Industry News

Richardson Regional Medical Center broke ground in early September 2003 on its $49-million Bush/Renner campus in Richardson, Texas. The first development phase of the 20.5-acre site will include a 100,000-sf, five-story medical office building opening in August 2004, and an outpatient surgery center and an urgent care center to open in fall of 2004. The master plan for the site details a physical rehabilitation center, a second physician office building, and a 500-bed acute care hospital. A comprehensive cancer center could also be constructed on the site.

The Dallas Center for the Performing Arts and architects Foster and Partners of London and the Office for Metropolitan Architecture of Rotterdam and New York have completed the master plan for a new Dallas arts center. The center will house three performance venues, the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, an 800-seat multiform theater, and the 5,000-seat Annette Strauss Artist Square, with an expanded seating capacity of up to 10,000. Construction on the $250-million center is expected to begin in 2004 with completion in late 2007 or early 2008.  

Union College is creating housing for 230 students by renovating an inn recently purchased by the liberal arts and engineering college in Schenectady, N.Y. Funded by an issue of $15-million in bonds, the renovation will include repairs to the exterior, roof, fire protection, and HVAC. A new study area, entryway, fitness center, and meeting rooms will be constructed. The renovation is slated for completion in fall 2004.

Ring Power Corp. has selected Elkins Constructors to build its 400,000-sf Jacksonville, Fla., headquarters at World Commerce Center, a 1,000-acre development in St. Johns County. Ring Power, one of the largest full-line Caterpillar dealers in the Southeast, will house its 800 employees in the new facility. Construction is expected to begin by the end of September 2003.

Baylor University has completed its $13.2 million multi-use facility that will serve as the new home for the university’s Information Technology Services Group. Sited on Baylor’s Dallas campus, the 400,000-sf design/build project houses office and restaurant space as well as structured parking for 1,195 cars. The contractor for the project was McCarthy, who also recently broke ground on a new 1,170-car, 360,000-sf design/build parking structure on Baylor’s Waco campus. Budgeted at $9.6 million, the facility will be completed in summer 2004.