New ASU Residence Hall Being Built in Downtown Phoenix

ASU’s Taylor Place Residence Hall. Image courtesy SmithGroup

Taylor Place, Arizona State University's first residence hall for the Downtown Phoenix campus being developed by Capstone Development, is scheduled for occupancy in August.

An anchor for ASU's emerging downtown Phoenix campus, Taylor Place is a 366,500-sq-ft mixed-use structure designed by SmithGroup. It contains 10,000 sq ft of retail space at street level with two 12 story towers of residential student housing, a dining hall/servery and multiple interaction spaces on each level. The first tower, containing 744 beds, is designed for freshman in a two-bed-per-room format, while tower two, with 540 beds, is geared toward sophomores with a private, one-bed-per-room arrangement. Each floor of the two towers is connected by an open-air bridge. The first tower also accommodates a two-story, enclosed student lounge.

The structure is oriented with the towers sited along the east-west axis, maximizing natural daylight for building occupants while having minimal openings to reduce unnecessary solar heat gain. A number of windows will be operable. Dual flush toilets and low-flow shower heads will be utilized in 600+ bathroom units reducing the gallons of water per day needed by up to 1,280 student residents.

Austin Commercial LP is the general contractor. Taylor Place's first tower will be complete and ready for students in the fall of 2008.

Construction Begins on Tolleson Commerce Center

Irgens Development Partners LLC has begun construction on Tolleson Commerce Center, a five building, 86,000-sq-ft multi-use industrial development on 9.48 acres, located near 83rd Avenue & Buckeye Road in Tolleson.

Initial development phase will include: four, 14,000-sq-ft, free-standing buildings for sale that feature grade level loading, truck wells and 18-ft clear heights; one, 30,000-sq-ft building with 24-ft clear height; and 2.5 acres for build-to-suit future development.

All buildings will feature flexible office space, evaporative cooled warehouse space, tilt panel concrete construction, R-13 insulated roof decks and five-inch reinforced concrete floors.

Weitz Breaks Ground on Adult Day Health Care Center

The Weitz Co. broke ground on the Monsignor Edward J. Ryle Life Center, an adult day health care center and medical clinic enabled by a grant from The Piper Charitable Trust to the Foundation for Senior Living. The center is located at 3620 N. 4th Ave. in Phoenix.

Custom medical, nutritional, fitness and recreational services at the center will include: A health clinic, commercial-grade kitchen and café, health club facilities and multi-purpose media and game rooms.

Orcutt/Winslow designed the $1.7 million project, which will be complete by early spring.

MCC Tops Out Physical Science Center

Workers topped out the Mesa Community College Physical Sciences Building. The 62,000-sq-ft project, being built by Barton Malow, will contain state-of-the-art labs, support spaces and classrooms for chemistry, engineering, geology, physics, physical science and astronomy. The building includes student study areas, tutoring resources, faculty offices, conference spaces and other services. The SmithGroup-designed facility is envisioned to reflect college values, including the college's focus on providing an innovative and intellectual learning-centered environment that is responsive, adaptable and inclusive.

Wespac Completes Construction on Kierland's Tallest Building

Wespac Construction Inc. completed the Pinnacle in Kierland IV, a 206,000 sq-ft class A office building located on the southwest corner of Scottsdale Road and Greenway Parkway. Owned by Furst Properties, the six-story building is now the tallest structure in the Kierland master-planned community on the Phoenix/Scottsdale border.

Designed by Davis, the steel-framed office building includes an exterior skin of EIFS glass and 27,000 sq ft of marbleized limestone hand-selected from St. Sebastian, Quebec. The structure sits above a two-level, precast underground parking structure with 629 stalls.

Office suites are currently for lease through Jim Watkins and Craig Coppola of Lee & Associates. Current tenants include Biltmore Bank, Pioneer Title and Morgan Stanley.

$3.6 Million Contract for Security Upgrades at Tucson International Airport

The Tucson Airport Authority Board of Directors selected Millennium 3 Technologies to implement a variety of upgrades to security at Tucson International Airport. The security upgrades, based on recommendations from the TAA Security Master Plan, include: installation of decorative security bollards on the upper and lower level roadways in front of the airport terminal; upgrading security fencing around the perimeter of the airfield; expansion of the existing computerized access control systems, including access control at the jet bridges in the departure lounges; the purchase of equipment for the Emergency Operations Center at the TIA Fire Department, and upgrades to the emergency paging system at the Fire Department; and additional security monitoring cameras in the terminal.

This $3.6 million project is being funded by Federal Aviation Administration and Arizona Department of Transportation grants.

To submit project news, events and personnel announcements, please email them to Scott Blair, editor, at scott_blair@mcgraw-hill.com. Include a color photograph or project rendering if applicable.