Skanskas commercial development at 66 Queen Square, Bristol, has reached its highest point in the construction process. Todays topping out ceremony marks an important milestone in bringing this new, 61,000sqft (5,667m) landmark office building to the Bristol market.

During the event, George Ferguson, Mayor of Bristol, and Mike Putnam, Skanska UK President and CEO, tightened the last bolts in the steel frame of what will be Skanskas first commercial office development in the UK in recent years.

The event brought together many of Skanskas clients, partner organisations and employees, including representatives from KPMG, which has taken a 15-year lease on 85 per cent of the building. Skanska and KPMG also highlighted their official partner status with Bristol 2015 for the citys year as European Green Capital.

Mike Putnam, said: Were very proud that our 66 Queen Square development is helping to restore a beautiful, historic part of Bristol. The award-winning building will also provide modern, energy-saving measures to increase sustainability and cut carbon, helping Bristol to become an even greener city.

George Ferguson, Mayor of Bristol, commented: This development is an excellent example of what can be achieved when the city and a conscientious business work collaboratively. Bristol will have a great new office space, which makes a positive contribution to the local environment.

Phil Cotton, Bristol Office Senior Partner at KPMG, said: We want to reduce the impact we have on the environment as a business, and our property portfolio plays a leading role in this. The sustainable features at Queen Square will help us to reduce our energy consumption and CO2 emissions, and provide a fantastic environment for our staff in the heart of the city. We are delighted to take one step closer to moving into this iconic building.

Situated in one of Bristols prime business locations, construction of 66 Queen Square will complete in the summer. The grade A office space integrates a grade II listed Georgian terrace with the new building, combining historic elegance with modern, efficient office space and fantastic views over the square.

The building incorporates sustainable features for long-term energy efficiency, including photovoltaic panels, LED lighting and water-saving fittings to meet the BREEAM Excellent standard and an EPC A rating.

An award-winning project before construction has even completed, the office development was crowned BIM Project Application Award winner in the annual British Construction Industry Awards 2014.

Just 9,000sqft (836m) is now available to let, comprising 3,000sqft (279m) on both the ground and fourth floors, in addition to a self-contained 3,000sqft (279m) unit at 72 Queen Square.

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Skanska Marks Bristol Development Milestone

NEPTUNE BEACH | Rising property values along with new construction are buoying the Beaches financially, although the need for more and better parking to accommodate growth remains a challenge, said the mayors of the three cities.

Jacksonville Beach Mayor Charlie Latham along with counterparts Carolyn Woods of Atlantic Beach and Harriet Pruette of Neptune Beach discussed their cities accomplishments and the road ahead during an annual joint State of the Beaches program last week hosted by Beaches Watch, a nonprofit nonpartisan citizen advocacy organization. Eighty-one people packed the community room at the Beaches branch library in Neptune Beach for the program.

Latham noted USA Today named Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach and Neptune Beach among the best and most accessible beach communities to vacation in Florida. Fernandina Beach in Nassau County also made that list published Jan. 30.

That popularity and attention translates into more people wanting to live at and visit the Beaches. The mayors say that is good news, but it also increases parking demand, pretty much limited year-round, and on infrastructure.

While parking may be the big issue, Jacksonville Beach and Neptune Beach also will undertake major road and sewage projects including a large swath of First Street in both communities.

Property values in Jacksonville Beach have increased 7.9 percent in the last year. That leads any other Florida city north of Orlando, Latham said of his city, the largest of the three Beaches municipalities.

Increased property values generate more revenue, which can be used for public works projects and other improvements, he said. So were making good decisions. Were growing responsibly and were a desirable place to be, he said. When you make it a really nice place to be, people want to come.

Latham said city staff constantly review ordinances or policies that might restrict businesses as part of its effort to attract and retain businesses. He emphasized any changes first would have to be OKd by the Jacksonville Beach City Council before being implemented.

Among issues being examined are ways to alleviate parking woes in the downtown business district. One possibility the city is looking at would be to reduce the number of parking spaces a restaurant is required to have at its site, Latham said.

Right now, there is a certain number of spaces that each restaurant is required to provide, or pay into the [city] parking fund, and that has somewhat of a limiting factor to new businesses that enter the market, he said.

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As Beaches grow, so too, parking woes, revenues, projects

NEPTUNE BEACH | Rising property values along with new construction are buoying the Beaches financially, although the need for more and better parking to accommodate growth remains a challenge, said the mayors of the three cities.

Jacksonville Beach Mayor Charlie Latham along with counterparts Carolyn Woods of Atlantic Beach and Harriet Pruette of Neptune Beach discussed their cities accomplishments and the road ahead during an annual joint State of the Beaches program last week hosted by Beaches Watch, a nonprofit nonpartisan citizen advocacy organization. Eighty-one people packed the community room at the Beaches branch library in Neptune Beach for the program.

Latham noted USA Today named Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach and Neptune Beach among the best and most accessible beach communities to vacation in Florida. Fernandina Beach in Nassau County also made that list published Jan. 30.

That popularity and attention translates into more people wanting to live at and visit the Beaches. The mayors say that is good news, but it also increases parking demand, pretty much limited year-round, and on infrastructure.

While parking may be the big issue, Jacksonville Beach and Neptune Beach also will undertake major road and sewage projects including a large swath of First Street in both communities.

Property values in Jacksonville Beach have increased 7.9 percent in the last year. That leads any other Florida city north of Orlando, Latham said of his city, the largest of the three Beaches municipalities.

Increased property values generate more revenue, which can be used for public works projects and other improvements, he said. So were making good decisions. Were growing responsibly and were a desirable place to be, he said. When you make it a really nice place to be, people want to come.

Latham said city staff constantly review ordinances or policies that might restrict businesses as part of its effort to attract and retain businesses. He emphasized any changes first would have to be OKd by the Jacksonville Beach City Council before being implemented.

Among issues being examined are ways to alleviate parking woes in the downtown business district. One possibility the city is looking at would be to reduce the number of parking spaces a restaurant is required to have at its site, Latham said.

Right now, there is a certain number of spaces that each restaurant is required to provide, or pay into the [city] parking fund, and that has somewhat of a limiting factor to new businesses that enter the market, he said.

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As Jacksonville's Beaches grow, so too, parking woes, revenues, projects

Even before the severed ribbon hit the floor at the new HSHS St. Josephs Hospital Medical Office Building, the first patients had already streamed through the door.

The first family health patients began arriving for family health services at 8 a.m. Monday, more than three hours before the facilitys ceremonial opening. The first occupational health and physical therapy patients were to arrive later that afternoon.

Construction started last spring on the 26,000-square-foot building that currently hosts approximately 10 physicians. Thats the same number of doctors that were in the old family and occupational health facilities in the hospital itself. But Chris Klay, director of rehabilitation services, said that number could increase.

We designed this facility for growth, he said.

The building houses St. Joes family health, along with occupational health, physical therapy, and speech and language pathology. It also represents lots of equipment upgrades, but most of all, more room.

We really needed the space. That was difficult to find in the hospital, said Alyssa Van Duyse, marketing specialist with the hospital.

But the new building also represents a new level of convenience for patients. Only outpatients are served there.

If youre an outpatient, you dont need emergency services, Van Duyse said. Now they dont need to go into the hospital. They can come here instead.

Marci and Mark Myrman of Chippewa Falls showed up for the ribbon-cutting ceremonies. They have used the services now offered in the new building before, when they were still located in the hospital, and anticipate a great level of service at the new facility.

I think its very functional as well as beautiful, Marci Myrman said. Its just wonderful.

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St. Joseph's opens new medical office builidng

FAIRFAX NZ

REJUVENATION: The 1928-vintage Evening Post building has been given a new lease of life after a year-long strengthening project.

The owners of the former Evening Post building in Willis St are pleased with the results of a strengthening project that has lifted their office block to 90 per cent of new building standard.

Body corporate chairman Graeme McInteer of Zephyr Consulting is confident the $2 million to $3m project to strengthen the renamed Zephyr House has been well worthwhile and has praised Fletcher for the way it was done.

The project began at the start of the last year after Rip Curl's ground floor shop lease expired.

Work involved sinking micro piles into the ground under the building and strengthening the structure with four-storey k-shaped braces - one behind the building's heritage facade, two around an internal light well and a fourth on a rear wall.

McInteer said the opportunity was also taken to do a lot of maintenance. This included painting, fixing windows to ensure they did not leak, replacing the flagpoles and make-good work to patch up where the builders had been.

Owners of the 13 unit titles in the building also took the chance to freshen up their offices while they were out of the building.

The building was previously rated at just 30 per cent of new building standard and the owners' investments in it were at peril.

It was a matter of having to do it for everybody to maintain their investments and McInteer said he had a simple message to owners of similar quake-prone buildings.

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Evening Post building strengthening project complete

CHIPPEWA FALLS Construction of single-family and multi-family homes fell sharply in 2014 in Chippewa Falls, but the number of permits issued and revenue collected increased.

Paul Lasiewicz, city building inspector, released his annual report last week, which shows there were seven new single-family homes built, along with eight new multi-family units.

In comparison with the 15 new structures built last year, there were 29 new houses, duplexes or apartment buildings constructed in the city in 2013, including 19 multi-family units. The increase in multi-family structures is a noticeable trend in the city; there were no multi-family complexes constructed in 2011, but eight were built in 2012.

The largest of the multi-family homes a 12-unit complex on Sunshine Circle adjacent to U.S. 53 is valued at $825,000. Four eight-unit complexes also were built, each at a value of $600,000.

The seven new homes built in 2014 have a combined value of $1.6 million. In comparison, the 10 new homes built in 2013 had a combined value of $1.35 million. While the number of new homes built did fall from 2013, it is still up from the four single-family homes built in 2011 and six new homes in 2012.

There were 314 total building permits issued in 2014, up slightly from 304 last year and 302 in 2012. Total fees collected on those 314 permits were $107,600, up from $91,996 in 2013 and $78,859 in 2012.

The total revenue collected by the city inspectors office including building, electrical, heating and plumbing permits jumped to $169,619 from $146,198 last year.

A $5 million expansion at Southview Elementary, 615 A St., was the largest project completed in the city last year. The district added a 24,700-square-foot wing onto the school.

Tied for the largest project in 2014 was the EOG Resources sand processing plant at 1425 Highway S in the northeast corner of the city. The company constructed a new building to store wet and dry sand at a cost of $5 million.

The remainder of the top 10 projects in 2014 were:

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Construction activity mixed in area

The new Sempra Energy corporate headquarters building, developed by Cisterra Development, nears completion at Eighth and Island avenues in downtown San Diego. It is one of few major office buildings currently under construction locally. John Gastaldo

The new Sempra Energy corporate headquarters building, developed by Cisterra Development, nears completion at Eighth and Island avenues in downtown San Diego. It is one of few major office buildings currently under construction locally. John Gastaldo

San Diego County's commercial real estate market came alive in 2014 as vacancies dropped, rents rose and tenants occupied more space. But for 2015, local brokers expect little upturn in construction of office buildings because it's still cheaper to buy than build.

Still, optimism is growing that job growth is stimulating more space demand and, at least from landlords' standpoint, higher rents.

"There's definitely momentum in the marketplace," said CBRE industrial broker Chris Pascale. "People have a positive outlook."

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The key stimulant was the employment picture: Employers added 44,500 jobs to local payrolls last year, a 3.3 percent annual growth rate, a faster pace than in the rest of Southern California, the state and the nation.

"When people get hired, they need a place to work. So they will take space to house those folks. I think the job-creating piece is the most important piece for sure," Pascale said.

Rental rates rose but not enough to justify much new construction. No new large industrial projects were under way at the end of the year and only six office buildings were being built. New retail space under construction totaled 372,213 square feet in 19 buildings, but that was down 10 percent from the same time in 2013.

But there was some improvement, according to the Construction Industry Research Board. The total valuation of nonresidential building permits issued last year, $1.9 billion, was up 14.3 percent from 2013. New construction rose 58.8 percent to $1.1 billion, while additions and alterations dropped back from nearly 50 percent to 41.5 percent of all activity.

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Commercial real estate: Growing strength

Noisy part of downtowns CRST project will fade away soon

February 6, 2015 | 10:58 pm

CEDAR RAPIDS The piercing construction noise is coming to an end.

Since early October, a constant banging has been coming from the building site for the CRST Center, an 11-story office tower thats still about a year away from opening up for tenants.

Thats the sounds of progress is what weve been saying, but that echoes all over downtown, said Geoff Eastburn, vice president of operations for the Midwest division for Ryan Companies US Inc., the contractor on the project.

The incessant hammering about every 1.5 seconds when the crews are working is a byproduct of needing to drive 197 steel pilings into the bedrock for the CRST building and 189 more for the 12-foot flood wall between the building and the river.

While thousands of downtown office workers have tolerated it for months, one nearby violin teacher noticed how it affected his work.

Mike Hall offers private lessons through Orchestra Iowa, one block southeast of the building site. Hall broke out a metronome to demonstrate the pacing of the hammering.

If you turn (the metronome) on, itll give you the beat and you can pick whatever beat you like to use, he said. Unfortunately, with the construction going on, weve had to go with the beat outside.

The good news is that the noise will fade away. Eastburn said the last of the steel pilings are being installed, and that the shift soon will move to more visible above-ground construction.

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CRST building progress means end to constant banging

The temporary suspension of construction works widely believed to have damaged Phnom Penhs iconic White Building was officially lifted on the same day it was announced, according to a government notice.

Large cracks appeared across the southern part of the historic apartment block on Sunday evening, leading residents to flee their homes. The next day, officials announced that the nearby construction of an 11-storey hotel had been suspended pending investigation into the damage.

We need to wait for the authorities and experts to examine [the cracks], City Hall spokesman Long Dimanche said at the time.

But a notice, signed the very same day by Chea Srun, the head of Phnom Penhs Department of Land Management, and obtained yesterday, gives developers Rithy Samnang and To Chhean Lin the green light to continue building.

White Building residents say the notice appeared on the wall of the construction site on Wednesday evening.

At the apartment block yesterday morning, the notice was met with confusion and anger.

It just happened that the building cracked and construction was suspended, so why does the letter allow them to restart construction? Where is the inspection of the crack? said Neang Tha.

One resident, who gave her name only as Srey, threatened protests if construction began.

From now on, we are watching their activity, she said. If they dare to do any building work, we will protest to stop them, because the authority and the company did not explain how the crack was caused, but we think it was caused by the construction site.

Construction workers, employed by Malaysian company Biaxis, refused to speak to a reporter yesterday, referring questions to management.

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Construction ends, resumes near White Building

Oxford Development Co. has secured the land it needs to build a 51,000-square-foot office building at Pittsburgh Technology Center in Oakland. Now its working on a tenant.

City council approved the sale of 1.5 acres of riverfront land to Oxford on Tuesday for $690,000 plus costs, clearing the way for the developer to advance the project.

Oxford hopes to start construction on the $12 million, three-story urban flex office building this summer, with completion targeted for spring 2016.

The building will be built on the Monongahela riverfront and will feature 13-foot ceilings, open floor plans and a third-floor outdoor deck. Oxford is hoping to attract the same type of high technology and professional services companies that occupy many of the other office buildings in the complex off Second Avenue.

It is counting on strong demand for the space given its location on the fringe of Downtown and proximity to the Central Oakland business district with its hospitals and universities.

We felt it was a great location for this type of building, said Shawn Fox, Oxfords director of business development and marketing. Mr. Fox said the developer is in discussions with possible tenants, although no deals have been reached.

The company hopes to have leases in place in several months, Mr. Fox said. The goal is to have a tenant signed before construction starts.

Downtown-based Oxford manages and leases and served as construction manager on the 2000 Technology Drive office building near the site of the new project.

Pittsburgh Technology Center was built on land that for many years held the Jones & Laughlin hot mill. Development of the 48-acre site began in the early 1990s. Its considered one of the citys most successful developments.

Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.

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Path cleared for urban flex in Pittsburghs Oakland neighborhood