Developer Plans to Start Construction of Great Orlando Wheel

Planning to tap into the active Orlando tourism market, the Great Wheel Corp. of Singapore plans to build a $200 million, 400-ft-tall, iconic wheel in the heart of the community’s attraction area.

“Orlando is a great destination for tourists,” says Wil Armstrong, vice president and general manager of the Great Orlando Wheel of Winter Park, Fla. “Our attraction provides a viewing platform, which allows people to get a sense of the area and what is available to see.”

The Great Orlando Wheel, on 20 acres at the interchange of Interstate 4 and the Beachline Expressway, includes an 80,000-sq-ft, mulitlevel terminal, with restaurants and shops, designed by Morris Architects of Orlando. It curves around the base of the wheel, which will continuously move at 9 in per second. Twenty-four climate-controlled, self-leveling capsules will take 40 riders each on a 30-minute ride. From the top, they will be able to see for 25 miles.

About 3,000 tons of steel will be used to build the wheel. Walter P. Moore of Austin, Texas, engineered the wheel to withstand a category 3 hurricane. The Orlando wheel will have two legs on each side, rather than one, and will have more support cables than the previously built Singapore Flyer. The wheel will sit on 88 36-in concrete piles, driven to a depth of 40 ft. The drive mechanism will clamp and hold the wheel in place during hurricane shutdowns. The team tested the design in a wind tunnel.

Contractor BE&K Building Group of Orlando has completed test pilings and will construct the terminal building and perform the foundation work for the wheel. Kimley-Horn and Associates of Orlando provided civil and traffic engineering, Nodarse & Associates of Winter Park the soil engineering.

Armstrong anticipates construction starting this fall, with completion scheduled for 2010.

The company opened a wheel in Singapore earlier this year. A similar wheel, not owned by Great Wheel, opened in London in 2000 and has proven popular with tourists. The London Eye reports 3.5 million people a year ride its wheel.

Florida Contracts: Numbers Get Worse in June

McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of Southeast Construction, reported that the value of new Florida contracts declined by 53% overall in June, compared to the same period of a year ago. According to the latest report, the value of June contracts for future construction totaled nearly $2.7 billion, compared to last June’s $5.6 billion total.

Once again, all three of the sectors used by McGraw-Hill Construction experienced double-digit percentage declines. Residential fell 54% compared to last June to total about $1 billion for the month. The nonbuilding sector fell by a staggering 82% compared to last June to total just $270.8 million. Nonresidential fell by 28% to total roughly $1.3 billion.

For the year to date, the total value of new contracts is an estimated 43% behind the 2007 pace. Residential is 49% behind 2007, and is valued at about $6.7 billion so far. Nonresidential is 26% behind ‘07, with approximately $6.7 billion in new starts. The nonbuilding sector is 54% behind last year, with nearly $2.7 billion in new projects to date.

Hilton Orlando Celebrates Topping Off

Just 14 months after the project broke ground, numerous officials and civic leaders celebrated a topping-off ceremony of the 1400-room Hilton Orlando, connected to the Orange County/Orlando Convention Center. The 19-story structure is scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2009.

When the hotel opens in August, it will feature 1,400 guest rooms and 200,000 sq ft of meeting space and services on two floors, including a 50,000-sq-ft Orlando Ballroom, a 30,000-sq-ft Orange Ballroom and 21 meeting rooms and nine boardrooms.

The hotel will be the first to be connected to the Orange County Convention Center. The hotel will provide a sky-pedestrian bridge on the south end of the facility.

Elkins Starts Full-Service Retirement Community in Port St. Lucie

Jacksonville, Fla.-based Elkins Constructors is serving as the general contractor for Abingdon at Tradition, a new full-service retirement community developed by Senior Living Communities in Port St. Lucie. A groundbreaking ceremony took place July 31. The community is expected to open mid-2009.

The community’s master plan include 70 single-family homes, 160 condominium-style villas, 26 enhanced-living villas and 56 assisted-living units, skilled nursing beds and Alzheimer’s care units.

Triad Design Group is the architect, and Joyce Design Group is managing the interior design.

Developer Plans Tampa’s First LEED-certified Industrial Facility

Atlanta-based IDI, a full-service industrial real estate company, is moving forward with construction plans for its Madison Business Center Building D project in Tampa. IDI states that the 146,825-sq-ft warehouse and distribution center will be the first industrial facility in the Tampa area designed to be LEED-certified. The facility is planned for completion in the second quarter 2009. Construction is expected to begin this month.

“As a company, IDI is committed to increasing our green practices over the long term and we’re proud to offer Tampa its first sustainable, Class-A industrial space,” said Scott Helms, senior vice president and regional development officer in IDI’s South Florida office. “Tampa has continued to show a low vacancy rate and lack of sufficient Class-A space.”

Said Helms, “A large part of our sustainable design revolves around preservation, including the use of water and energy conservation techniques. But, we also feel a responsibility to conserve construction materials throughout the process, which is why one-fifth of the project will be developed using recycled steel and other building materials.”

$48M Hernando Co. High School Under Way in Brooksville

Hernando County’s $48 million new High School “EEE” is under construction in Brooksville. The project was designed by SchenkelShultz Architecture of Tampa, and is being constructed by Skanska USA Building. Currently slated for completion in June 2010, the school is designed to be LEED-certified and is based upon a “high school as small town” design concept, according to SchenkelShultz.

Three academic “neighborhoods,” an administration and media “civic center,” and an athletic, dining and performing arts “town center” are clustered around a central landscaped courtyard.

SchenkelShultz also is designing the estimated $52.7 million Oak Ridge High School in Orlando for Orange County Public Schools. This 325,000-sq-ft project includes renovations and addition to the existing school. Wharton-Smith Construction Group of Sanford is serving as construction manager for the project, which is slated for completion in 2011.

Opus South Starts Phase II of Nature Coast Commons

Tampa-based Opus South Corp. has begun construction on the second phase of its latest shopping center in Spring Hill. When completed next year, Nature Coast Commons will feature 350,000 sq ft of retail space. JCPenney, the center’s anchor tenant, opened in March 2008. Other retailers planned for the center include Best Buy, Sports Authority, Office Depot, Cracker Barrel, Wachovia Bank, Arby’s and Mattress Giant. The center will open in the spring.

Nature Coast Commons is located in Hernando County, north of Tampa.

HuntonBrady Designing Instructional Center for CFCC in Lecanto

Orlando-based HuntonBrady Architects has been selected to design a new instructional center for Central Florida Community College’s Citrus County Campus in Lecanto.

The two-story, 35,000-sq-ft building will feature a student services center, technology, classrooms, laboratories, a café, and a multipurpose room for special events and community activities. The building is designed to be LEED-certified.

Stiles Completes Broadwalk Project for City of Hollywood

Stiles Construction Co. of Fort Lauderdale recently completed the City of Hollywood’s oceanfront redevelopment project that includes a community center, 408-space parking garage and public park.

The redevelopment site is located on Garfield Street midway between Hollywood Boulevard and Sheridan Street. It extends from S.R. A1A east to the beachfront Broadwalk.

The largest component of the three-phase project is the 148,000-sq-ft Garfield Street Garage, which has a rooftop observation deck overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Between the garage and the beach is a new 3,341-sq-ft Garfield Community Center, whose design includes an inverted roof.

At the site, Stiles also completed the city’s new Charnow Park, which has four beachfront pavilions, a fountain, playground areas, a tiered-seating trellis area, concrete pavers, a cast-stone seat wall and “wave” walls. The park incorporates the city’s popular and historic Garfield Street Paddleball Courts, which date from the 1930s.

Altman’s Luxury Windermere Apartments to Complete in ‘08

Altman Development Corp. of Central Florida is nearing the completion of Lakeside at Windermere, a luxury rental apartment community in the Orlando area.

Anticipated for completion by the end of 2008, the development’s nine three-story buildings will offer one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging from 825- to 1,350 sq ft.

Miller Completes 5Palms Project in Boca Raton

Miller Construction Co. of Fort Lauderdale has completed 5Palms, a new mixed-use residential development near Mizner Park in Boca Raton. The project features 16 condominiums plus 5,000 sq ft of ground-floor retail space. The nine-story building has two units on each floor with loft ceilings up to 18 ft high on the top floor.

“Our primary construction challenge was the building’s tight footprint since a restaurant is directly on the property line,” said Miller’s Les Weaver, Project Manager. “That posed difficulties in receiving material deliveries, hoisting them to the upper floors and removing the construction formwork.”

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