Industry News

Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) is planning to build a $9-million academic liberal arts facility on its 186-acre Belleville , Ill., ampus. Designed by Peckham, Guyton, Albers and Viets Inc., the 40,000-sf building will house ten classrooms, office space, and a bookstore The project will replace five temporary classroom buildings. The community college expects to break ground on the facility in 2005 and reach completion is summer of 2006. SWIC is also engaged in $960,000 in renovations to existing campus facilities.

Pittsburgh-based Leo Inc. is planning to construct a $383.6 million steel processing plant in Louisville, Ky. Sited on 80 acres, the 600,000-sf facility will convert slabs of steel into coil form for use in manufacturing and other industries. Ground will be broken on the plant in September or October of 2004; MCC Corp . of Beijing will oversee construction. Completion is expected within 24 months. The plant will process 1.5 million tons of steel annually.

First Community Credit Union is constructing a 70,000-sf headquarters facility in Chesterfield , Mo. Designed by TR,i Architects, the $9-million facility will include 40,000 sf of corporate headquarters space and a 5,400-sf retail branch. The project contractor is Brinkmann Constructors. Slated to open in January 2006, the facility represents a significant expansion from the credit union’s previous location in 17,000 sf in Ballwin. 

Johnson Controls, based in Milwaukee, Wisc., will open a 120,000-sf plant in Montgomery, Ala., in March 2005. The facility will produce interior components for Hyundai Motor Co.'s nearby manufacturing plant.  

The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory is leasing 81,500-sf of a 150,000-sf building that will be constructed in Cambridge. Housing office and R&D space, the facility will consolidate three Cambridge locations into a new state-of-the-art facility located in the 40-acre wooded Cambridge Discovery Park, which is owned by the Bulfinch Cos. Inc. Occupancy is slated for the fourth quarter of 2005.