Construction Projects Statewide Coming Up Green

LEED-certified projects range from office buildings to municipal facilities and public schools; construction projects range from high-rise, mixed-use and health care.

Class A Pre-Certified LEED Office Project Under Way in Houston

Construction recently began on the first phase of Beltway Lakes, a green Class A office destination in Northwest Houston. The first phase of Beltway Lakes under construction includes a 165,000-sq-ft, six-story office building and a 41,000-sq-ft structured concrete parking garage.

Located along SH 249 and Beltway 8 in Northwest Houston, the first phase recently became pre-certified at the gold level under the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building rating system. In order to achieve LEED gold pre-certification, Beltway Lakes was designed to maximize energy and water efficiency, recycled materials and innovative construction techniques.

Beltway Lakes Phase I is part of a six-building master planned office development owned and developed by Houston-based Radler Enterprises Inc. Yancey-Hausman Interests Inc. of Houston is co-developing and marketing the first building of the Beltway Lakes development, which was designed by Morris Architects of Houston and is being built by D.E. Harvey Builders of Houston. Sterling Bank in Houston is providing the construction financing for the project.

WoodsEdge Church Begins Construction

Construction recently started in Houston at the WoodsEdge Community Church's 65,000-sq-ft multi-purpose facility. The design features a 1,500-seat worship center, and a 13,000-sq-ft student center, scheduled for completion in 2008. The buildings are the first phase in the master plan of the 67-acre property that includes a 3,700-seat permanent sanctuary, fellowship center, compassion center and a 300-seat chapel.

The project team includes Brookstone LP of Houston as the general contractor, Vogt Engineer of Shenandoah, and Haynes Whaley of Houston as the civil and structural engineers, DBR of Harlingen as the MEP engineer, LDS of Houston for audio-visual design and Wade Worley of Houston for acoustical consulting.

Skiles Co. Breaks Ground on $13 Million Hospital

Ray F. Skiles Co. Inc. of Dallas recently broke ground on a $13.1 million project to replace Winkler County Memorial Hospital in Kermit, which is about 40 mi west of Odessa. Skiles demolished the north end of the existing hospital in July to make room for the new hospital and offices.

The original hospital was built in the late 1940s. Replacement of the hospital was less expensive than renovating. The new hospital will have 10 patient rooms, including nine semi-private rooms and an isolation room. It will be a 19-bed hospital with an emergency department. The old and new hospitals are owned by Winkler County.

Plans call for the new hospital to be smaller than the original. It will function as a critical care-access hospital with 34,000 sq ft, including 27,400 sq ft of new space. The remaining renovated space will be used for support functions, including administration, maintenance and physical therapy.

The project is expected to be completed by December 2008. The clinical area should be completed by May 2008. Arlington-based Ascension Group Architects was the project’s designer.

Park Lane High-Rise in Dallas Reaches Construction Top Out

Dallas-based Cadence McShane Corp. recently topped out at the first of three residential components under construction on behalf of developer PM Realty at the Park Lane complex in Dallas.

Houston-based PM Realty is the developer of a 590,000-sq-ft mixed-use component at New York City-based Harvest Partners' $500 million residential, entertainment and retail complex located at the southeast corner of Park Lane and Central Expressway in Dallas.

Cadence McShane's construction crews reached the highest point of construction on the four-story, 45-unit loft building, the first of the three residential apartment towers currently under construction by the firm. The four-story loft structure is situated beside two larger towers that are under construction at the site including a 15-story, 218-luxury unit residential building and a 20-story, 62-unit luxury residential tower

The construction assignment under way by Cadence McShane also includes the construction of more than 45,000 sq ft of ground level retail space together with an integrated four-level, 505-space parking structure.

Cadence McShane Corp. and project architect, Dallas-based Gromatzky Dupree and Associates, will complete the mixed-use construction assignment in late 2008.

McGuire-Dent Recreation Center Breaks Ground in Galveston

Construction recently began on the 25,196-sq-ft multipurpose recreation center for the McGuire-Dent Recreation Center at Menard Park in Galveston.

The new facility will offer amenities including a full-service basketball court complete with scoreboards, bleachers, and dividers. The building will also house two racquetball courts; a full-service fitness center; locker room and shower facilities; game rooms; a computer room; and administration offices for the parks and recreation department. There is room for an expansion as well as the addition of a skateboard area at Menard Park.

The city awarded the $3.6 million contract to Jamail & Smith Construction of Houston. Designed by Bob Randall of Randall-Porterfield Architects Inc. of League City, the McGuire-Dent Recreation Center will be LEED certified, a first for the city. Construction is expected to take approximately one year.

Flower Mound Industrial Buildings Under Construction by Hillwood

Dallas-based Hillwood Investment Properties began construction on a 137-acre speculative industrial park with plans for flex-office and/or flex-warehouse facilities. Financials on the project were not disclosed.

The 137-acre Lakeside Trade Center development currently houses three buildings totaling 1.4 million sq ft that are 100% occupied. The development has attracted nine companies that employ approximately 400 workers. Hillwood began developing Lakeside Trade Center in 2002.

The two new speculative buildings will be completed this month. Lakeside Trade Center is the first Class A industrial space for the town of Flower Mound.

Hillwood currently has five million sq ft of commercial space under construction in North Texas including nearly two million sq ft under construction at Alliance, 1.3 million sq ft under construction at Victory Park and a recently announced, 550,600-sq-ft speculative building under way in DeSoto.

The U.S. Green Building Council Certifies First Texas Public School

West Brazos Junior High School in Brazoria has received LEED certification, officially recognizing the school as an environmentally responsible and healthy place to grow and learn. This is the first K-12 public school in Texas to receive LEED certification.

In the 80th legislative session of Texas, HB 999 was introduced to encourage energy-efficient design in public schools and included proposed funding for the LEED certification.

The school was designed by SHW Group's Houston office.

IDI Builds Medical Office for Fort Worth Doctors

Fort Worth-based Innovative Developers Inc. recently began construction of the Fesolas Professional Building, a three-practice medical facility in Fort Worth.