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Megaproject Starts Propel $16.7B of Work in Calif., Hawaii

By Scott Blair, Editor-in-Chief

In San Francisco, the largest single contract associated with the Third Street Light Rail Central Subway project was awarded in June to Sylmar-based Tutor Perini Corp. Valued at $839.7 million, the project's scope includes trackwork, systems and multiple underground subway stations.

Commercial Rebound

Office buildings and mixed-use construction surged in 2013 and show no sign of slowing in the coming year. The largest to start in 2013, the $1.1-billion Wilshire Grand Center in downtown Los Angeles, ended up in the record books in February with the largest continuous concrete placement—21,200 cu yd—for the 73-story tower's mat foundation.

Chris Martin, CEO of local project architect AC Martin Partners, says that while the combined office and hotel tower is pursuing LEED-Silver certification, normally "sustainability and a four-star hotel is an oxymoron." Martin's design incorporates an 800,000-gallon vertical thermal storage system that takes advantage of the building's 1,100 ft height. "Some of the systems we've done in the past weren't as vertical, and we didn't get the thermal layering we wanted," he says. "This lends itself to it."

In San Francisco, crews are busy digging caisson shafts as deep as 262 ft for the $325-million 181 Fremont, a combo office and residential tower next door to the massive Transbay Transit Center and office tower construction site. Several other large projects are within a stone's throw in the neighborhood. "You can come in to work some days and see concrete trucks queuing up on the off ramp of the freeway because they have nowhere to go" due to the congestion, says Steve DeWees, project executive with Level 10 Construction of Sunnyvale. The firm is also the general contractor on another Bay Area office complex on the top starts list —the Facebook West Campus in Menlo Park.

Aloha Construction

The top five projects on the inaugural Hawaii list are all located in Honolulu, and four are residential high-rises. Two are part of the same development—the $573.2-million Ewa Wing Expansion at the Ala Moana Center and the $259.2-million One Ala Moana Residential Tower. And there are more tower cranes coming to the already crowded skyline: The $200-million first phase of 801 South St. Workforce Housing Condos will be joined by Phase 2, which will break ground later this year.

Blair leads day-to-day operations of the ENR editorial team to ensure brand quality and further best practices. He spearheads ENR's various competitions, including Best Projects and the Award of Excellence, and organizes editorial content at events including the Top Young Professionals conference. A Jesse H. Neal, Construction Media Alliance and AZBEES-award-winning writer and videographer, Blair frequently contributes to ENR’s burgeoning video channel with project tour videos and interviews with industry leaders. He is also a frequent speaker and moderator on topics such as diversity and inclusion, design and jobsite technology, construction means and methods and marketing.