Hoar Construction has broken ground on the 62,000-sq-ft Northeast Georgia Rehabilitation Institute, a two-story inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Gainesville, Ga. In collaboration with Northeast Georgia Health System and Lifepoint Health, Hoar will act as the general contractor for the $62-million project, with an anticipated completion date set for April 2025. The facility will feature 40 beds, with provisions for an additional 10 if needed. The project includes a therapy gym, patient day rooms, a fully equipped kitchen, dining area and simulated living spaces for life skills training. The second floor will cater to patients with brain injuries, offering therapy rooms and 12 patient beds. Additionally, the hospital will boast a courtyard space equipped with outdoor therapeutic amenities. Located at the site of a former J&J Foods at 2500 Limestone Parkway, the project included demolition of the existing structure, which occurred in March, followed by the start of construction in April. The project aims to address the shortage of long-term inpatient rehabilitation facilities in northern Georgia, according to an announcement from Hoar, doubling the capacity of existing units at NGMC Gainesville. Earl Swensson Associates Inc. is providing architectural services for the project. Hoar, which has completed nearly $1.5-billion in health care projects in the last decade, is also constructing the $17.8-million expansion and renovation at Crisp Hospital in Cordele, Ga.

Photo courtesy Stellar

For the fourth consecutive year, Stellar received a National Safety Pinnacle Award from Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) and was named a Top Performer at ABC’s 34th Annual Excellence in Construction Awards during its convention in Orlando. Neil Ross, vice president of safety, and Zack Mitchell, corporate safety manager, accepted the awards on the firm’s behalf. Contractors are evaluated on several criteria, including self-evaluation scores, lost workday case rates, recordable incident rates, leading indicator use, process and program innovations and interviews conducted by ABC’s National Health and Safety Committee members.

Photo courtesy Will Page

More than 300 tradespeople attended Samet Corp.’s topping out of the tallest tower in South Charlotte. The 26-story, 328-ft-tall luxury apartment tower, dubbed the Oro Tower after the Spanish word for gold, is being developed by Northwood, with a planned 356 units and a focus on hospitality-driven amenities and personalized services. Set to open in fall 2024 at 14020 Stream Way, according to local media reports, the tower will feature a ground floor fitness center, meditation room and rooftop amenity space including bar, hidden speakeasy and golf simulator.

Photo courtesy Halff

Halff has finalized its acquisition of Orlando-based Singhofen & Associates Inc., strengthening its expertise in water resources in central Florida and across the South, the firm announced in April. Civil engineering firm Singhofen, established in 1983, will do business as Singhofen Halff.

“This acquisition bolster’s Halff’s footprint across central Florida and the state,” said Jessica Baker Daily, Halff president and CEO, in a statement. “Singhofen is renowned for its expertise in water resources modeling and design, mirroring Halff’s legacy as a trailblazer in flood modeling.”

Under founder Pete Singhofen, the Florida firm developed the ICPR hydrodynamic stormwater model, part of its long history of collaborating and developing solutions to complex problems for cities, counties and water management districts across Florida as well as for clients like the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NASA and the Dept. of Labor.

With the addition of Singhofen Halff’s 30 employees, Texas-based Halff expands to 10 offices and 230-plus employees in Florida. Across the firm’s five-state footprint of Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, it now has 33 offices and a nationwide workforce of nearly 1,500.

Rendering courtesy T&T Construction

T&T Construction Management Group, a woman-owned concrete contractor, has begun work on an expansion to the Spurlino Family YMCA at Big Bend Road in Gibsonton, Fla. Designed by FleischmanGarciaMaslowski and first constructed in 2019, the Spurlino Family YMCA includes a cycling studio, group exercise facilities and a 30,000-sq-ft aquatic recreation center with eight-lane pool. The expansion, by Creative Contractors, will increase the facility’s total fitness area by 18,000 sq ft, and T&T Construction Management will join the existing building to the new addition by using tilt-up panels strategically build around the perimeter of the building due to the confined site.