SAUNDERSLeslie Saunders has joined the Atlanta office of Leo A Daly as health care market leader. Saunders, with 30 years of architecture and planning experience, previously worked as a senior health care planner for Flad Architects and as a senior medical planner for HKS Inc. He also spent five years as director of capital planning and space management at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Related Links: Specialty Firms Eager for More Market Momentum Specialty Contractor of the Year: D.H. Griffin Wrecking Co. Jacksonville, Fla.-based architect-engineer RS&H announced the promotion of David Sweeney to chief operations officer as

Duke Energy reached a settlement with the state of Florida that allows the Charlotte, N.C.-based utility to keep $1 billion in advance fees collected from ratepayers that would have financed a cancelled $24.7-billion nuclear plant project, while clearing the way for additional funding of a planned 1800-megawatt natural gas plant. Image courtesy Duke Energy Duke Energy announced Aug. 1 that it is ending plans to build a $24.7-million nuclear powerplant project in Levy County, Fla., that was first proposed in 2008. Related Links: Nuclear Resurgence Dims Due to Rising Costs, Low Demand Newspaper Takes Aim at 'Myth' of $20B Florida

The Georgia Dept. of Transportation on July 23 named a team of Archer Western Contractors, Hubbard Construction and Parsons Transportation Group as the builders of its $840-million Northwest Corridor project. The public-private partnership project—which GDOT calls "long-anticipated and much-needed"—is being procured via a design-build-finance contract. Map courtesy Georgia Dept. of Transportation The Northwest Corridor project will add two managed lanes to Interstate 75 between I-285N and the I-575 Interchange. North of that interchange, it will add one managed lane to both I-75 and I-575. Related Links: FDOT Officially Names Shortlisted Firms for I-4 Ultimate Project Pending finalization of a P3

Miami Beach commissioners on July 17 settled a high-profile battle of starchitects when it chose Rem Koolhaas and his Netherlands-based firm, OMA, to redesign and revamp the city's convention center and surrounding 52-acre site, estimated as a $1-billion project. Tishman of New York leads the development team, which also included Atlanta-based tvsdesign, which specializes in convention centers. Related Links: Architectural Record: Rem Koolhaas Wins Competition to Redesign Miami Beach Convention Center Is Miami's Condo Boom Already Heading for Overdrive? "We are thrilled to be chosen to develop one of the most significant urban districts in the U.S.," Shohei Shigematsu, director

 MORRISPaul Morris has joined the Atlanta BeltLine Inc. (ABI) as the organization's new president and CEO. Morris has almost 30 years of management experience throughout the U.S. and Canada related to transportation, urban redevelopment, natural resource management, public parks and the development of corporate and institutional facilities. Related Links: ENR Southeast's Online People Photo Showcase Southeast People News Previously, Morris served as deputy secretary for transit with the North Carolina Dept. of Transportation. ABI is the organization responsible for implementing the Atlanta BeltLine urban redevelopment project.Craig Kirkwood has joined SchenkelShultz Architecture's Orlando office as an aviation planner and designer. Previously

The Atlanta Falcons and the Georgia World Congress Center Authority recently firmed up the group of architects and builders for the National Football League team’s planned $1-billion, operable-roof stadium. Related Links: Atlanta Authority Hires 360 Architecture to Design Falcons Stadium $200M Proton Therapy Project Kicks Off in Atlanta The groups announced the hiring of a joint venture led by Atlanta-based Holder Construction, as the managing partner, and Hunt Construction Group, Phoenix, to build the downtown stadium. According to the Falcons, local firms H.J. Russell & Co. and C.D. Moody Construction Co. have joined the joint-venture team.“This joint venture is a

On May 6, tunnel crews with Bouygues Civil Works Florida completed the last leg of mining for the second of two, twin 4,200-ft-long tunnels for the $1-billion tunnel project at PortMiami. That morning, the project's 380-ft-long tunnel-boring machine—nicknamed Harriet—broke through for the last time, landing back on Watson Island, where it had first launched in November 2011. Photo by Daniel Azoulay. Courtesy Bouygues Civil Works Florida On May 6, the PortMiami tunnel project's 380-ft-long boring machine completed the final bore of two twin, 4,200-ft-long tunnels. The $1-billion project is targeting an August 2014 completion. Related Links: Port Of Miami Tunnel

In a victory for Coral Gables, Fla.-based Odebrecht Construction, a federal appeals court in Miami has upheld a lower court ruling that Florida's anti-Cuba law is unconstitutional. The law—which the lower court blocked by injunction—banned public agencies in the state of Florida from awarding any contract valued at a minimum of $1 million to any firm with business dealings in Cuba or Syria. Image courtesy Reynolds, Smith and Hills Inc. Odebrecht Construction, which is vying for the concession contract on the $2-billion Interstate 4 Ultimate project (above), argued in court its business would have been significantly harmed by Florida's anti-Cuba

  HALLR. Randall Hall has been promoted from president to chief executive officer for West Point, Ga.-based general contractor Batson-Cook Co. Hall takes over the CEO position from Raymond L. Moody Jr., who is retiring. The general contractor previously named Hall as president in January 2012. Prior to that, he had served as senior vice president and general manager for the company's Atlanta division. Related Links: ENR Southeast People News 2013 Award of Excellence Winner Wayne E. Jones Moody, who will now serve as an executive adviser, first started with Batson-Cook in 1963 as an engineer. He was elected executive

Despite legal settlements reached in late April between builders and the families of workers killed or injured in the collapse of a $22.5-million Miami Dade College parking garage project, the school remains unsure where or when it may rebuild the structure—or what firms may handle the work. Photo by Robert Hernandez, courtesy Miami-Dade Fire Rescue A section of a $22.5-million parking garage project at Miami Dade College experienced a sudden progressive collapse on Oct. 10, killing four workers. Photo by Robert Hernandez, courtesy Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Lawyers representing the families of nine workers killed or injured in the collapse announced