Transportation

ABC Group, a manufacturer of automotive systems and components, will invest $19 million to open a new 140,000-sf manufacturing facility in London , Ky.

Thomas Built opened its new 275,000-sf bus manufacturing plant in south High Point, N.C. in early June 2004. Designed to make 44 school buses daily, the $39.7-million plant is already running at full capacity due to rising demand by school districts and is producing 60 buses a day.

JetBlue has awarded Suitt Construction the design/build contract for its new $75-million training center at Orlando International Airport. The 100,000-sf facility will initially house eight pilot flight training simulators with the capacity to expand in phases to between 12 and 16 simulators. An auditorium, multiple classrooms, and two cabin training simulators will also be included in the facility. Completion is expected in spring 2005. Suitt Construction, based in Greenville, S.C., will manage the project through its Orlando office.

Harley Davidson will build a $95-million museum, restaurant, and office building complex in Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley. Representing the single largest corporate investment in the City of Milwaukee, the museum project is expected to generate up to $78 million in annual economic impact based on an estimated 350,000 visitors per year.

Oxford Automotive has completed an $18.7-million manufacturing and distribution facility in the Jefferson Metropolitan Park in Birmingham. The 400,000-sf facility was designed by DesignForm and constructed by Doster Construction Co., both of Birmingham. The plant will produce assemblies and underbody stampings for the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance.

Rainsville Technology, a supplier of interior and plastic components for the Honda Odyssey minivan, has completed a major expansion of its Rainsville, Ala.-based automotive parts plant. The 126,000-sf project included the addition of a 16,000-sf office area and 11,000 sf of factory space. The project team was comprised of Birmingham firms DesignForm as architect and Doster Construction as general contractor.

Cullman, Md.-based Webb Wheel Products is planning to build a $22.5-million manufacturing facility in Tell City that will produce wheel and drum components for the heavy truck industry. The $2.5-million project is slated for completion in January 2005. Perry County, Ind., gave the site to the company and is underwriting site preparation. Webb Wheel Products is a unit of Marmon Highway Technologies of Chicago.

The Design-Build Institute of America’s Southeast Chapter recently honored Skanska USA Building’s Georgia Division for the company’s work on Airside Terminal Building “E” of the Tampa International Airport. The project was recognized as the best public sector project of 2003 and as the year’s best overall design-build project. Awards were presented at the organization’s annual banquet in Atlanta on December 4, 2003. The project was built as a joint venture between Skanska’s Georgia and Florida Division.

The Oakland Airport is engaged in a $1-billion expansion project. Turner Construction has been awarded a $250 million contract for the first phase of construction, which includes a 300,000-sf extension of Terminal 2, an 80,000-sf customer service building, and a seven-level parking garage for 6,000 cars. Ground will be broken on the first phase in February 2004 with completion expected in mid-2006.

The Raleigh-Durham International Airport has awarded Denver-based Fentress Bradburn Architects Ltd. a $5-million contract for design and engineering of the Terminal C expansion and renovation project. The total project cost is $350 million. The design is expected to be completed in December 2003.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America has selected SSOE Inc. of Toledo, Ohio, and Marmon Mok LLP of San Antonio to provide architectural and engineering services for its new $800 million manufacturing plant in San Antonio.

General Motors Corp. is relocating a large parts-distribution center from Edina to Hudson, Wisc. The $34-million project will site a new 404,000-sf warehouse facility on 30 acres in the St. Croix Business Park.

Toyota Manufacturing Alabama will initiate a $20-million expansion of its Huntsville, Ala., engine plant. The facility is currently at 400,000 sf. The expansion will enable Toyota to manufacture 130,000 more V6 Tacoma and Tundra Pickup engines annually, bringing total production capacity up to 250,000 engines per year.

General Motors contracted Towanda-based Gibraltar Chimney to make emergency repairs to its Oklahoma City, N.Y., plant damaged by a tornado. GM’s four million-sf plant suffered over $60 million in damage when the tornado toppled two 120-ft tall steel stacks and severely damaged a third stack. The plant, damaged on May 8, 2003, was reopened that June.

Toyota has completed the South Campus Expansion of its North American Headquarters in Torrance, Calif. Designed by LPA, the South Campus consists of five 3-story buildings totalling 625,000 sf and houses financial and customer services groups, dining, training facilities, and an event courtyard. Sustainable design was an integral part of the project. With certification on Earth Day of 2003, the South Campus became the largest LEED Gold-rated project in the country, and features the largest privately-owned rooftop photovoltaic panel system installation in the nation.