On the other side of Interstate 4 from downtown Orlando, the new $480-million home for the Orlando Magic is quickly heading toward an October tip-off, a symbolic sign of construction life. Back across I-4, a recently completed high-rise condominium sits mostly empty. Photo: Balfour Beatty Construction Expansion of the Peabody Hotel’s existing facility near the Orange County Convention Center is one of several hospitality projects moving toward completion in the Orlando area. Related Links: Performing Arts Center Set for Fall Groundbreaking Photo: Balfour Beatty Construction Balfour Beatty’s expansion of the Orlando Peabody includes approximately 450,000 sq ft of new convention
The Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) of Newark, N.J., has embarked on a $515 million, 80-megawatt Solar 4 All program in its quest to obtain 30% of its energy supply from renewable sources by 2020. Related Links: Playing Small Ball “PSE&G has a pretty robust program in place,” says Dan Urban, business manager with J. Fletcher Creamer & Son of Hackensack, N.J., which received a $10.08 million contract last October to build a solar farm in Edison, N.J. PSE&G expects to start construction on this and three other solar farms in 2010, representing a $50 million investment in
Construction of the $14.9 million 360 Smith Street apartment building, sitting above the Carroll Street Subway Station in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, created some structural challenges for engineers and contractors. Related Links: Playing Small Ball “It was very complicated and very complex,” says Lance Franklin, a partner and CEO of Triton Construction of Garden City, N.Y., which expects to complete the project in June. The site’s unique location in relation to the subway scared many developers away, but the location was ripe for development with the right structural system. “There’s not a lot of multi-unit housing in the area, and since
Part of a statewide initiative to increase and provide for affordable housing for working people in New Jersey, the $18.7 million Horizon Heights will add 52 workforce apartments in Hudson County. Related Links: Playing Small Ball “The need for affordable housing in northern New Jersey is acute, because the area is so built up and dense,” says Larry Regan, president of Regan Development Corp. of Ardsley, N.Y. “People are being pushed out, unless you knock down and build modern structures.” Architect Jose Carballo, president and founder of Jose Carballo Architecture of Hackensack, N.J., says the site as the last developable
The Orlando Magic weren�t able to top Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers in last year�s Finals of the National Basketball Association playoffs. Image courtesy the Orlando Magic This rendering of the new Amway Arena showcases the "entry beacon" that will serve as the building's focal point. Photo courtesy the City of Orlando A recent aerial photo of the Amway Arena project. The city-owned project is scheduled for completion by October. But when it comes to the $480-million, 875,000-sq-ft Amway Center, the Magic and their partners with the city of Orlando are pretty confident they’re going to the top
Stating Florida must comply with the original 1992 consent decree to address Everglades pollution, U.S. District Judge Federico A. Moreno granted on March 31 the Miccosukee tribe�s motion to compel completion of a key reservoir. Since 2008, the work has stopped on the $700-million project in Palm Beach County; instead, state funds have been plowed into buying private sugar-growing land near Lake Okeechobee for a new restoration plan. Parties now are weighing the potential impact. Landowner U.S. Sugar Corp. says the ruling “does not preclude” the state’s continuing land purchase to meet the consent decree’s terms. Tribal officials and those
After contractual juggling and debates over the alleged dangers of steel rail ties, Austin’s Capital Metro opened its 32-mile MetroRail commuter line between the city of Leander, Texas, and Austin’s downtown Convention Center on March 22, a year later than originally planned. “The overall integration of the Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) system took longer to implement than anticipated,” Capital Metro spokesman Adam Shaivitz says. Last August, board-meeting minutes indicate, a system used for switching from freight to passenger rail had field-test problems. The opening comes more than five years after voters approved the “All Systems Go Plan” referendum. The agency
Stating Florida must comply with the original 1992 consent decree to address Everglades pollution, U.S. District Judge Federico A. Moreno granted on March 31 the Miccosukee tribe’s motion to compel completion of a key reservoir. Since 2008, the work has stopped on the $700-million project in Palm Beach County; instead, state funds have been plowed into buying private sugar-growing land near Lake Okeechobee for a new restoration plan. Parties now are weighing the potential impact. Landowner U.S. Sugar Corp. says the ruling “does not preclude” the state’s continuing land purchase to meet the consent decree’s terms. Tribal officials and those
After several stops and starts and some controversy over the alleged dangers of steel rail ties, Austin�s Capital Metro opened its 32-mi MetroRail commuter line between the city of Leander and the Convention Center in Downtown Austin on March 22, a year later than originally planned. Photo: Capital Metro Citing safety concerns, Capital Metro on March 23, 2009, postponed the planned MetroRail opening. At a board meeting, according to official minutes, chairman Margaret Gomez said she was disappointed but having waited 30 years for a rail line, “I can wait another few weeks or so because safety is the most
Construction firms are discovering that monitoring and analyzing safety observations collected electronically can improve safety by identifying hazards and taking action to eliminate problem areas. Photo: Jordan Construction Crew members enter SafetyNet data in the field. Photo: Jordan Construction Jordan Construction crews enter SafetyNet data in the field, tracking safety and quality information by documenting observations in various categories. “We’re trying to drive all incidents to zero,” says Cindy L. DePrater, vice president and corporate director of safety and loss control for Turner Construction Co. in Dallas. “If we know what we should be looking for out on the job,
