Industry News

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

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.

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.

Constar International, a Philadelphia-based plastic bottle manufacturer, is relocating to 636,000 sf in the Pinnacle Park Distribution Center in Dallas. The move denotes a major expansion for Constar, which currently leases 400,000 sf in two buildings nearby in the Turnpike Industrial Park.