30-Story Tower Starts in Downtown Houston

With a price tag of $156 million, the 871,000-sq-ft Discovery Tower, which will feature 10 wind turbines at the top, will be built by Gilbane Building Co.

Gilbane Builds $156 Million Discovery Tower in Downtown Houston

Houston-based Gilbane Building Co. will build the 871,000-sq-ft Discovery Tower in downtown Houston at an estimated cost of $156 million. Designed by the Houston office of Gensler architects, the 30-story tower will have 10 wind turbines at the top of the structure that will harvest renewable energy by generating electricity. Dallas-based Trammell Crow is the developer, CBRE is the real estate broker.

Gilbane Building Co. will construct Houston’s new 30-story Discovery Tower, designed by Gensler, aimed at attaining a LEED-gold certification.

Located on a full city block, Discovery Tower will have an adjacent 10-story parking garage accessible by a sky bridge, and will be located next to Discovery Green, a 12-acre park with a children’s playground, interactive water features, amphitheater stage, public art works and restaurants.

The project is designed with two stories of retail and restaurant space overlooking a landscaped plaza, with an entrance pavilion featuring a porte-cochere, and opening into a multilevel lobby.

The project will seek a LEED-gold certification based on the rooftop wind turbines, a first for Houston, as well as other sustainable features such as air filtration systems and water-efficient plumbing. Completion of the project is estimated in second quarter 2010.

Houston Build-to-Suit Striving for LEED Gold

A Duke Realty build-to-suit in Sugar Land for Det Norske Veritas will seek LEED-gold certification. Burton Construction is the contractor. The design team includes Ziegler Cooper and Powers Brown.

General contractor Burton Construction of Sugar Land broke ground earlier this year on Dallas-based Duke Realty’s $14.4 million, 90,000-sq-ft. build-to-suit project for Norway-based Det Norske Veritas. The project has a completion date slated for early next year.

The project is located on seven-acres of the Westside Office Park and will endeavor to be LEED-gold certified. Ziegler Cooper Architects of Houston will provide corporate interior architecture, while Powers Brown Architects of Houston will be responsible for the building shell.

Completion Nears for First Colony Church of Christ in Sugar Land

Construction is nearly finished on the expansion of the First Colony Church of Christ in Sugar Land by Fretz Construction of Houston with December as the targeted completion date.

In 2006, Turner Partners Architecture LP of Houston began working with First Colony Church of Christ on the next phase, which is a substantial addition focused on a major new worship center.

The project includes site master planning and construction of a new 24,000-sq-ft 1,100-seat auditorium. The program called for a main sanctuary and gathering hall to be seamlessly linked to the existing building as well as support facilities including a large multi-purpose room, choir rehearsal space and a 145-ft bell tower as the focal point for the campus. Like the tower, the entry courtyard serves as a symbolic marker on the campus, welcoming the spiritual community.

Design for New Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas Unveiled

Princeton, N.J.,-based RMJM Hillier and the Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau unveiled the design for a new 275,000-sq-ft convention center in Irving. A model, renderings and animated video were presented to the Irving City Council, along with schedule and estimated construction cost.

Slated to open in fall of 2010, the $137 million Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas will feature 50,000 sq ft of column-free exhibit space, a 20,000-s.-ft ballroom, 20 break-out rooms each approximately 1,000 sq ft, and an 800-car parking garage. The project is aiming for LEED certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. No contractor has been selected.

The facility is the first phase of a mixed-use entertainment complex on a 40-acre tract for which RMJM Hillier developed the master plan. It includes a 3,500-seat concert venue, 215,000 sq ft of restaurants and retail, and a privately developed hotel, spa and condominiums. The convention center and garage will occupy a 12-acre parcel.

Sykes Construction Marks Record Year with Retail Projects

The year has brought record figures for two-year-old Dallas-based Sykes Construction Co., the firm annouced, with several projects in varying stages of completion.

The firm recently completed the new Potbelly Sandwich Works store in Dallas and accomplished its first Rack Room Shoe finish-out in Harker Heights while beginning work on a second Rack Room location for that client in Rowlett.

The firm has also contracted with New Jersey-based Toys R Us to complete its new 55,000-sq-ft Toys R Us/Babies R Us store in Irving. Sykes is also building a structure at the Wolf Ranch complex in Georgetown.

Among the firm’s recent accomplishments was a speculative finish-out of five spaces for a major mall developer totaling 20,000 sq ft The spaces, all of which had been vacant for more than 15 years, were leased before they were finished.

Dallas Firm to Manage More Than $100-Mil in Development Projects

Falcon Construction Advisors, a division of Dallas-based Falcon Cos., will provide construction management services for Dallas-based Margaux Development, Hermansen Land Development of Dallas, The Seitz Group of Dallas, Los Angeles-based Canyon Partners, and St Ives Realty of Dallas, among others.

Falcon will manage each phase of the more than $100 million in construction projects from pre-development planning, site development, vertical construction to tenant build-out.

Among the projects Falcon is working on are Westover Village in Fort Worth, Frisco Market Center, Preston Lebanon Crossing in Frisco and Harlingen Corners in Harlingen.

Leo A Daly Renovates Lamar University’s Stadium

The Sports and Assembly team of the Houston office of Leo A Daly was selected to >> upgrade Lamar University’s existing Cardinal Stadium in Beaumont for the college’s return to football in the 2010 season, after discontinuing its program in 1989.

The existing Cardinal Stadium, currently used for university soccer and local high school football games, needs improvements to meet the standards and expectations for a modern stadium and support the growth of a program competitive with other Southland Conference Schools.

The upgrades will improve spectator amenities, provide new football team and athletics program facilities as well as new football and athletic administration offices. The scope of the project also includes new premium suites. The upgrades will provide a new image for the stadium in context with the architecture of the campus. Reconstruction is ongoing.

Austin Joint Venture Modernizes Historic Perry-Brooks Building

A joint venture of Austin-based commercial building firm Structura Inc. in collaboration with L.M. "Mac" Holder III, FAIA, owner of L.M. Holder and Associates of Austin, and Capitol Commercial Investments of Austin, transformed the post-war Perry-Brooks building into a modern, energy efficient building with a new skin.

Once the tallest building in the downtown financial district, the Perry Brooks building, built by Commodore Edgar Perry after World War II, has been a part of the Austin skyline since the 1950s.

The project is slated for completion in early 2009.