$90 Million Medical Campus Commences Construction

Huffman Builders West broke ground on The Centennial Hills Center, a 300,000-sq.-ft. medical and dental development in northwest Las Vegas located on the corner of North Durango Drive and Grande Montecito Parkway. Once completed, the Centennial Hills Center will be one of the largest medical campuses in the Las Vegas Valley.

As part of the groundbreaking ceremony, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, Huffman Builders West president Mike Young, the Las Vegas Chamber, and several members of the medical community spoke about the importance of providing office ownership opportunities to help keep doctors and other medical professionals in Nevada. Huffman Builders West has several medical projects underway in Las Vegas, but the Centennial Hills Project is projected to be one of its most impressive. The $90 million development will house more than 40 customized offices, 85 percent of which were purchased by professionals in the medical community.

The facility is slated to include amenities such as parking ratios of almost 6 spaces per 1,000 sq. ft. of buildings, a two-story parking structure, and lush landscaping throughout the site that's designed to keep some of the top medical, dental and professionals in the city loyal to these offices and to Las Vegas.

Resources Group Names General Contractor for HUE Lofts

Resources Group, LLC, a privately held Las Vegas development company, will begin accepting reservations for its high-rise condominium project, HUE Lofts at Art Central. UPA Group was selected as the general contractor on the project.

HUE Lofts at Art Central is a 450-ft.-tall, 38-floor high-rise condominium development situated in the emerging Las Vegas Arts District at Charleston Boulevard and Casino Center Drive. HUE Lofts will house 270 two-story units ranging in size from 1,100 to 1,800-sq.-ft., and will encompass 678,000 sq. ft. of housing, a restaurant, boutiques, an art gallery and recreational areas.
Atop its one-third-acre, 38th-story roof, HUE Lofts will include a heated pool and Jacuzzi, a fire pit with water feature, fitness center, bar and grill, performance kitchen, spa and a jogging trail. Every condo is a two-story loft with 19-ft. volume ceilings with floor-to-ceiling glass, and includes a private balcony, mezzanine catwalks and storage space. Over half of the building facade will be constructed in glass.

The land for the HUE Lofts building was acquired by Resources Group in 2004 in a cash land purchase. Its design has been completed and its developers have obtained approvals from The City of Las Vegas, the Federal Aviation Administration, Nevada Department of Transportation and Nevada Real Estate Division. In January 2006, HUE Lofts entered the construction documents phase of approval which is expected to be completed by late 2006.

RNL Design designed HUE Lofts, with groundbreaking expected in early 2007 with completion in early 2009.

New Parking Garage for Summerlin Hospital

SR Construction broke ground on the 360-stall, five-deck parking garage for Summerlin Hospital, which is located near the intersection of Town Center Drive and Summerlin Parkway. Estimated construction costs for the project are approximately $5.8 million. The project was awarded to SR by Universal Health Services. Nicholas J. Nowicki, Ltd. served as architect for the new structure, which is slated for completion in December 2006.

Griffin Structures Awarded Cultural Corridor Trail

Griffin Structures, Inc. was selected by the City of Las Vegas to provide program management services for delivery of the Cultural Corridor Trail.

The project will establish multi-use trail connections linking the Las Vegas Public Library, Discovery Children's Museum, Reed Whipple Cultural Arts Center, Municipal Pool, Recreation Center, Senior Citizen's Center, Las Vegas Morman Fort, Natural History Museum, Cashman Field and the Neon Museum and Boneyard Park.

Griffin's duties with the Downtown Trail Development Program include selection and management of project design teams, coordination throughout the design phase, right-of-way and easements acquisition, bid administration and construction management services for the project.

Colours to Redesign Engineering Firm's Offices

Colours, Inc. has been contracted by the project's general contractor, Martin-Harris Construction, for the interior redesign of the corporate offices of John A. Martin & Associates of Nevada, Structural Engineers. Colours President Leslie Parraguirre and her team will design and implement updates to the interior and exterior colorization and finishes, as well as new furnishings in order to streamline the office environment. The office, which consists of approximately 16,250-sq.-ft., is at 1909 S. Jones Blvd. in Las Vegas.

Casablanca Resorts Rethinks Tower Expansion

Casino operator Casablanca Resorts will be amending its previously announced capital plans for the remainder of 2006. Citing soaring construction costs, the company stated that it would not be moving forward with its previously announced plans to add a hotel tower to the Casablanca Hotel & Casino at the present time.

In place of the proposed hotel tower, the company announced that it would be redirecting these capital dollars into a combination of several smaller, less risky high value initiatives aimed at its local and regional customer base. These initiatives could include, but were not limited to, the creation of concert and convention space at the Casablanca, a re-design of the Casablanca center bar, the addition of a mid-tier themed restaurant at the Virgin River Hotel & Casino, a refurbishing of the casino at the Virgin River Hotel & Casino along with an expansion and remodel of both the Charmaine's restaurant and Sports Bar and the Oasis Hotel & Casino.

The final selection of projects will ultimately depend on a variety of factors including the cost of the projects, construction time-table and the forecasted return.

$44.4 million I-215 Beltway Project Awarded

Meadow Valley Corporation has been awarded a new heavy construction contract with Clark County, Nevada that totals approximately $44.4 million. The project, located in Las Vegas involves structural concrete soundwalls, one bridge, roadway widening, underground utilities and paving of a portion of the Bruce Woodbury I-215 Beltway. The project is expected to break ground in September and will take about sixteen months to complete. Approximately $6 million of the new contract will be completed before December 31, 2006, with the balance carrying forward.

New Concrete Batch Plant Opens

Ready Mix, Inc. has opened a new concrete batch plant site in Las Vegas. The new plant is located approximately fifteen miles north of city limits off of US 95 at Lee Canyon Road. The new Lee Canyon facility will include a sand and gravel production operation in the near future, as well as a ready-mix concrete batch plant. This new plant is RMI's third plant in Las Vegas and fourth in Clark County. Most of the new ready-mix trucks to be based at Lee Canyon have already been delivered, with ten more due in September, which will raise the total fleet size to 184 trucks.

New Gateway Facility Under Construction

Gateway Venture Holdings, a subsidiary of GWDB announced that they have finalized the purchase of a new facility located on a 11,800-sq.-ft. property in Las Vegas. The facility, under construction to meet company specifications, will include approximately 3,800 sq. ft. of office space with a conference area, and approximately 8,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space. An additional, 3,500-sq.-ft. on the second level will be used for future expansion, ultimately yielding total useable space of 15,300-sq.-ft. Upon completion the facility will represent a $1.3 million asset.

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