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From Hotels to Jails Building Activity Remains Brisk
A green library, new hospital headquarters and a downtown luxury condo are all in the works in Austin; a new jail starts in Fort Bend County; a new hotel breaks ground in Dallas and a community center rises in Houston.
Seton Hospitals Plan New Administrative Headquarters
The Seton Family of Hospitals plans to consolidate its administrative offices at a new building planned for the Robert Mueller Municipal Airport site in Austin.
Negotiations are underway with Catellus Development Group for Seton to become the primary tenant in a new office building. The facility is scheduled to open in 2008, across the street from Seton's Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas (DCMCCT), which is opening this summer.
Catellus Development Group will design, build and own the new approximately 150,000-sq-ft building to be constructed on 3.25 acres south of DCMCCT, across from Philomena Street and bound by James Wheat and Robert Browning streets. Seton anticipates relocating between 650 to 750 associates to the new offices. Proposed departments to be consolidated at this location include Seton administrative leadership, human resources, facilities, legal services and communications, advocacy, marketing and planning, among others.
Catellus plans to break ground on the new building sometime this summer and, with a final agreement reached, Seton would move in by the fall of 2008. Seton's headquarters are currently located at Seton Medical Center Austin. Once vacated, the network office space will be redesigned to accommodate patients. In addition, two Seton-owned office buildings, which have been home to several of the departments that will move to Mueller, will eventually be sold to raise capital for the new Clinical Education Center at Brackenridge. Seton, the University of Texas and Austin Community College are collaborating to provide interdisciplinary, team-based educational experiences at the Center for students and graduate trainees in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, public health and other health-related disciplines.
Four Seasons Residences Planned for New Downtown Austin High Rise
Architect Michael Graves, Princeton, N.J., is leading the design team for a 30-story Four Seasons Residences to be located in Town Lake Austin. Construction is expected to begin this fall.
Developers plan 166 condominiums in a landmark building located adjacent to the existing Four Seasons Hotel Austin.
Four Seasons Residences, Town Lake Austin will be co-developed by an affiliate of Atlanta-based Post Properties, through a taxable REIT subsidiary, and Austin's Ardent Residential. The Residences will be professionally managed by Four Seasons Hotels Limited and residents will have convenient access to many of the services and amenities offered at the adjacent Four Seasons Hotel Austin.
Other design team firms involved include BOKA Powell Architects of Dallas and TBG Partners of Austin. Interior design of the lobby, amenities and residences will be handled by Fern Santini of Abode from Austin.
On the sixth floor will be a 25-meter lap pool, high-tech fitness center and spa. Penthouse units will occupy the 28th and 29th floors and many residences will have views of the nearby Hill Country, Texas Capitol building, Austin skyline, University of Texas Tower and Town Lake. The building will contain approximately 7,000 sq ft of ground floor retail space.
Prices of the Four Seasons Residences, Town Lake Austin are expected to range from the $400,000s to $2 million, with a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The 291-room Four Seasons Hotel Austin recently announced a $15 million renovation expected to be completed within the year, including plans for a new 5,500-square-foot guest spa, renovations to individual guest rooms and a redesign of the hotel's restaurant.
Green Library Under Construction in Austin
Construction started with a ceremonial groundbreaking in late April for the North Village Branch Austin Public Library located at 2505 Steck Avenue, near the corner of Steck Ave and Burnet Road.
This library project was part of the 1998 City of Austin Bond Election, in which voters approved the funds to acquire the necessary land to design and construct a new branch library from its present store front 5,000 sq ft to 10,738 sq ft. By January of 2000, the city of Austin had successfully purchased the land required to double the size of the North Village Branch facility.
Austin-based Limbacher & Godfrey, Inc are the architects retained by the city to oversee the expansion design of this important library project, and Houston-based Jamail & Smith Construction Company is the selected general contractor.
During the construction of this project the current North Village Branch located at 2139 W. Anderson Lane will remain open until the last phase of the construction project. The scheduled closing date for the current North Village Branch is November, 2008.
The North Village Branch Library will be a new 10,738 sq ft building that serves five North Austin neighborhoods, doubling the size of the storefront branch it replaces. The North Village Branch Library is designed to be green, too. It will feature a rainwater collection system and photovoltaic electric panels. Its walls are being built with an innovative structural block composed in part of recycled wood chips. It is also designed with a special focus on daylight, where natural light animates a generous reading room. The xeriscape landscape will feature native plants selected for their beauty and their drought tolerance. The City of Austin Art In Public Places program has selected a local glass artist, Kathleen Ash, to create a number of interior pieces for the library.
New aloft Hotel Planned for Las Colinas
Hoping to capitalize off its success with the W brand of hotels, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. plans to develop a new line of lifestyle hotels with the first aloft hotel in Texas located in the affluent Dallas suburb of Las Colinas. At press time, contractor negotiations were still underway. The hotel is scheduled to open in early 2008.
Starwood, of White Plains, N.Y., partnered with Dallas-based Hillwood development company, which is providing the primary equity. Dallas-based Champ Hospitality is the development company who will be selecting the contractor.
The 136-room aloft Las Colinas will be the first aloft hotel to be built in Texas and will be located on Texas Highway 114. Following the success of Starwood’s W Hotels, aloft will feature urban-influenced design and a social atmosphere with guest lofts featuring loft-like nine-ft ceilings and oversized windows. The aloft line will be designed by David Rockwell and the Rockwell Group. Starwood anticipates 500 properties worldwide expected by 2012.
Turner Builds, Manages Fort Bend County Jail Expansion for $62 Million
Houston-based Turner Construction Company was awarded a $62 million contract to provide preconstruction and construction management services for the expansion of the Fort Bend County Jail in Richmond.
The scope of work includes a 246,000-sq-ft 984-bed addition and 3,200-sq-ft renovation to the existing facility. Completion is scheduled for June 2009.
Construction Starts on New India House Community Center in Houston
A new community center in Houston - India House, Inc. - broke ground in March at 8888 West Bellfort near Gessner. Construction is expected to be complete by spring 2008. Architectural firm Rey de la Reza Architects designed the space plan and Construction, LTD is building the facility.
India House will offer community programs including a health clinic, immigration assistance, senior services, youth education, adult education, health and wellness programs and community events. Operating under the theme that India House is “Our House”all programs are available to the community-at-large and specifically target the low-income population in the surrounding areas.
The project was funding by the Jindal family, Chowdary and Angela Yalamanchili, as well as the city of Houston Housing Department Jindal Steel Company, Houston Endowment, Fondren Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Bank, Brown Foundation, Indo-American Community and the India Culture Center. |
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