Brickell Citicentre In Miami

The June 27 groundbreaking for Brickell CitiCentre in Miami marked the start of a four-year, US$1.05-billion project. Developer Swire Properties plans for the 5-million-sq.-ft. development to include office towers, condominiums, retail space and a hotel. Planned to spread over three blocks connected by bridges and covered walkways, the project is expected to be completed by 2015.

Chimney Rock State Park Elevator Renovation

Chimney Rock State Park in North Carolina recently completed the renovation of its elevator that carries visitors up 26 stories to the park’s signature rock. The original elevator came into service in 1948 and was fully renovated in the mid 1980s. It took workers 18 months to blast through the solid granite to furnish the original elevator that had a 258-ft.-long shaft reached through a 198-ft.-long tunnel. The elevator car and emergency-evacuation stair system were replaced during the park’s current renovations.

Building’s 2012 Money-Saving Products

Schindler’s 9300 AE® escalator and ThyssenKrupp Elevator’s Geared to Gearless system were both among Building magazine’s 2012 Money-Saving Products. Finalists were selected based on their money-saving qualities in areas such as energy consumption, water savings, lighting, envelope improvements and maintenance. Schindler’s and ThyssenKrupp Elevator’s products were categorized into the energy-consumption section and among 77 others showcased in the magazine’s June 2012 issue.

The 9300 AE includes an optimized drive system capable of energy savings of up to 27% more than earlier models and has a built-in frequency converter option that can generate savings up to 20%. ThyssenKrupp Elevator’s Geared to Gearless system can result in a 56% reduction in elevator electricity consumption and includes a regenerative drive that captures waste energy and feeds it back into the building’s power grid.

Cordish To Build High-Rise Apartments In Kansas City

Cordish Co. plans to develop two residential buildings in Kansas City, Missouri, that total a US$70-million investment. According to the Kansas City Business Journal, the first project is a 23-story high rise called One Power and Light that will include 250 units. The second project is a renovation of the Midland office building not far from the high-rise building site and will include 68 additional units. The work is expected to be completed by 2014.

ALPS Wire Rope Moves Corporate Headquarters

On July 27, Alps Wire Rope Corp. held the grand opening of its new corporate headquarters in Saint Charles, Illinois. The location holds 14 machines, including the Greenerd 1,500-ton capacity press, one of eight swaging presses that swages up to 3-in. wire ropes. Alps continues to maintain all of its four warehouses located throughout the U.S. In addition, its 12 distribution locations offer support to distributors and the elevator, oil and gas, construction and equipment manufacturers that purchase Alps’ rope. The new location, with more than 40,000 sq. ft. of office and warehouse space, allows for greater efficiency and logistical support to Alps’ distribution network.

LIR Group Elevator Supply Sold

LIR Group, Inc. of Long Island, New York, recently sold its inventory, client list and all right, title and interest in its online store to Katie Kay’s Elevator Store, also in Long Island. Katie Kay’s has a 32-year history in the purchasing, sourcing and sale of Certified and Wayland elevator and escalator products. LIR Group will continue to sell the Fail Safe Safety Guard, a device designed to prevent elevator movement when door interlocks have been bypassed (ELEVATOR WORLD, May 2012).

High Rises Proposed For Lincoln Park

Developer McCaffery Interests Inc. is planning three residential towers for Lincoln Park, Chicago. Buildings of 21 and 25 stories, respectively, are planned for the former site of Children’s Memorial Hospital on the east side of the community. A 14-story hotel has also been proposed for the west side of Lincoln, while the taller buildings would be mostly residential with some retail aspects. Each of these would exceed 160 ft. in height and account for around 900 housing units. Architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP is working with McCaffery on plans, and the taller towers’ layout has been done by Antunovich Associates. The plan has not yet been submitted to city officials for a required zoning amendment.

Peelle Provides Door Training Systems To Neiep

The Peelle Co. was contracted by the National Elevator Industry Educational Program (NEIEP) to provide freight door and gate models for training elevator professionals. NEIEP National Training Coordinator John Spinella explained, “These models will offer us an opportunity to provide real-world training on freight elevator doors and their components.”

Each training model will include one biparting power-operated hoistway door, including two operators, interlock, hardware and wiring materials; one slide-up, power-operated car gate, including one operator, one retiring cam, hardware and wiring materials; and two controllers, one wireless and one programmable logic, including electrical components and wiring materials to operate on 110 V.

The control systems will be installed separately from each other and offer current control options. The door and gate units will be mounted on two movable frames approximately 77 in. tall and no wider than a standard door opening. The door frame can be mated to the gate frame for training simulation.

2012 Schindler Annual Scholarship Recipients

Schindler recently announced the nine winners of its annual scholarship competition. Each recipient will receive a four-year scholarship of US$5,000 per year, which may be applied to any bachelor’s degree program at a regionally accredited four-year college or university within the U.S.

Schindler’s annual scholarship program is open to all children of Schindler employees in the U.S. who are juniors in high school. The scholarship recipients include Michael P. Brown, son of Terence J. Brown, senior sales representative in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Sam Wayne Mikle Cooper, son of Jean M. Burke, project manager in Houston, and Michael R. Cooper, service technician in Minneapolis, and stepson of Stephen E. Burke, senior sales representative in Houston; Christine K. Eckert, daughter of Geralyn Eckert, senior inside sales representative for Schindler’s Service Logistics Center in Niles, Illinois; Nicholas J. Evans, son of David Evans, manager of Transit & Application in Clinton, North Carolina; Taylor L. Gladieux, stepdaughter of James Zeiler, service technician in Toledo, Ohio; Shannon N. Lynch, daughter of Rod Lynch, manager of national accounts in Irving, Texas; Alex B. Petrak, son of George N. Petrak, service technician in Columbus, Ohio; Alyssa M. Resh, daughter of Joseph E. Resh, an assembler in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; and Alyssa D. Rhoads, daughter of Richard L. Rhoads, area finance manager in Elmhurst, Illinois.

Eklund’s Announces Johnson As National Sales Director

Steve Johnson has been promoted to National Sales director for Eklund’s, Inc. Johnson will direct the company’s regional business-development teams, including Dallas/Fort Worth; Houston; Chicago; Kansas City, Missouri; Las Vegas; and Baltimore/Washington, D.C. Johnson has more than 20 years of experience in the manufacturing industry. Prior to joining Eklund’s in 2007 as a business-development representative, he worked in sales for an architectural-metals company in Kansas City.

San Francisco Residential Project

Principal Real Estate Investors and Urban Pacific Investors, LLC (UPI) broke ground July 16 on One Rincon Hill Phase II, a 52-story residential development in San Francisco’s South of Market District. The Phase II project, designed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design® certification, is a companion to the existing 64-story Phase I tower. The project team remains the same as it was for Phase I, including architecture by Solomon Cordwell Buenz and structural engineering by Magnusson Klemencic Associates; however, the new general contractor is Webcor. Phase II is expected to be completed in 2014.

Turtle & Hughes Announces Elevator Supply Division

Turtle & Hughes, Inc. of Long Island City, New York, announced in July the creation of its Elevator Division. Stephen Smith has been hired to oversee the national sales and marketing of all elevator-related products and will report to branch Manager Brian Fitzgerald. Founded in 1923, Turtle & Hughes specializes in the distribution of electrical and industrial equipment and is a certified Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE). The company has added IPH wire rope and counterweights to augment its electrical product distribution. Stocking will take place at its new Glendale, New York, location.

Schindler Receives Energy Award For Solar Project

Schindler has been awarded the 2012 Alternate Energy First Place Award by the Building Owners and Managers Association of New Jersey for its solar installation project completed at its North American headquarters in 2011. The 250-kW solar system, comprised of 1,236 photovoltaic solar panels, produces 310,000 kWh of electricity per year. Each panel generates 230 W of renewable energy and provides approximately 11% of the building’s total annual power consumption, enough to power more than 90 houses for a month. Since its installation, the system has offset the generation of close to 600,000 lb. of CO2, the equivalent of taking a sedan off the road for almost 2 million mi.

Schindler’s website (adema.kiosk-view.com/schindler) provides real-time data on energy savings, carbon reduction and environmental impact of the building’s solar roof. The website is also intended as an educational tool to help users better understand the environmental benefits of the renewable-energy source, as well as the impact weather conditions have on the amount of power produced by the solar roof versus the utility grid.

 Other sustainable building improvements at the Morristown, New Jersey, headquarters included the installation of a Schindler 9300® AR escalator with ECOLINE, generating up to 20% energy savings per year, and a Schindler 3300 machine-room-less elevator that is up to 60% more efficient than a hydraulic elevator. Also, all (475) single-pane windows were replaced with energy-efficient, insulating dual-pane windows with low-E coatings to help control heat transfer and reduce the strain on heating and cooling systems. Energy-efficient T5 and LED light fixtures running on day-light sensors and 15,000 sq. ft. of reduced-waste carpeting were also installed.

Pflow Adds Krueger To Project Manager’s Team

Pflow Industries, Inc. in Milwaukee recently announced Matt Krueger as its fifth project manager. As part of the project manager’s team, Krueger will help support the field sales team, overseeing the design and construction of all Pflow vertical lifts from the receipt of the purchase order through to final shipping to customers. Krueger is a 2010 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Management. He has worked on several major projects, including a lift for a classified environment plant in Saudi Arabia, and an order of 10 lifts that will be integrated into an assembly line at an appliance manufacturing plant in Tennessee.

High-Rise Towers Proposed For Downtown Chicago

Wolf Point in Downtown Chicago could be home to a three-tower high-rise project. According to the Chicago Tribune, the Kennedy family and three financial partners have proposed the office and apartment complex along the Chicago River; however, final plans have yet to be announced. The US$1-billion project would be comprised of a 925-ft.-tall office tower to be located at Wolf Point’s south end, a 700-ft.-tall office tower on the site’s eastern flank and a 500-ft.-tall apartment building. bKL Architecture has designed the apartment building and would like to complete the tower by 2014. The other towers are not expected to be completed until at least 2018.

Georgia Developments On The Rise

Several developments are currently under construction or set to break ground in the near future in midtown Atlanta. According to Midtown Patch, Novare Group and Batson-Cook Development Co. hope to have 100 6th Street, a 23-story apartment tower, completed no later than 2014. The project will follow the developers’ 23-story apartment called SkyHouse Midtown, which is expected to be completed either by December or early 2013.

A 12-story hotel located at the corner of Williams and 10th streets is expected to open in early 2013. In addition, Daniel Corp. and Selig Enterprises are developing a 22-story apartment tower that will have 20,000 sq. ft. of ground-level retail space. Completion is slated for early 2013 and considered Phase III of the 12th and Midtown development.

Avalonbay To Build High Rise In Boston

Developer AvalonBay Communities has finalized a deal to build a luxury high rise in Boston called the Kensington. The 29-story glass-covered structure, to be built behind the Jacob Wirth restaurant, will include a five-story parking garage with car elevators. According to the Boston Herald, the building is part of a US$125-million project, which also includes the completed W Hotel. AvalonBay expects to break ground for the 404-unit tower by the end of the year.

New Orleans Project Breaks Ground

Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. has announced plans to expand the Boomtown Casino in New Orleans. In July, the project was expected to begin within 60 days and take approximately 13 months to complete. The five-story hotel addition will be connected to the 30,000-sq.-ft. casino and will include suites, meeting space, a fitness center and 250 additional parking spaces. According to the executive vice president of Pinnacle’s Regional Operations, the expansion is expected to increase tourism and benefit the local economy.

Kone Aquires Apex Elevator

KONE acquired Apex Elevator Corp., an independent elevator company that serves the Washington, D.C. market. Apex has operated with its headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia, since 1992. Under the leadership of Bob Pristach, Jim Burke and the late M. R. Pristach, Apex has specialized in performing maintenance, modernizations and repair work. Apex and KONE will be combining their elevator operations under the KONE name during the next few months. Larry Wash, KONE executive vice president and Area director for the Americas, said:

“We are thrilled to be adding great new customers in the very important Washington, D.C. market. The combined team welcomes the opportunity to continue to offer outstanding service to Apex and KONE customers.”

Facebook Page Gains Landmark Following

Elevator World, Inc.’s Facebook webpage (www.face book.com/pages/Elevator-World-Inc/75911060915) surpassed 1,000 “Likes” in July. The page is regularly updated with industry news, videos and photos and is meant to complement Elevator World’s main online presence, www.elevatorworld.com. It also offers an opportunity to comment on posts and other ways to communicate with those who have “Liked” the page.

Pincus Elevator Announces Modernization Service

Pincus Elevator Co. of West Chester, Pennsylvania, started a modernization project to help cut costs for its customers. The company works with building owners, property-management teams and general contractors to provide repair services to avoid replacing multiple elevators. A spokesperson for Pincus said:

“We are offering a new and improved service for all your residential elevator needs and will provide accessibility, maintenance, installation, repairs and modernization services. In addition to our commercial services, residential services are now available to provide the necessary modifications or additions for your home.”

Miami-Dade County Intermodal Projects

Metrorail service to the Miami Intermodal Center (MIC) began in July and integrates Miami-Dade County’s rapid-transit system with the Miami International Airport (MIA). The service allows residents and tourists to board the system at any of its 22 downtown and suburban stations and travel on the AirportLink to the intermodal center, adjacent to MIA. Passengers can then board the automated MIA Mover light-rail shuttle directly to the airport. Odebrecht USA, with joint-venture partner Parsons, constructed the elevated 1.27-mi. MIA Mover Automated People Mover System that opened September 2011, linking MIA with MIC at a cost of US$259 million. The MIA Mover has eliminated an estimated 1,400 rental-car trips to MIA, which reduced its carbon footprint by 157,000 T. of CO₂, helping the project achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design® Gold certification. Both AirportLink and MIA Mover won OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program safety-recognition award.