In The Pipeline: CoStar Development & Construction News for March 18 – 24

News and Notes on Trends, New Projects and Construction In the Commercial Real Estate Development Pipeline Around the U.S.

Fort Lauderdale-based Stiles is developing a new apartment community in a joint venture with Prudential Real Estate Investors (PREI). Independently, Stiles owns and is redeveloping the commercial retail component, the adjacent University Shoppes.

The mixed-use project is located at the northwest quadrant of University Drive and I-595 in the Midtown area. Stiles President Doug Eagon estimates an average of 225 construction workers will work at the job site each month.

Completion of the residential community is expected by June 2013, and the completion date for the retail centers redevelopment is early 2014.

A Stiles partnership acquired the site several years ago, recognizing its potential as a cornerstone location in the city's vision for Midtown, Eagon said.

"We foresee continuing, strong demand for amenity-rich rental residences just steps away from shopping, dining, services and entertainment," he said. The partnership has obtained $40.6 million in construction financing from PNC Bank.

The residential component will be a gated apartment community on a 5.5-acre site, with two 12-story towers offering a total of 321 residences. Stiles Construction is building the residential complex, which is one of Broward Countys first multifamily rental communities designed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.

The commercial component will reconfigure and renovate the existing University Shoppes retail and office center to create a more appealing customer environment with easier access and improved traffic flow. Stiles Architectural Group designed the 65,000-square-foot renovation on a 9.5-acre site just north of the new apartment community.

Less than a year after starting construction, Excell has reached the vertical peak of its $750 million International Gem Tower in Manhattan's Diamond District.

Project team members from developer Extell, AECOMs Tishman Construction Corp., and architectural/engineering firms celebrated the topping out of the building on West 47th Street, expected to be completed by year-end.

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In The Pipeline: CoStar Development & Construction News for March 18 - 24