Slump No More

Cities and businesses throughout the Silicon Valley and San Jose are finding the construction climate more amiable for a variety of projects. A cancer treatment center, part of the largest building project in the region, Kaiser Permanente's $375 million replacement medical center complex, will be completed early next year.

By Maureen Donohue

San Jose/Silicon Valley public entities and businesses are slowly pulling themselves out of an extended economic slump caused by the high-tech bubble burst in the late 1990s by building and modernizing more hospitals and schools, and addressing the need for more affordable and market-rate housing.

Devcon Construction Inc.recently completed Classic Residence by Hyatt in Palo Alto, a $72 million senior housing project designed by San Jose-based Steinberg Architects. The two-building project totals 1 million sq. ft. and includes 388 apartment-type units (photo courtesy of Steinberg Architects).

One of the region's major projects is the replacement Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center. The first phase, consisting of the medical office building that opened in June, will be followed by a cancer treatment center (opening early next year) and new inpatient, hospital and emergency facilities, which are scheduled for completion in mid-2007.

The design of the new medical office facility won an Excellence in Structural Engineering Award for a high-performance, earthquake-resisting design. The award was given by the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California.

The $375 million medical center, sandwiched between two major fault systems (the San Andreas and Hayward), requires a high-performance, earthquake-resistant structural design to withstand strong seismic events.

The solution, provided by the structural engineering firm Ove Arup & Partners California, was an innovative concept called an unbonded, braced-frame system, which is similar to a giant automobile shock absorber. The system has been successfully tested in Japan and fully tested by UC Berkeley.

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The architect for the project is Anshen + Allen of San Francisco and the general contractor is Redwood City-based Rudolph and Sletten.

The building of the new 52-acre, 1.7 million-sq.-ft. Kaiser Permanente facility in Santa Clara is not only the largest construction project in Santa Clara County, but it is the third largest healthcare construction project in California. Two parking structures are also included in the project.

Two Schools Ready for Completion

Though school construction in the South Bay area is not booming like it is in the Central Valley, the region does have a few high-profile schools in construction.

Sam Lawson Middle School, Cupertino Union District's newest campus, is on track to open later this month. The $27-million campus for students in grades 6-8 is located next to district headquarters on Vista Drive.

Lawson occupies a corner lot that formerly housed an elementary school. Although some classrooms from the old campus remain, the middle school has a new administration building with a high-ceiling, exposed-beam entry; gymnasium/theater complex; and two-story science building.

Highlights of the project include an elevated stage in the gym/theater that can be enclosed by a soundproof sliding wall that allows for music rehearsals at the same time as gym classes and a climbing wall.

Kitchell of Sacramento provided construction management services on the project and S.J. Amoroso was the general contractor. The architect was BFGC of San Jose.

Don Callejon K-8 School in the Santa Clara Unified School District, scheduled for completion early next year, was built to serve the families of the new RiverMark development located between Agnews and Lick Mill Boulevard in Santa Clara. The RiverMark master-planned community is located on the old Agnews Developmental Center site and will eventually contain 3,000 housing units.

The Delmas Park apartment community in San Jose is being built at the corner of West San Carlos and Bird Avenue (rendering courtesy of CORE Development Inc.).

The new $21-million, 74,500-sq.-ft. school campus consists of a two-story middle school and an elementary school designed around one courtyard. The classrooms have direct access to the courtyard, which features an outdoor theater, grassy mounds with boulders, history walks, geography court, geology walls, animal footprints and outdoor play areas for daycare, kindergarten, elementary and middle school pupils. A media center includes a computer lab.

BFCG is the architect for the Don Callejon project, while Toeniskoetter + Breeding Inc. of San Jose serves as construction manager.

Senior, Teacher Housing

Devcon Construction Inc. of Milpitas recently completed the $72-million senior housing project Classic Residence by Hyatt in Palo Alto.

Designed by San Jose-based Steinberg Architects, the two-building project totals 1 million sq. ft. and includes 388 apartment-type units ranging from 928 sq. ft. for a one-bedroom/one bath to 4,212 sq. ft. for a three-bedroom/three bath in the first building and assisted living, memory support and nursing units plus nursing facilities in the second building. The first building also contains a restaurant, theater, spa and other amenities.

Each building is four-stories high and has been designed in the "California Arts and Crafts" tradition.

In San Jose, the Delmas Park apartment complex is underway and scheduled for a January '07 completion.

Delmas Park is conceived as a gateway to the downtown district of San Jose. It's located at the corner of two major streets, West San Carlos and Bird Avenue. The mid-rise structure will include rental apartments, a pedestrian-oriented ground level with retail, public meeting space and patio entries facing the sidewalk. The apartments wrap around a core of parking that is topped by a sixth-level, open-air "courtyard."

Developed through the San Jose Teachers Foundation, CORE Development Inc. and CORE Builders, the multifamily housing facility, which gives preference to teachers and their families, features 134 one- to three-bedroom rental units. Residents seeking to obtain a teaching credential as well as existing teachers can take classes on site to obtain their credentials or license credits.

The architect on the project is David Baker & Partners of San Francisco.