McCarthy Building Cos. is converting a 1960s-era Clarion Hotel property adjacent to the San Francisco International Airport into a “next generation” business/boutique property. Aloft, Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ newest brand that launched in 2008, now has 87 locations worldwide, including three in California: This current under-construction property in Millbrae, in Ontario-Rancho Cucamonga and, opening next year, in Cupertino.Aloft SFO, designed by Jonathan Nehmer + Associates, Rockville, Md., will have 253 rooms, a 5,102-sq-ft lobby with the brand’s signature hang-outs (the w xyz bar and re:fuel by Aloft eatery), 672 sq ft of meeting space and a detached pool. The whole
Construction is at the halfway point on the $1-billion Green Build expansion project at San Diego International Airport. Photo courtesy of San Diego International Airport Terminal-side construction is under way. The project, which is aiming for LEED silver, is on schedule and within budget, according to airport officials, and is moving toward a summer 2013 completion.Construction crews are currently working on the dual-level roadway, which will relieve curb-front congestion in front of Terminal 2 when complete, according to airport spokeswoman Katie Jones. Concrete decks have been poured, and in the coming months, two new pedestrian bridges will be installed, reaching
In the first of a series of seismic shake-table tests to gauge the effects of major earthquakes and fire on a hospital’s non-structural components and systems, a five-story specimen and its contents came through with flying colors. The excellent performance on April 17, attributed to the specimen's base-isolation system, came as no surprise to researchers at the University of California, San Diego, who are conducting the tests. Photo courtesy of UCSD The five-story specimen building sits on a base-isolation system. Photo courtesy of UCSD A Jacobs School engineer works on the base-isolation system. The tests simulated shaking from the 1994
Bechtel reports that it has been awarded a contract by enXco, an EDF Energies Nouvelles Co., San Diego, for the engineering, procurement and construction of the Catalina Solar Photovoltaic Generating Project in Kern County. Bechtel will also build the 7.2-mi transmission line to connect the facility to a nearby substation.The contract value was not disclosed.The 110 MWac facility will be built on 1,100 acres and produce enough energy to power approximately 35,000 homes.Jim Ivany, president of Bechtel’s Renewable Power business group, says construction is scheduled to begin in May pending final approval from the California Public Utilities Commission, with scheduled
Seven outstanding projects built by AGC of California contractors were chosen as winners in the 25th Annual Associated General Contractors of California’s Constructor Awards program. The winning projects, along with all of the Constructor Awards finalists named in this year’s competition, were honored as the “best of the best” in California construction during the 2012 Awards Banquet and presentation at The Palace Hotel, San Francisco, on April 14. The prestigious black tie event, the “Oscars” evening for the construction industry, was attended by more than 300 people from top construction firms throughout the state.In addition to naming the Constructor Awards
With commercial real estate in San Francisco showing new muscle thanks to the tech boom, Tishman Speyer plans to build a rare speculative office building in the Foundry Square complex at Howard and First streets, south of Market Street. Rendering courtesy of Tishman Speyer Foundry Square III The 10-story Foundry Square III was designed by Studios Architecture, which also designed Foundry Square I, II and IV, and will be built by Webcor Builders, according to Rick Matthews, spokesman for Tishman Speyer.Construction is set to begin in July with completion scheduled for the end of next year.Matthews said there was no
The California High-Speed Rail Authority Board last week passed a 2012 revised $68.4-billion business plan that will provide for high-speed rail service within a decade, connect the state’s major metropolitan areas, utilize existing rail infrastructure in Northern and Southern California and provide earlier statewide benefits to commuters in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. For the project to break ground, final approval is needed from the state legislature, which is scheduled to begin budget talks this week.The business plan was adopted with an amendment committing the authority to work with transportation agencies in Orange County to identify cost-effective ways to enable
The Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority has issued a “full notice to proceed” to Foothill Transit Constructors – A Kiewit Parsons Joint Venture for the $486-million Foothill Extension from Pasadena to Azusa light-rail alignment project. The go-ahead affords the Kiewit Parsons JV the ability to implement all aspects of the design-build contract, including design and construction of the 11.5-mi of tracks, stations, crossings, bridges, utilities and maintenance facility. The total project budget for this second phase is $735 million.“The Authority board awarded the contract to the Kiewit Parsons team in July 2011 with a limited scope of design
Even though there was a handshake deal on a term sheet agreement for the financing, construction and operation of the nearly $400-million Entertainment and Sports Complex made in February between the Sacramento Kinds owners (the Maloof family) and the city of Sacramento along with AEG (the ESC operator), the deal has apparently fallen apart. According to news reports, the Maloof family, lawyers and consultants met with National Basketball Association owners and commissioner David Stern in New York this week and presented a “historical analysis of the transaction,” which basically says the city’s financing scheme and other obstacles show problems with
As Mayor Ed Lee praised the nonprofit developers responsible for the ground breaking earlier this month of the Rene Cazenave Apartments in San Francisco, the realization that the state’s redevelopment agency funding has gone away for projects like this became a little less painful to the affordable housing supporters in attendance. Rendering courtesy of BRIDGE Housing Rene Cazenave Apartments, San Francisco The 120 affordable housing units coming from the new project are the product of co-developers Community Housing Partnership and BRIDGE Housing Corp., which together and individually have been active in getting affordable projects off the ground in the city.
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