Industry News

Avon Products has selected Skanska USA Building as the construction manager for its new R&D headquarters in Suffern, NY.  Designed by HLW International Architects, the $100-million project will include abatement and demolition of the current building, located on Avon’s 11-acre site, as well as site development and infrastructure work. New construction will consist of three state-of-the-art buildings--two three-story facilities and a common area connecting the two main structures.

FedEx Ground is planning a $50-million distribution center on 96 acres in Boone County’s Enterprise V Industrial Park in Northern Kentucky. The 335,000-sf hub will include the latest automated package sorting technology when it opens in 2005. The facility will process 45,000 packages per hour at full capacity and may employ over 235 workers.

California Polytechnic University is planning to construct the new $25-million Performing Arts and Digital Media Studio Center on its Pomona campus.

Linfield College has completed a new 72,000-sf library and theater building at its Keck campus in McMinnville, Ore. The facility’s 55,000-sf of library can accommodate 250,000 volumes, 50 computer work stations and study space for 400 students. The 17,000-sf theater seats 140. BOORA Architects of Portland designed both facilities The building was converted from a former hearing aid production facility. The college is also planning a new 19,000-sf fine arts complex and 32,000-sf music building on the Keck Quad, also designed by BOORA.

Portland State University (PSU) received a $500,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation toward the construction of the Northwest Center for Engineering, Science, and Technology. Housing PSU’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, the center will be comprised of a 130,000-sf tower housing 47 new classrooms and laboratories, a student service center, and Oregon MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement) facilities.