Luxury Living, Upscale Mixed-Use Tops Activity

Also, from higher educational facilities to mixed-use commercial and manufacturing, projects gain LEED certification.

Sapphire Condo Towers Set for August Completion

Construction is under way on S. Padre Island on the Sapphire towers, designed by Ziegler Cooper Architects and under construction by G.T. Leach.

The 31-story, resort-style Sapphire condominium for developer Houston-based Randall Davis Company is on target for an August completion date. Situated at the southern tip of the Texas Gulf Coast in South Padre Island, The Sapphire consists of two 31-story towers, 14 town-house style bungalows and a three-story parking garage. Initially planned as a two-phase project, it is being built as a single phase due to booming sales.

Designed by Ziegler Cooper Architects of Houston and under construction by G.T. Leach Construction of Houston, the two towers are connected for the first 19 floors and contain more than 200 units, ranging in size from 1,400 to 1,900 sq ft. The 20th floor features private terraces with 6-ft-high wind screens.

The Sapphire offers each unit dual views of the Gulf of Mexico and Laguna Madre Bay. The first building visible after crossing the Queen Isabella Causeway, The Sapphire has an illuminated cupola to screen mechanical equipment and provide a nice view.

To deal with the highly corrosive, tropical environment, Ziegler Cooper Architects incorporated several protective techniques into the design. The structure has a waterproofing membrane and special elastomeric coating to protect it from moisture. To deter rusting, specifications called for aluminum railings, a stainless steel cooling tower and rust-proof plastic instead of galvanized steel for joints.

Double thermal-paned windows on green glass with white frames adorn the outside of the building. The white frames reflect the sunlight so that it appears to change colors throughout the day. This unique feature, along with the varied design of the balcony railings, gives the exterior a dynamic appearance.

Lake Highlands Town Center Breaks Ground

Development is under way for the Lake Highlands Town Center in Northeast Dallas. The 70-acre, two million-sq-ft, mixed-use community will be located in Lake Highlands at the intersection of Skillman Street and Walnut Hill Lane.

The $350 million transit-oriented, mixed-use development will offer retail, residential and office uses as well as more than 20 acres of public space including parks, lakes, an amphitheatre, hike and bike trail, and DART light rail station.

Dallas-based Prescott Realty Group is developing the project. Infrastructure improvements including abatement, demo and dirtwork, will last throughout 2008 with Prescott Realty Group acting as the general contractor. 

Lake Highlands Town Center will feature a pedestrian-friendly environment, a retail promenade lined with approximately 300,000 sq ft of specialty retail shops and approximately 50,000 - 100,000 sq ft of office space - all located within walking distance of more than 1,600 upscale residential units including townhomes, patio homes, flats and lofts. Anchored within the development will be a DART light rail station. A 20-acre park with natural water features, hike and bike trail and proposed creeks, lakes and park areas will ultimately connect to the White Rock Lake trail to the south.

Austin Project Pursuing LEED Gold Certification

AMD's new 865,000-sq-ft Austin campus is  scheduled to open early this year on a 59-acre site in the southwest part of Austin. The campus will allow the semiconductor manufacturer to consolidate its offices in the Austin area. The project's architecture, design and engineering team is pursuing the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED Gold certification for the campus. The general contractor for the project is Austin Commercial. The Austin-based architecture and design firm GS&C is the architect.

AMD, a Fortune 500 company based in Silicon Valley, estimates that the many green measures being blended into the $200 million-plus project are costing $11.5 million. One of those measures is an innovative system that will collect rainwater from the roofs of the campus' four buildings. About 360,000 gallons of the water will provide 100 percent of the site's irrigation. The harvested rainwater also will lower the amount of treated city-provided water used for the campus' cooling towers by about 12%, or more than 7 million gallons per year.

McCarthy Starts $44 Million Dallas County Forensics Building

Dallas-based McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. began construction on the $44-million-dollar, 110,000-sq-ft Dallas County Institute for Forensic Science. The project will replace an existing forensic facility and will include a three-story forensics laboratory, a two-story administration area and a one-story autopsy and morgue facility. It is McCarthy's second project for Dallas County. McCarthy is currently working on the new $61.7 million Dallas County Detention Center South Tower.

Approximately 120 employees will be housed in the new Institute for Forensic Science, which will feature leading edge forensic and laboratory design. The collection, preservation and forensic analysis of evidence will take place on all three floors of the forensic laboratory. Case preparing and evidence review will take place mostly on the first floor of the building, which features classrooms and conference facilities. Also on the first floor, ammunition and weapons will be tested. Drug analysis, toxicology and DNA Instruments labs will all be on the third floor of the forensics laboratory.

Construction on the Institute for Forensic Science began in June and is expected to conclude in spring 2009. The project architect is Dallas-based HKS Inc.

San Antonio Marriott Moves Forward with Design, Construction

Construction has started on the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa, which is set to open spring of 2010. Located outside San Antonio in the Texas Hill Country in Cibolo Canyons, the 1,002-room JW Marriott Resort will include 12 structures totaling 1.1 million sq ft. Complementing the resort facilities are two 18-hole championship TPC golf courses designed by Greg Norman and Pete Dye.

Situated on 2,847 acres, one of the resort's biggest draws will be the outdoor recreation and water features, which are being designed by San Antonio-based TBG, Texas' largest landscape architecture and planning firm.

Other features designed by TBG include a pool, which will be located on a bluff overlooking the golf courses, hot and cold plunge pools, cascading waterfalls, whirlpools and a grand active pool, which will serve as the centerpiece of the resort's activity area. 

In addition to the outdoor recreation and water features, the resort will also include 1,002 guestrooms. The resort is being developed by Miller Global Properties, with Marriott International as the operator. Austin-based Noble Development Group is serving as the project manager. Additional consultants to TBG are  Dallas-based HKS Inc., Dallas-based ForrestPerkins as the interior designer, Dallas-based Lang Lighting Design, Water Technology Inc. of Beaver Dam, Wis., as aquatics consultant/contractor and Dallas-based Austin Commercial as the general contractor.

Planning Begins on Largest U.S. LEED Certified Mixed-Use Campus

Scottsdale-based Five Star Development Group Inc. says it plans to develop the country's largest LEED certified mixed-use campus The $150 million project will be located on 109 acres adjacent to the Zaragoza port of entry between the U.S. and Mexico in El Paso.

Located on one of the last large undeveloped land parcels along the U.S. and Mexico border, the mixed-use campus broke ground in December and will offer approximately 2.1 million sq ft of retail, commercial and distribution facilities that will open in multiple phases. The first phase will be an approximately 500,000 sq ft, high-efficiency, cross-dock distribution facility. Completion for all phases will be approximately two years.

San Antonio Hotel Construction Begins

FAS Construction Management Inc., a subsidiary of MDI, was awarded a contract from Montex Real Estate Co. LLC to build a five-story Staybridge hotel with 120 suites in San Antonio.

FAS has been performing the pre-con-  struction project management services for Montex. The hotel is owned by Montex, under a license agreement with the InterContinental Hotels Group.

The contract is valued at $11.2 million and started in January with an estimated delivery in 12 months. Montex is investigating the development of two additional hotels in Texas and is considering FAS as the lead contractor.

Texas State Veterans Cemetery at Abilene Under Way

Construction began recently on the Texas State Veterans Cemetery at Abilene. Austin-based PBS&J designed and planned the 63-acre cemetery with the Texas Veterans Land Board as part of the Texas State Veterans Cemetery Program, an initiative to build seven veterans cemeteries across the state with the goal of having one within a two-hour drive of nearly every major Texas city.

 The cemetery is being built near Lake Fort Phantom Hill and has an ultimate capacity of more than 20,000 burials. It will feature a covered, open-air structure for committal services, a visitor's center, a computer system for locating specific graves or interments, an assembly area for special occasions and a memorial walkway for future monuments.

The first interments are expected to begin  in spring 2009. The new cemetery will join state veterans cemeteries in Killeen and Mission that were also designed and planned by PBS&J.

First LEED Certification Awarded to University of Texas at Austin

The newly constructed Research Office Complex received Leadership LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The Research Office Complex is at the J.J. Pickle Research Campus and is the first LEED-certified University of Texas System building. 

Dallas Distribution Center

Construction Slated for October Completion

Unilever has selected Duke Realty Corp, to develop two new built-to-suit distribution hubs totaling 1.59 million sq ft in Dallas and Jacksonville, Fla.

Indianapolis-based Duke began construction of Unilever's Southwest distribution facility in the southern Dallas submarket in Wilmer, in December. The 822,000-sq-ft facility, scheduled to be complete in October, is located in close proximity to the new Union Pacific Intermodal Facility.

Ziegler Cooper Architects Designs Upper Kirby YMCA and Campus

Houston-based Ziegler Cooper Architects was selected to provide planning and design services for the new Upper Kirby YMCA and Community Campus, a public-private partnership serving Intown neighborhoods in Houston. The facility will provide space for a state of the art LEED certified YMCA and a variety of non-profit institutions and neighborhood organizations.

The new facility will occupy more than four acres of property. 

Innovative Developers Inc. Prepares Locations for LegacyTexas Bank

Fort Worth-based Innovative Developers Inc. remodeled two and is working on a third location for LegacyTexas Bank, which made its first foray into Fort Worth recently.

Another remodeling project for LegacyTexas Bank took place at Two City Place Tower. The 7,669-sq-ft office complex is Legacy's Tarrant County corporate headquarters, housing staff, a videoconferencing room and a training facility.

IDI will also remodel space in the lobby of Two City Place Tower. The 4,569-sq-ft banking center will serve as the main branch for LegacyTexas Bank in Fort Worth.

Holcim to Acquire Minority Ownership of Lattimore Materials

Holcim Participations Inc. purchased a minority ownership position in Lattimore Materials Co. LP of McKinney- one of the leading suppliers of concrete and aggregate materials in the state. Lattimore Materials currently employs approximately 1,150 people and operates six aggregate quarries, 19 ready mix concrete plants, four rail terminals, and a fleet that includes more than 400 mixer and haul trucks.

Lattimore Materials' management team, led by President Vic Lattimore, will continue to manage the company and oversee its operations.

Holcim Ltd is one of the world's leading suppliers of cement and aggregates.

Ascension Awarded Contract for Gainesville Medical Office Building

Arlington-based Ascension Group Architects received a contract to design a medical office building for North Texas Medical Center in Gainesville.

The medical office building will be owned by Gainesville Hospital District and is estimated to cost nearly $1 million. Construction is scheduled to begin any day.

Preliminary plans call for a 10,000-sq-ft shell building that would match existing hospital in materials and aesthetics. The new building could potentially allow six separate physician suites, but that could change to meet any doctor's specific needs. The owner is yet to confirm if these suites are used as leasing space or condominium style agreement.