NW Las Vegas Medical Center to Break Ground

Huffman Builders West is set to break ground on The Centennial Hills Center, a 300,000-sq.-ft. medical and dental development in Northwest Las Vegas, located near the UHS Centennial Hills Hospital and both I-95 and the 215-Beltway.

The $90 million development will house over 50 customized offices, 60 percent of which have already been purchased or leased. Although the development is not limited to individuals in the medical profession, 85 percent of the sold or leased office spaces will house medical and dental professionals.

"Centennial Hills Center will be the largest non-hospital medical campus in Northwest Las Vegas and possibly the entire city," said Mike Young, President of Huffman Builders West. "Every medical specialty will be represented at the site from surgery and diagnostics to primary care and general dentistry."

The entire project will include a total of 12 single-story buildings, one 60,000-sq.-ft. two-story building, and one 90,000-sq.-ft. three-story building with a two-story parking structure, all of which will be constructed with a contemporary, professional design.

The facility is also slated to include amenities such as parking ratios of almost six spaces per 1,000 sq. ft. of buildings, a two-story parking structure, and lush landscaping throughout the site.

SR Construction Breaks Ground on New Office Buildings

SR Construction has broken ground on Schadler Kramer Group's new corporate office building at The Park at Spanish Ridge, a 32-acre business park on the east side of the I-215 Beltway between Tropicana and Russell. The 70,000-sq.-ft. building is slated for completion in May 2006.

The three-story, $20 million facility will feature a sophisticated, contemporary architectural style design by Perkowitz & Ruth Architects and will include both Strip and mountain views. The interior is designed by Avery Brooks & Associates with travertine adorning the public lobbies and a magnificent cantilevered grand stair. Lush landscaping will surround the building and the common areas.

The new building will be home to more than 120 advertising and public relations professionals.

SR Construction will also design and construct the Dickerson Law Building, located in the Hills Center Business Park II, in Las Vegas.

The 4,000-sq.-ft. project is set for completion in June 2006. SR Construction's Holland Walters will serve as project manager. The developer for the project is Debo Properties, LLC. Construction costs are estimated to be $950,000.

Venetian Casino Resort, LLC Resolves Construction Litigation

Venetian Casino Resort, LLC (VCR), announced the resolution of all of its outstanding litigation involving the construction of The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas.

Pursuant to an agreement executed by VCR and its affiliates, Bovis Lend Lease, Inc. and its affiliates, and VCR's construction litigation insurer, Bovis will release VCR from further liability in the previously disclosed ongoing construction litigation in exchange for certain payments. In addition, the Insurer has agreed to indemnify VCR, Bovis and their affiliates from further liability for certain ongoing subcontractor litigation.

The agreement requires VCR to pay the balance of its self-insured retention under its insurance policy covering the Bovis claims. Following this payment, VCR will have no further liabilities in connection with the matter. To avoid expending further company resources and management time on this complex litigation, VCR agreed to the compromise agreement. However, VCR does not acknowledge liability in the dispute.

VCR has previously taken reserves for most of the payment and expects to record only an additional after-tax charge of approximately $1million in the fourth quarter 2005 relating to the litigation.