warehouse in the sense that theyre pretty much boxes with no windows, said Gehrys son Sam Gehry, an architect who is also working on the project. He spoke in a videotaped interview.

The firm Gehry Partners is based in what used to be such a traditional warehouse, a former industrial BMW facility in Playa Vista that Frank Gehry and Field bought together about 15 years ago.

Gehry redesigned the building and created a wide-open workplace under a cavernous ceiling that would become a model for creative offices. He said he got the idea for open offices from artist friends who made studios out of former industrial buildings.

Of course they were only one or two people but, when you bring a group of 20 or 30 people in, it changes the equation, Frank Gehry said. It does create some new ideas that just happen serendipitously.

Gehry also designed the Facebook campus in Menlo Park, Calif., that was heralded as having the the largest open-floor-plan office in the world when it opened in 2015.

He has two major projects for different developers yet to start construction in Los Angeles: the massive Grand Avenue Project of condominiums, apartments, shops, restaurants and a hotel on Bunker Hill downtown, and a residential and retail complex called 8150 Sunset at the corner of Crescent Heights and Sunset boulevards in Hollywood.

El Segundo, which suffered from high office vacancies when the aerospace-defense industries concentrated there contracted after the end of the Cold War, has emerged as a creative hub in recent years.

The city is also home to numerous corporate headquarters such as Mattel, DirecTV and media company Internet Brands, said real estate broker Mike McRoskey of JLL, who will lease Ascend for NSB.

Rent has yet to be determined, he said, but recently renovated creative buildings in El Segundo typically lease for about $3.25 per square foot a month. Ascend is to be completed by the end of the year.

NSB owns or manages about 2.5 million square feet of commercial space, mostly on the Westside, OCarroll said. Among its tenants is Google, which rents four NSB buildings in Venice.

El Segundo now stands to attract more high-profile firms, he said. This project is a kind of a vote of confidence in that town.

roger.vincent@latimes.com

Twitter: @rogervincent

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There's another Frank Gehry building going up in town. It's under the radar in El Segundo - Los Angeles Times