Stakes are high for gaming giant MGM Mirage Inc.’s $8.5-billion CityCenter development on the Las Vegas Strip. The project’s turbulent history includes the death of six construction workers, a lawsuit between development partners over rising costs and funding woes brought on by the global credit crisis. Yet the 18-million-sq-ft complex of hotels, condos, casinos and entertainment space still is scheduled to open in phases, starting on Dec. 1. Photo: MGM MIRAGE CityCenter could be a big gamble for its owners and for Las Vegas city officials. Complex and its CEO, Bobby Brown, at its debut in 2007. The debut of
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, Chicago, won a contract to expand Beijing’s central business district. The SOM plan calls for three new districts anchored by signature parks and green boulevards. The plan has other green aspects, which could reduce energy consumption within the district by 50%, reduce water consumption by 48% and landfill waste by 80% and result in a 50% reduction in carbon emissions.
The “implosion” of the faulty, 31-story condominium tower and interconnected four-level parking garage on South Padre Island in Texas is not going to be standard by any measure, says the demolition contractor. The razing by explosives is complicated by the failed structural elements—a consequence of differential settlement between the structural concrete tower and the post-tensioned garage; post-tensioned beams; the tower’s robust frame; the high water table; and sand that conducts vibrations to nearby buildings, says J. Mark Loizeaux, president of Controlled Demolition Inc. Slide Show Photo: Controlled Demolition Inc. Developer alleges flawed engineering led to failed columns and beams near
Ocean Towers LP has hired Controlled Demolition Inc. to raze its incomplete condominium tower on South Padre Island, which is plagued by 14 in. of differential vertical subsidence between the post-tensioned, low-rise parking garage attached to the tower. According to the owner, the tower’s weight caused a layer of expandable clay under an upper sand layer to compress. Settlement followed, causing damage to the garage at the connection to the tower. The developer stopped construction last year, when the frame was topped out and half clad. The building, designed by Walker & Perez Architects with construction managed by Zachry’s Coastal
The Marquette University Board of Trustees Sept. 24 approved moving ahead with the first phase of the university's new $100-million College of Engineering facility in downtown Milwaukee, Wis. Photo: Marquette University Artist's rendering of planned new building for Marquette University's School of Engineering. The first phase will involve construction of a five-story, 100,000-sq-ft building on the south side of Wisconsin Avenue between 16th and 17th Streets. Site preparation has already begun with soil testing and environmental demolition work on the interior of four university-owned apartment buildings. Marquette University President Robert A. Wild, S.J., said the university expects to break ground
After years of controversy and a total redesign, Forest City Ratner Cos., the developer of the Atlantic Yards megadevelopment in Brooklyn, N.Y., says it expects to begin construction of the development's centerpiece, an arena for the NETS basketball team, later this year. Ratner "anticipates" opening the facility, called Barclays Center, for the 2011-12 basketball season. Photo: SHoP Architects and Ellerbe Becket Redesigned basketball arena in Brooklyn. Ratner released renderings Sept. 10 of the redesign by Ellerbe Becket in collaboration with SHoP Architects. The original architect was Frank Gehry. Under the new design, the 675,000-sq-ft arena is clad in weathered-steel and
German architect Ole Scheeren, a partner with the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), Rotterdam, has unveiled his plan for MahaNakhon, Bangkok’s tallest skyscraper. The 310-m luxury mixed-use tower appears to be carved, with portions set back in seemingly random fashion. It will be primarily residential but also will include a Marriott hotel. The tower is located near a major transportation hub and is the central feature of a $515-million, 37-acre development that will contain public gardens and retail spaces. Construction is slated to begin in late 2009 and be completed in 2012.
Construction is under way at Camp Ederle, a U.S. Army base in Vicenza. The post is the headquarters of the Southern European Task Force as well as the 173rd Airborne Brigade combat team. A 100-acre portion of a former civilian airfield, Dal Molin, will be the site of barracks for 1,200 soldiers and office space for four brigade battalions being transferred from Germany. A joint venture of two Italian contractors, C.M.C. Di Ravenna and Consorzio Cooperative Construzioni, Bologna, have already driven 800 concrete piles, which eventually will be topped with 25 multistory buildings and car parks. Simultaneously, Italian teams are
A new urban center is rapidly taking shape in Incheon, a port city 30 miles west of Seoul. Work is under way on 100 buildings across 1,500 acres reclaimed from the sea. The so-called First World apartment complex is currently home to Songdo’s first 7,800 residents. The development’s population is expected to reach 65,000 upon completion in 2014. A convention center, hotel, international school and 100-acre central park have been completed. The construction workforce currently numbers 15,000 and is expected to peak in late 2010 at 25,000. The developer is New Songdo International City Development LLC, a 70/30 partnership of
Construction crews working the One World Trade Center site reached a milestone on Aug. 12 by placing the largest steel column to date for the $3.1-billion tower in Lower Manhattan. The 60-ft, 70-ton beam will serve as one of 24 perimeter columns that surround the building’s core. Once placed, the columns will allow the initial floors of the tower––including the lobby––to be built out. Tishman Construction is managing construction on the 2.6-million-sq-ft, 102-story structure for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Construction began in April 2006 on the steel-frame tower designed by the New York office of
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