Ongoing Jobs

Lerch Bates, Otis move forward on projects.

DIA’s Elevators and Escalators Near Completion

Lerch Bates Inc., designer of the elevator, escalator and façade-access systems of the US$544-million Denver International Airport (DIA) expansion (EW, May 2013), reported on the project in July. Installation of the 16 elevators and 11 escalators for the DIA Hotel and Transit Center Program was nearing completion. Work includes 60-ft.-long escalators with unique, large-scale light art by Yann Kersalé above them.

The Hotel and Transit Center Program consists of three physically integrated projects, including the construction of a 519-room Westin hotel, Regional Transportation District (RTD) commuter rail and bus transit center that is expected to serve more than 18,000 rail passengers daily and a public plaza that will feature entertainment, art exhibits, restaurants and more. The 22.8-mi.-long, under-construction RTD East Rail Line will connect the new commuter rail station with downtown Denver.

DIA is the nation’s fifth-busiest airport with more than 53 million passengers traveling through it annually. The Westin hotel portion of the project is scheduled to open on November 19. Commuter rail service is to begin in 2016.

Otis Modernization at Pitt Progresses

The modernization of the elevator system in the historic 43-story Cathedral of Learning on the University of Pittsburgh’s main campus in Pennsylvania (EW, October 2014) is progressing, with The Pitt News reporting over the summer that two of eight elevators were complete and an additional two were due to be finished by October. The US$10.44-million upgrade, which includes destination dispatch, is scheduled to be complete in spring 2016. Otis officials have been onsite teaching passengers how to use the destination-dispatch system.

New Hires

Matot, Eklund’s grow staff.

Matot Appoints Halcomb National Sales Director

Jonathan Halcomb has been appointed National Sales director at Matot, Inc., headquartered in Bellwood, Illinois. He is tasked with growing and developing Matot’s commercial and residential dumbwaiter markets. Halcomb has more than 20 years of sales experience, including his most recent role as sales engineer at Morgan Bronze Products, Inc. He holds a BA in English from Wheaton College and has completed numerous continuing-education courses that focused on sales.

Eklund’s Hires VP of Sales & Marketing

Eklund’s, Inc. has announced that it hired Rick Lockridge as vice president (VP) of Sales & Marketing. Lockridge is expected to apply his extensive sales and leadership experience to help strategically improve processes and grow revenue potential. He will regularly visit the company’s regional offices and work closely with business development, marketing and the executive team. An alumnus of the University of Iowa, Lockridge has 27 years of experience in the vertical-transportation industry. Most recently, he served as branch manager in Chicago for a large elevator company.

2nd & Pike Rising in Seattle

Construction has begun on 2nd & Pike, a 39-story luxury apartment tower overlooking Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported. Designed by Seattle architect Tom Kundig of Olson Kundig, the project is set to include approximately 340 residences and 9,000 sq. ft. of retail. On the eighth floor, a restaurant is planned with indoor/outdoor seating. Urban Visions is the developer, and the U.S. subsidiary of Japan’s largest real-estate company, Mitsui Fudosan, is an investor in the US$74.4-million project, part of a luxury building boom around Pike Place Market. 

NYC Area Continues Hot Streak

New York YIMBY reports on activity in the city, and as far out as Coney Island.

1,000-Ft.-Tall 35 Hudson Yards Poised to Take Shape

It appears the 1,000-ft.-tall, 79-story 35 Hudson Yards is poised to take shape, with a new rendering released and paperwork making its way through the NYC Department of Buildings. Plans have been adjusted before (ELEVATOR WORLD, April 2014), but observers believe the latest incarnation will stick. The Skimore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) design features a light-colored, stepped façade with a setback containing an outdoor area and a pool for hotel guests. Condominiums are also planned in the building, which will be the second supertall within the Hudson Yards development and the final piece of the Eastern Yards portion of the project. Completion by 2019 is anticipated.

3 WTC Reaching Skyward

3 World Trade Center (3 WTC), also known as 175 Greenwich Street, surpassed the halfway point at 41 stories over the summer. The Silverstein developed and Robert Stirk Harbour + Partners designed building has lost its spire but will still stand 1,170 ft. At 80 stories, it will house 17,000 employees and is part of an office resurgence in the area that is fueling retail development. Topping out is expected in winter 2016 and opening in early 2018.

Plans for 71-Story Tower Progress in Midtown

A group consisting of the U.S. division of Shanghai Municipal Investments and Ceruzzi Properties plans to break ground before 2016 on a 71-story, mixed-use tower on East 43rd Street in Midtown. Applications were filed in 2014 for the tower, which is set to contain ground-level retail with hotel rooms and residences above. Developers closed on a US$325-million deal to buy the property over the summer. Handel Architects designed the glassy, sleek structure.

Silverstein Tower to Have Residences, Retail

A 41-story tower rising at 1 West End Avenue in Lincoln Square is set to house more than 360 condominiums, more than half of which will be below market rate. The building is being developed by Silverstein Properties, and Pelli Clarke Pelli is the architect. In August, it had risen four stories out of the ground. With ground-level retail, two sections of varying heights and a tree-topped podium, the glassy tower is scheduled for completion in 2017.

New Renderings of Queens Tower

New renderings of a 45-story, 481-ft.-tall tower that will house approximately 390 residences and 30,650 sq. ft. of commercial space at 23-10 Queens Plaza South in Long Island City (LIC), New York, (EW, April 2014) have been released. Developed by Property Markets Group and designed by SLCE Architects, the glassy structure was approaching the 30th floor in August. The same developer and architect are behind another, 915-ft.-tall apartment tower in LIC that will be the tallest building in NYC outside of Manhattan (EW, June 2015).

Tower would be Coney Island’s Tallest

A 40-story, 470-ft.-tall tower with more than 500 residences and three floors of retail is planned in Coney Island, New York. Sporting a plain, rectangular design by SLCE, the building would be Coney Island’s tallest. It is being developed by Cammeby’s International Group and is set to have retailers including Ralph Lauren and Whole Foods. No construction timeframe was given, but over the summer, permits were in the process of being issued.

A Look at 118 East 59th Street

New renderings provide a look at 118 East 59th Street, a 38-story condominium project planned in Midtown (EW, December 2014). Designed by SCDA Architects and standing 470 ft., the tower is set to feature approximately 30 large, high-ceilinged condos and ground-level retail. Glass cladding and floors stacked in sets of four, set at angles, distinguish the exterior. Existing structures have been demolished, and the building is expected to open by 2018.

California Looks Skyward

Tall buildings are planned in L.A., San Francisco.

L.A.’s Future Tallest with Otis Vertical Transportation

New renderings in Los Angeles Magazine of the 73-story, 1,100-ft.-tall Wilshire Grand Center, Los Angeles’ and the West Coast’s future tallest building (ELEVATOR WORLD, April 2013 and January 2014), provide a glimpse of the Otis elevator system that will be installed. Scheduled to open in 2017, Wilshire Grand will have hotel rooms on the upper floors and offices on the lower floors. The structure features a concrete core to house the elevator shafts and provide earthquake resistance. According to Turner Construction Vice President Scott Borland, high-speed, double-deck elevators will serve offices and hotel rooms through two separate elevator banks. Otis reports it is providing 52 units — 38 elevators and 14 escalators. Otis’s energy-saving CompassPlusTM destination-dispatch system will facilitate travel on 27 of the elevators. Lerch Bates is providing façade access.

San Francisco Getting Highest Homes West of Chicago

181 Fremont, a 70-story tower coming out of the ground in San Francisco’s Transbay Redevelopment District, will house the highest residences west of Chicago, reported GlobeSt.com. Besides nearly 70 condominiums on the upper floors, 181 Fremont will also boast 432,000 sq. ft. of office space. It was designed by Heller Manus Architects and structurally engineered by ARUP to withstand wind and seismic events. The design is energy efficient and will provide impressive views of the city’s architecture and landmarks, including the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, from the upper floors. It is scheduled for completion by the end of 2016.

Pair of 35-Story, Mixed-Use Towers for L.A.

A pair of 35-story, mixed-use towers is planned in downtown Los Angeles (L.A.) on 12th Street near the Staples Center, CoStar Realty Information Inc. reported. Circa is set to include approximately 650 apartments, retail and parking. In July, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said Circa promises to create 1,000 construction jobs over the next two-and-a-half years. It is part of a tall-building construction boom going on in L.A. that includes the US$1-billion Metropolis project (EW, April 2014).

Inspection Backlog Plagues Oklahoma

With four state inspectors for approximately 5,800 elevators, almost one in six units are late for inspection in Oklahoma, some up to a year, the Claremore Daily Progress reported. According to the state, there is only a handful of minor elevator accidents each year, but some fear it is only a matter of time before lack of oversight leads to additional and more serious accidents. The state plans to add an inspector in 2016 but would need at least eight to eliminate backlog. It would also need to charge property owners US$200 (versus the current US$125) to break even on the largely taxpayer-subsidized program. According to NEII®, Oklahoma is one of 45 states with a state elevator-inspection program. Late State Labor Commissioner Mark Costello believed Oklahoma should go back to a private-sector inspection system.

Miami Action

City is a popular spot for condominiums.

44-Story Condo Tower Tops Out

The Bond on Brickell, a 44-story condominium tower in Miami, has topped out, Commercial Property Executive reported. Delivery is anticipated in 2016. A project of Rilea Group, Coastal Construction and the Nichols Brosch Wurst Wolfe & Associates architecture firm in Miami, the building includes more than 300 residences, ground-level retail and numerous amenities. By the summer, nearly all of the condominiums had sold in the stylish building, which has bold, retro interiors inspired by early James Bond.

57-Story Condominium Tower Eyed for Edgewater

Developers have launched sales of the multimillion-U.S.-dollar condominiums in Elysee Residences, a 57-story tower intended to start taking shape in early 2016 in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood, the South Florida Business Journal reported. Prices for units start at US$1.65 million and go up past US$10 million. Planned by Two Roads Development, the property is among several condo towers planned in the same waterfront area north of downtown.