Roel Construction Completes $42 Million Hotel Renovation in Gaslamp Quarter

The 22-story Marriott Gaslamp Quarter Hotel on K Street in downtown San Diego is open for business following a $42 million makeover by San Francisco-based Stanford Hotel Group.

The former Clarion Hotel was purchased in 1999 by Stanford, which intended to invest less on the transformation. The original plan was to spend about $23 million to paint and polish the existing building, said Jim Durbin, Stanford's San Diego representative and the hotel's new general manager. "But after we started breaking down the walls, the owner, Lawrence Lui, realized that he wanted to go all the way. We took it down to the bearing walls and slabs and just started over."

The result is a 306-room, 4-star hotel with a street-level bistro and a rooftop bar overlooking Petco Park, home stadium for the San Diego Padres baseball team. The guestrooms will have more of a residential than a 'hotel' feel, Durbin said. Stylish duvets and linens replace bedspreads; TV/mini-bar armoires are exchanged for contemporary media units; and warm cherry wood finishes stand in for less expensive pine or painted wood. The rooftop bar will have an open trellis, perimeter drink rails that overlook the Petco Park infield and a working waterfall behind the back bar.

Todd Motoyama was the project manager for Stanford. Matt Cooper of San Diego-based Tynan Group represented the owner. Jim Johnson and Tobias Strohe of JG Johnson Architects made up the architectural team. Concepts 4 Inc. and Andrew Sobenko Associates Ltd. were the interior designers.

Other consultants included DCI Engineers (structural engineer), Stueven Engineering Consultants (mechanical and plumbing) and Kruse & Associates (electrical).

Subcontractors included Casper Co., American Fence Co., Progressive Steel Fabricators, ISEC Inc., Door and Hardware Management Inc., La Mesa Glass, Martin Corp., Dupont Flooring Systems, Gold Coast Design, Golden Image Window Coverings Inc., Otis Elevator Co., Western Fire Protection Inc., A.O. Reed & Co., Neal Electric and Dialcom Systems Services Inc.

S.J. Amoroso Starts Library Project in Alameda

The city of Alameda has broken ground on a $26 million library on the corner of Oak Street and Lincoln Avenue.

The development team for the 47,500-sq.-ft. facility includes Aaron Cohen and Associates of New York (library consultant), Thomas Hacker Architects of Portland, Ore. and Redwood City-based S.J. Amoroso Construction (general contractor).

The city opened its first main library in 1903, funded by a $35,000 grant from tycoon Andrew Carnegie. Last year, a three-story hotel on the site was demolished.

The new library-scheduled to be finished by November 2006--will a two-story, brick-and cast-stone structure with large bay windows and skylights. A small walled garden forms a backdrop for the children's story room and public meeting rooms. There also will be an adjacent 44-space parking lot.

The new facility will have 199 reader seats (compared to the old library's 75) and 75 computers (compared to nine).

Stanford Releases Plans for Science and Engineering Complex

Stanford University in Palo Alto is proceeding with plans for an 8.2-acre, four-building science and engineering complex adjacent to the current science/engineering quad on Serra Mall.

The proposed SEQ 2 proposal correlates with a master plan conceived more than 116 years ago by park planner Frederick Law Olmsted, who called for a major science and engineering quad west of the Main Quad.

The overall project calls for the construction of an environment and energy building, a new center of the School of Engineering, an E.L. Ginzton lab replacement building and a bioengineering/chemical engineering building. The project cost is estimated between $375 million and $420 million.

VTA Hires Rajappan & Meyer for Capitol Expressway Light-Rail Extension

San Jose-based Rajappan & Meyer Consulting Engineers Inc. has been contracted by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority to provide preliminary engineering and design services for the $410 million Capitol Expressway Light Rail extension project in San Jose.

The 3-mi. extension to the Capitol Avenue/East Tasman line completed last year will include five new stations at Alum Rock, Story Road, Ocala-Cunningham, Eastbridge Mall and Nieman.

Meyer said the preliminary engineering phase will continue into early 2006, followed by final design by 2008 and completion by 2011. The phase entails locating stations and station design; an operating and transit service plan, including links between bus and other rail services; analysis of existing and future traffic conditions; examining existing and future transit ridership; indication of right-of-way needs; development and preparation of a project implementation and phasing plan; and refined cost estimates.

The Federal Transit Administration will need to approve the final EIS/EIR plans.

Barnhart Inc. Awarded Schools in Tracy, San Diego

The Stockton office of San Diego-based construction manager Barnhart Inc. was awarded a CM at-risk contract for an 8,500-sq.-ft. expansion of North Elementary School for Tracy Unified School District and Barnhart's home office has begun reconstruction of Abraham Lincoln High School in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of San Diego.

The $7 million project in Tracy will include a new multi-purpose room, surrounding sidewalks, portable classrooms, parking and landscaping. Ann Bell and Denise Wakefield represent the Tracy Unified. and Sacramento-based Lionkais Beaumont Design Group is the architect. Barnhart team members assigned to the project are Henry Amigable, R. Kellar, Wade Brown and Camille Johnson.

Lincoln High School temporarily closed in June 2003 to prepare for demolition and total reconstruction. Upon completion in September 2006, the 323,000-sq-ft. campus will re-open on 24.4 acres and serve 2,800 students, more than doubling the capacity of the original campus.

The complex will include four separate schools, each with its own administrative, counseling, food service and science areas. A central kitchen, 790-seat auditorium, library and arts complex are also included. Athletic facilities include two gymnasiums (the original gym will be left intact), baseball and football fields, track, press box and concession stands.

Project team members include San Diego City Schools, the Lincoln-Gompers Redevelopment Committee, Barnhart Inc./Black IPO and Martinez + Cutri Architects.

Lincoln High School was originally constructed in 1949 and an addition was completed in 1959. The project is funded by Proposition MM, the $1.51 million bond measure passed by 78 percent of voters in 1998.

TSA Completes First Phase of Hotel Remodel

San Diego-based TSA Contracting Inc. has completed the first phase of improvements on Coast Hotel on Seventh Avenue in downtown San Diego.

Owned by ALS Investment Group, Coast Hotel is a motel/single-room occupancy facility that was originally built in 1895.

The 11,600 -sq.-ft. renovation of the 57-room, three-story hotel involved $320,000 of HVAC, lighting, framing, window and drywall work, and ADA upgrades.

Design was provided by Heritage Architecture and Planning. Subcontractors included Cement Cutting, CPE Construction, Precision Interiors, Brady Co., Pella Architectural Products, Green Building Technologies, LaRussa-Ghianni, Zephyr Painting Inc., JSP Construction Co. and Rowan Electric.