Market Outlook: Building

Big-dollar projects create decent outlook for 2004

By Sam Barnes

Several big-dollar investments have brightened the picture somewhat for the building market in 2004.

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Convention centers, prisons, military and gaming construction are taking up the slack from declines in other markets:

• In New Orleans, construction begins early this year on a $283 million expansion of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
  
• Ground was broken last summer at the $325 million Pinnacle Casino in Lake Charles
  
• The $60 million Bossier Parish Community College is already under construction
  
• About $150 million will be spent to develop the Louisiana Riverwalk in Bossier City during 2003-2004.
  
• Shreveport broke ground in December on its $80 million convention center
  
• A $100 million expansion of the federal prison at Pollock near Alexandria will get underway this year
  
• About $49 million in upgrades will begin at the Alexandria Airport, including a passenger terminal complex

In addition to these special projects, relatively low interest rates should keep the general contracting business busy enough to offset losses caused by a slowdown in the chemical industry.

In the healthcare market, the aging baby boomers will ensure plenty of medical construction for the foreseeable future, particularly in the Baton Rouge and Lafayette markets.

"The movement by doctors to set up boutique surgi-centers and specialty hospitals will also boost the demand for healthcare workers," said Loren Scott, James Richardson and A. M. M. Jamal in the Louisiana Economic Outlook.

In New Orleans, about 1,000 new hotel rooms were added this year through the addition of a Marriott Renaissance, a Staybridge Suites and a Loews Hotel. An equal number of additional rooms were added elsewhere across the state. And more hotels are scheduled for construction.

Pinnacle Entertainment began construction last fall on a 750-room hotel associated with the state's 15th riverboat casino, to open in Lake Charles.

Other gaming related work includes Delta Downs near Lake Charles, which has opened a new slots area; and Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, which has completed the first stage of its slots area (a second stage is under construction).

On the downside, mid-sized projects are expected to decline in volume.

The surge of state building projects in downtown Baton Rouge will begin to dissipate in 2004, since most of the projects are either completed or are already under construction.

"That big market is pretty much gone," said Terry Hill, vice president, Milton J. Womack Inc. of Baton Rouge. "But the medical market has picked up and that's expected to keep going strong."

Rob Ratcliff with Ratcliff Construction Co. of Alexandria said the building market would be lackluster in central Louisiana.

"There are some things happening out here, but not much in the private sector at this point," Ratcliff. "There's a fair number of small jobs, but a lot of contractors are scrapping and fighting for them."

Harvey Bessette, owner, Bessette Development of Lake Charles, said, "Had it not been for Pinnacle, it would be a much more dismal picture for the building market in my area. Without it, the market appears extremely quiet.

"Projects coming up for bid are far below what I have seen in the previous two years," he added. "There is a small amount of school work that is going to be let, but it's going to be significantly smaller in size than what we've experienced in the last couple of years. Architects and engineers may have more things in the mid to latter part of 2004."

Projects

Staybridge Suites, New Orleans. As a matter of practicality, vertical construction usually beats out horizontal construction in downtown New Orleans. Compact lots bordered tightly by streets on all sides require buildings go up instead of out.

That has never been more evident than during Carl E. Woodward LLC's construction of the $15.6 million Staybridge Suites Hotel at the intersection of Poydras Avenue and Tchoupitoulas Street.

The 10,800-sq.-ft., 17-floor hotel is being squeezed into a 12,000-sq.-ft lot and skyward was the only way to go. Sidewalks occupy most of the remaining 1,200 ft. of space, leaving virtually no room for exterior amenities or utilities.

To add to the complexity, the high rise needed an area for booster pumps and an emergency generator, taking away precious space inside the building.

Three boundary streets were partially rented from the city to assist in laydown area, but once installation of the exterior skin began the space was lost to mast climber scaffolds. The only area available was a 27-ft. lot behind the property that was rented solely for material laydown.

The help of the New Orleans Police Department was crucial during construction, since police had to block off Tchoupitoulas Street during more than 30 concrete pours.

"We always poured from Tchoupitoulas," said jobsite superintendent John Roper. "Poydras was too busy and other streets were too small to handle the pumping rig." Starting at 2 a.m. each day, the crew placed ready mix for 1-ft. by 2-ft.-5-in. columns, 1-ft.-4-in.-thick shear walls and 5.75-in.-thick post-tensioned floor slabs.

More than 6,000 cu. yds. of 5,000 psi concrete were eventually placed for the building.

"Deliveries of concrete and other building materials were scheduled daily to prevent multiple deliveries on any one day," Roper said. "We also required the deliveries be smaller to reduce unloading time."

CEW broke ground at the site in September 2002 by removing 18 in. of asphalt from an existing parking lot at the site, followed by 13-ft.-deep excavations for the building's two elevator pits.

More than 180 steel pipe piles measuring 16 in. diameter and 93 ft. long were then driven as foundation and filled with concrete. The piles were clustered beneath pile caps, the largest requiring more than 420 yds. of concrete.

The forming and pouring of concrete columns then followed.

"HDLC (The Historic District Landmarks Commission) would not allow the building to go up beyond five floors on the Tchoupitoulas side of the road," architect Larry Case said. "To accommodate that, we designed a roof at the sixth level and stepped the building back 23 ft. from the road. Floors six through 17 border only Poydras and Constance (a small bordering street).

"HDLC had to give us a 'thumbs up' on the design before construction could begin, as with any structure built in historic sections of New Orleans," he added. "We spent long hours and designed multiple renditions achieving the look that could be approved by HDLC."

The bottom five floors are bricked with a band of precast concrete to help blend the hotel with surrounding structures. The remaining 12 floors are clad with synthetic stucco.

Northside Electric Inc. of Metairie and Mechanical Construction Co. LLC of Metairie were saddled with the task of fitting the electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems into tight quarters. This required cooperation among the engineers for both trades and the architect.

Once completed this month, the new building will house 182 guest rooms and all the amenities that go with an extended stay hotel, including guest laundry rooms, an exercise room, swimming pool, storage rooms for the guests, a reading room, a bar and business centers.

Pinnacle Casino Hotel & Resort, Lake Charles. Lake Charles' biggest project, the Pinnacle Casino Hotel & Resort of Lake Charles, is currently in the site-clearing phase along the banks of Calcasieu Lake. Building the casino is Manhattan Construction Co. of Houston, Texas.

The massive $325 million facility will include two 20-story hotel towers with 500 rooms apiece. It will also house an amphitheater, a parking garage, an 18-hole golf course and one of the state's largest riverboat casinos.

When the casino opens, it is expected to employ an estimated 1,522 people.

Inspired by the architecture of the Texas Hill country, the project will provide a unique addition to the gaming market in southern Louisiana.

Guests will enter the property through the resort's golf course and the entrance will be distinguished by a porte cochere with a lantern cupola providing the first glimpse of the architectural aesthetics.

The entrance will reach three stories high and will have a complex beamed ceiling layered with a ring of balconies and lit by skylights. The main lobby will feature stone fireplaces, a lounge on one side and a coffee bar on the other.

The single-deck casino will be on axis with the front door, just beyond the lobby. A large dome will anchor the 58,285-sq.-ft. space over the gaming area.

Manhattan will build five restaurants, including a 400-seat buffet, a steakhouse, a twenty-four hour café, a noodle bar and a "Cajun barbecue brew pub."

Convention Center Expansion (Phase IV), New Orleans. In New Orleans, the biggest news is the $454 million expansion of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, expected to break ground this year. The contract was awarded to a joint venture of W. G. Yates & Sons of Philadelphia, Miss., and Landis Construction Co. LLC of New Orleans.

Designed by Sizeler Architects of New Orleans, the 1.5-million-sq.-ft. expansion will include 524,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space, 61 meeting rooms and a 60,000-sq.-ft. ballroom.

The project will make the convention center the fourth largest in the country and should be completed by late 2006 or early 2007.

The expansion will be built on 37 acres on the upriver side of the convention center. The projected completion date for the project is 2006.

Sizeler Architects has been involved in the Phase IV expansion since the master planning portion of the project that began late in the spring of 2001. Sizeler worked under the lead of TVS, along with Philadelphia-based master planner Wallace, Roberts & Todd.

"In planning a facility of this magnitude, you must have the clearest possible vision of the way the world will be 20 and 30 years from now," said Ian G. Thompson, AIA, principal-in-charge and vice president of Sizeler Architects. "You need to consider future growth in the convention business, as well as transportation, environment, traffic, and technological issues."

This vision, he added, includes the livelihood of the industrial, residential and historic areas that surround the targeted expansion area.

The existing convention center has 1.1 million sq. ft. of exhibit space, 140 meeting rooms, two ballrooms and a 4,000-seat auditorium.

Centroplex Convention Center (expansion), Baton Rouge. The $30 million expansion of the Baton Rouge Centroplex, to be completed by January 2005, is being built by Carothers Construction Inc., Water Valley, Miss., and designed by Post Architects/Washer Hill & Lipscomb of Baton Rouge.

Darryl Ballard, project manager with Steel Service Corp., said more than 1,800 tons of steel went into the building trusses.

"Erecting the large trusses for the exhibition hall presented a logistical challenge," Ballard said, "since an assembly area for the trusses was virtually nonexistent.

"We had to haul them to the site in sections averaging 40 to 60 ft. long and 18 ft. wide," he added. To prevent unforeseen problems at the site, the Steel Service Corp. crew completely assembled the steel trusses at the fabrication shop, then disassembled them for shipment.

Demolition required the use of high pressure water to expose reinforcing steel at the Centroplex's existing plaza level to allow connections to the new facility.

"We had to hydroblast the concrete away to expose all of the reinforcing steel for the slabs and columns to tie into the existing structures," he added. The hydroblasting process proved faster and less damaging to the rebar.

By leaving an existing parking lot in place, the crew was able to use it as a "working slab" during the driving of 320 precast concrete piles as the foundation for the exhibition hall. The parking lot will be completely removed once the exhibition hall roof is completed and overhead work has been done.

The 14-in.-sq., 130-ft.-long spliced piles were supplied by Boykin Bros. Inc. of Baton Rouge and driven by Kostmayer Construction Inc. of Metairie.

Lambert said project sequencing has presented another logistical dilemma for the contractor.

"Originally, we had 19 phases on this job. We simplified that by combining operations and rearranging the schedule to shave it down to seven phases," Lambert said.

Much of the sequencing was necessary during concrete placement for the building's floor slabs.

Inside the building, architectural concrete blocks will go up 14 ft. in the exhibit hall area as the primary wall finish, while the entry lobby will be glassed in.

Lambert said the new structure would have an exterior architectural precast concrete and stucco finish, although the south wall will have a brick finish. In the northwest corner of the building, a large overhead door will allow tractor-trailers to drive directly onto the exhibit hall floor.

When the new exhibition hall and plaze level opens, it will have the luxury of having its first client already under contract. A professional bowling organization recently agreed to sponsor its annual bowling tournaments in the facility from January to July.

Digital Multipurpose Battle Area, Fort Polk. Railworks/W. T. Byler Construction of Houston, Texas, is currently building a new $29.8 million Digital Multipurpose Battle Area at Fort Polk.

The battle area facility will accommodate the Army's new Stryker Force brigade, as well as a new digitized Battle Command Information System that provides real time situational information.

The Stryker Force will eventually consist of six brigades and 2,100 Stryker vehicles that will bring a new capability to the U.S. Army - a middleweight force that can be sent anywhere in the world in as little as 96 hours.

All Stryker vehicles are equipped with GPS-enabled digital communications systems that display - on a moving map within the vehicle - position and heading information, detailed terrain mapping and intelligence data.

The system provides text messaging capabilities between units, allows vehicle commanders to mark enemy positions on the map for other commanders to see, and can be updated by remote command structures or sensor systems.

Downtown Baton Rouge work. The $40 million Arts Block, consisting of a new 52,000-sq.-ft. museum of art, a performing arts center and arts workshop facility, is currently under construction near the Old State Capitol in Baton Rouge.

The centerpiece of the project - The Shaw Center for the Arts - is planned for completion in 2005. The Lemoine Co. of Lafayette is building the facility, which was designed by architects Eskew + Dumez + Ripple of New Orleans and Jerry M. Campbell & Associates of Baton Rouge.

To build the facility, an existing landmark building is being joined by a new building with a cantilever, then clad in channel glass.

The Douglas L. Manship Sr. Performing Arts Theater, a part of the Shaw Center, will be a regional attraction for students, audiences and artists.

The theater will include:

• A 300-seat state-of-the-art theater for musical performances, dance and plays.
  
• Two large rehearsal rooms
  
• A performing arts incubator, available to emerging performance groups and schools
  
• A Visual Art Gallery to exhibit Louisiana professional artists, folk artists, personal collections of local art patrons, and middle and high school art students

Also under construction in downtown Baton Rouge is the new $27.2 million Iberville Building. The building is being built by Milton J. Womack Inc. Baton Rouge on a site previously occupied by the State Land and Natural Resources building and will house employees of the Department of Social Services.

400-bed maximum-security jail, Bossier City. Brown Builders Inc. of Bossier City is simultaneously building a $22.6 million, 400-bed maximum-security jail and a $7 million 600-bed medium-security penal farm in northern Bossier Parish.

The maximum-security prison will serve as an intake prison and will also house prisoners deemed unfit for medium security. The prison will have heightened security, individual cells rather than dormitories and separate facilities for lawyers and visitation.

The prisons are part of a master plan that also includes a new courthouse to provide increased space for the Bossier Parish Sheriff's Office, the District Attorney's Office and the courts.

The medium-security prison will be operated by the Sheriff's Office, while the maximum-security prison will be staffed by deputies and maintained by the Bossier Parish Police Jury.

The minimum-security prison will be completed early this year and the maximum-security prison will be finished in 2005.