Towers planned in urban centers.

Residential High Rise Plans Exemplify Growing Dallas

Chicago-based Amli Residential has purchased vacant property to construct Dallas’ first downtown tower in seven years, according to The Dallas Morning News. The source said the residential high rise on Field Street would be the tallest downtown building since construction began on the 42-story Museum Tower condominium building in the Arts District in 2010. It will rise more than 40 stories and contain 367 rental units. Construction is expected to begin this summer.

ConstructionDIVE adds that the building will join a host of high-rise residential developments underway in Dallas as the residential construction sector booms to meet growing demand. Examples are the US$1-billion, 374-acre Mercer Crossing mixed-use development; a 7,200-acre community in nearby Fort Worth from Dallas-based Republic Property Group; and the US$1-billion mixed-use Bayside project with 700 hotel rooms, 3,000 residential units, 800,000 sq. ft. of office and retail space and more than 1 million sq. ft. of commercial space in nearby Rowlett.

Houston To Get 35-Story Green Tower

Commercial Property Executive reported that Skanska will develop and build a US$151-million, 35-story office tower in downtown Houston. Anchored by Bank of America, the property will have approximately 780,000 sq. ft. of office space, nearly 26,000 sq. ft. of retail space and an 11-level parking garage. The office tower is to use 25% less energy than typical facilities and be the first project in Houston to reach Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design v4 Platinum precertification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Among its sustainability features will be high-performance glass, rain harvesting for reuse in restrooms and landscaping and a “green roof.” Construction was scheduled to begin in April and is to be complete in the second quarter of 2019.

Draka, Datahoist Partner to Bring IoT for Maintenance

Draka Elevator Products, a business unit of the Prysmian Group, and Datahoist of Austin, Texas, have announced a partnership to bring cloud-based Internet of Things (IoT) services and advanced analytics to the global market. Edge computing devices and sensors will be used to connect elevators to the Microsoft Azure cloud services developed by Datahoist. Utilizing Datahoist’s analytic algorithms, Draka’s customers can access their elevators’ performance data to provide remote monitoring, prioritize maintenance and reduce equipment downtime.

Sterrett Lloyd, president, Draka Elevator Products, explained:

“We believe elevator control manufacturers, consultants, facility managers, building owners and service companies are looking for ways to give their customers a more efficient technology management capability for their elevator systems in their facilities. We are excited about this new partnership, as it will enable a flow of real-time data to those responsible for elevator operations, allowing lower costs and [improving] equipment performance.”

Using advanced engineering, raw performance data is turned into variables that contain predictive value. The products and services are developed as standalone IoT solutions, allowing service companies and building management to access and monitor all their elevator systems, irrespective of manufacturer or supplier. Dan Bryant, Datahoist cofounder and CEO/chief technology officer, added:

“Companies can move from reactive and preventive maintenance models to the more efficient condition-based monitoring maintenance model. As the algorithms evolve and data is collected, predictive and prescriptive methods will be added to the systems for enhanced diagnostics.”