South Texas Report: Educational building, energy projects keep area busy

While parts of the region continue to recover from Hurricane Ike, one year after the storm K-12 and university work continue to be strong building sectors in South Texas.

By Debra Wood

Skanska USA Building has constructed the Professional Zone, a classroom and library building, for the University of Texas - Brownsville/Texas Southmost College in Brownsville. (Photo: Courtesy Skanska USA Building)

“We’re not different here than other areas of the state,” says Perry A. Vaughn, executive director of the Rio Grande Valley chapter of the AGC in Harlingen. “We’re starting to see and experience a slowdown, particularly on the private side.”

When work does surface, a substantial number of out-of-area and out-of-state contractors are bidding, Vaughn says.

Industrial activity in the coastal bend area, near Corpus Christi, is down, says Sam Beecroft, president of Beecroft Construction Co. in Corpus Christi.

“The refineries and petrochemical industry is not spending a lot of capital right now,” Beecroft says. “And commercial building is also down. There is less retail and health care.”

However, Beecroft adds some physicians are taking advantage of lower construction costs to get their projects moving.

“The subcontract market is extremely competitive and material prices are down, almost, across the board,” Beecroft says. “The cost of building any commercial building is significantly less than it was 18 months ago. Those who can start building now are reaping the benefits.”

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On the education side, Marty Massey, vice president of operations for Skanska USA Building in Harlingen, says his firm has several university projects under way.

And Rene Capistran, South Texas vice president and regional manager for SpawGlass in Harlingen, says his company has not noticed a slowdown. “There is a lot of K-12 work, and most of our work is university work and some condo work,” Capistran says.

SpawGlass continues work on the $32-million, twin, 13-story towers at Los Corales Condominiums, a 68-unit development in The Shores of South Padre Island. Completion is scheduled for November, with 90% of the units sold. The developer, Paga Desarrollos of Mexico, has indicated plans to proceed, perhaps later this year, with another tower.

K-12 construction Still working off bond referendums passed during stronger economic times, several school districts have projects under way.

SpawGlass received an $18-million construction-manager-at-risk contract to build three performing arts centers for Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District. It is part of a $112-million bond program approved in May 2008. Other work includes four elementary schools to be built by Joe Williamson Construction Co. of McAllen and two middle schools, valued at $18 million each, by D. Wilson Construction of McAllen.

VCC of Dallas broke ground in June on a $45-million, 364,931-sq-ft school for the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD. The project, the district’s fourth comprehensive high school, is scheduled for completion in August.

Skanska finished the $58-million Palmview High School in Mission for La Joya ISD this year, and Leyendecker Construction of Laredo is working on the $58-million Juarez-Lincoln replacement high school in La Joya for the same district.

“There’s still a lot of K-12 going on, and there’s university work that was put on the back burner that we are hearing them talk about again,” Massey says.

Skanska USA Building is wrapping up construction of a music building for the University of Texas - Brownsville/Texas Southmost College in Brownsville. (Photo: Courtesy of Skanska.)

University work Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi recently started work on the $25-million Michael and Karen O’Connor Building, a facility to house the college’s business school. Omniplan of Dallas designed the building, and Satterfield & Pontikes Construction’s San Antonio office received the construction-manager-at-risk contract.

Fulton-Coastcon General Contractors of Corpus Christi continues its work on the $36-million Texas A&M Nursing, Health Sciences Building, which connects with a Kinesiology Facility, also built by Fulton-Coastcon, a joint venture between Fulton Construction Corp. and Coastcon Corp.

Skanska has started the $22-million Texas A&M University Kingsville Citrus Center in Weslaco.

SpawGlass is building a $23-million Science & Technology Learning Center for the University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College. The building, designed to withstand a category 4 hurricane, will house six labs, concentrating on research in the areas of infectious disease, cancer, neuroscience and animal science. Construction on the 20-month project began in early.

Skanska is wrapping up work on a $21-million, two-story classroom building and library, called the Professional Zone, for the University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College, and the company is working on a $23-million, 50,000-sq-ft music building, called The Arts Center, for the college.

On the South Texas College Starr County campus in Rio Grande City, SpawGlass has started construction on the $5-million, 21,000-sq-ft Upper Level Center for the University of Texas-Pan American. The center will be for students transferring from community colleges.

SpawGlass also has started the$16.5-million, 20,000-sq-ft University of Texas Marine Science Institute Reserve Headquarters and Lab Expansion in Port Aransas.

Mortenson Construction is building a 109-turbine wind farm near Corpus Christi for E.ON Climate & Renewables North America. (Photo: Courtesy E.ON Climate & Renewables North America.)

Other public projects SpawGlass broke ground during the summer on a $20-million, 30,000-sq-ft Brownsville Intermodal and Multimodal Terminal for the city of Brownsville. The center is one block from the international border. SpawGlass will demolish nine large buildings on two city blocks, close existing roads and run new utilities before constructing the multimodal center, which includes ticketing and express package areas, administrative and retail space, a bus transfer hub and an intercity bus transit area.

Skanska anticipates starting work in December on a $21.5- million, 110,000-000-sq-ft regional office in Weslaco. The new Texas Facilities Commission Regional Office will serve both public and private users, including a regional administration office building, drivers’ license building, crime lab and ancillary building. Completion is scheduled for February 2011.

One bright note is potential work at the Corpus Christi Army Depot, Beecroft says. He estimates about 2 million sq ft of construction will be completed at the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, including work at the Army depot. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District has advertised in June for sources for an interior renovation of Hangar 46 at the depot. It anticipates construction to cost between $1 million and $5 million. While many of the projects are small, Beecroft anticipates depot projects will generate work for a number of contractors.

Electricians have erected lighting, conduit and handrails on top of pipe rack at the Nueces Bay Energy Center. Pipefitters have erected large-bore CS pipe and hangers in E-W/finger racks. (Photo: Courtesy Zachry.)

Energy Mortenson Construction of Minneapolis is building a wind farm outside of Corpus Christi for E.ON Climate & Renewables North America of Austin, a wholesale power provider. The Papalote Creek project, with 109 turbines, will provide 179.9 megawatts of power.

“The site has ample transmission and it has a very good load profile,” says Patrick Woodson, chief development officer for E.ON. “The wind tends to blow more at times when power is needed the most. There’s more daytime wind than at West Texas sites.”

This is E.ON’s first South Texas wind farm, and it is expected to be complete this fall. Woodson would not release the cost.

Zachry of San Antonio is repowering the units at the Barney Davis Energy Center and the Nueces Bay Energy Center for Topaz Power Group of Austin. Work on both Corpus Christ projects began in fall 2007, and they are expected to wrap up in spring 2010.

NRG Energy Co. of Princeton, N.J., is working on the permitting for construction and operation of South Texas Project 3 & 4, two additional advanced boiling-water reactor, nuclear-powered generating units in Bay City. The plant is managed by the STP Nuclear Operating Co. and is owned by NRG Energy (44%), CPS Energy (40%) and Austin Energy (16%).

David Knox, spokesman for NRG, says the company anticipates construction on the $10-billion project to begin in 2012, with the first unit operational in 2016 and the second in 2017. Nuclear Innovation North America, a nuclear development company jointly owned by NRG Energy and Toshiba Corp. of Japan, completed negotiations for the engineering, procurement and construction agreement and contracted with Toshiba America Nuclear Energy of Alexandria, Va.

Fluor Corp. of Greenville, S.C. received a contract from Toshiba to provide engineering, procurement and construction-related services.