McCarthy Begins $80 Million Tower for Kaiser Permanente

LOS ANGELES — McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. recently began construction on a $80 million patient tower at the Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center on La Cienega Boulevard.

The 200,000-sq.-ft. West Wing Tower will replace one of the existing hospital towers that was built in 1974.

The most challenging aspect of the West Wing Tower project is building a connecting structure over an existing box culvert and attaching it to an existing operational facility," said McCarthy project manager Michael Uldrich. "We will coordinate closely with the hospital staff to alleviate any disruption to the hospital or its patients."

The tower is McCarthy's fifth project at the West Los Angeles campus. McCarthy began preconstruction on the tower in 2000. The firm has been transforming the 30-year old medical center since August 2002 when construction began on a 424-car parking structure, which opened in June 2003.

McCarthy's additional work on the campus includes an 8,000-sq.-ft, outpatient pharmacy, which will be Kaiser's largest pharmacy in California once it is completed in June. The remainder of work recently completed entails the underground utilities for a new addition to the central plant that will support the new hospital tower as well as site preparation and related roadwork.

McCarthy began construction on the $80 million West Wing Tower project on April 1, 2004.

Watson Land Signs Hankyu International to 10-Year Lease

CARSON — Watson Land Co. has leased 50,870 sq. ft. to Hankyu International Transport USA Inc. at the Dominguez Technology Center. The 10-year agreement with Hankyu, a rglobal freight forwarding company, is valued at more than $5 million.

Hankyu International is expected take occupancy in Legacy Building(SM) 721 at 1561 E. Beachey Place in the Dominguez Technology Center in July. The company will relocate its 50 Los Angeles-based employees to this City of Carson location.

"The modern design and systems accommodates our complex and fast-paced international operations," said Kazuma Tamura, president/director of Hankyu International.

Hankyu International was founded in Japan in 1948 and was the first agent approved in Japan to provide international freight forwarding. Today the firm has more than 100 branches around the world offering global air, sea, land and logistics services.

"Hankyu has grown and prospered for more than 50 years, keeping pace with the changing marketplace of international trade," said Kirk Johnson, senior vice president of real estate operations for Watson Land.

Yasushi Shiromi and Garrison Parcells of Colliers Seeley represented Hankyu International. Watson Land was represented in-house by Lance Ryan and Mike Bodlovich.

Watson Land Co. is an owner and developer of master-planned industrial centers in Southern California. The company is a privately held, real estate investment trust, with a 220-year history of land ownership and management.

Sheraton Gateway LAX Completes $13.5 Million Renovation

LOS ANGELES — The KOR Hotel Group has completed a $13.5 million renovation to the Sheraton Gateway LAX that it began after purchasing the property in December.
"The goal of these renovations was to create a modern and stylish space that would give the property a fresh identity without sacrificing comfort," said General Manager Michael Miner.

The renovation infused the property with a contemporary atmosphere rich in color and details. Guest rooms are now appointed with black wash ebony furnishings, historical black-and-white photography, and navy pinstriped duvets.

The lobby, using charcoal, black, navy, and red, is punctuated with a mix of custom-made period pieces and eclectic furnishings.

The reception area showcases a collage of more than 50 sketches, drawings, and other art pieces resting on two elongated rails behind the front desk.

Each of the 802 redesigned guestrooms, including 102 suites, features Sheraton's signature "Sweet Sleeper Bed." High-speed Internet access has already been installed in guest rooms, and wireless Internet service will be available in the hotel's public areas by the end of the year.

The hotel's fitness center, lobby lounge, and pool area have also been updated. The new 1,240-sq.-ft. fitness center has a "cardio theatre," with individual, flat-screen televisions for each piece of equipment.

The pool area will soon be complete with cabanas and landscaping to create a resort-like atmosphere.

The Gateway's 45,000 sq. ft. of meeting facilities and pre-function spaces will be refurbished by October of this year.

The KOR Group is a privately held real estate development and management firm with investments primarily in hotels and multi-family real estate. KOR Hotel Group, the hospitality division of KOR, holds a diverse property portfolio and manages both its own assets and non-owned hotels under third-party management contracts.

KOR Hotel Group's properties include Avalon Hotel and Maison 140 in Beverly Hills, Viceroy Santa Monica, and Palm Springs, and KOR's newest all-suite property, Chamberlain, which will open in West Hollywood in 2004.

March Construction Climbs 3 Percent: Single-family housing continues to spur construction industry

NEW YORK — New construction starts in March increased 3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $537.2 billion, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, a division of The McGraw-Hill Cos. Gains were reported for nonresidential building and nonbuilding construction (public works and electric utilities), while residential building eased slightly from a robust February.

The March data produced a 162 reading for the Dodge Index (1996=100), up from a revised 158 for February. Construction activity had experienced a mild loss of momentum at the start of 2004, when the Dodge Index slipped to 155, before showing renewed growth during February and March.

"The construction industry has been supported for quite some time by the exceptional strength of single family housing," said Robert A. Murray, vice president of economic affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction. "In March, single-family housing remained at a very high level, but it was other sectors that provided the upward push to total construction. The increase for nonresidential building was not surprising, especially following this sector's sluggish performance at the outset of 2004. The increase for nonbuilding construction was more unexpected, as it came in large part from the start of two very large power plants, in a brief departure from the downward trend for electric utilities."

Nonresidential building in March advanced 4% to $148.7 billion. The institutional structure types generally showed improvement after lackluster contracting in recent months. Most notable was a 112% jump for the social and recreational category, reflecting the start of a $540 million expansion to a major convention center in Chicago. A large gain was also posted by the public building category, up 34%, helped by the start of a $59 million federal courthouse in Eugene Ore. Church construction advanced 31% in March, while additional growth was registered by healthcare facilities, up 8%, and transportation terminals, up 6%. School construction, up 1%, was essentially stable in March.

"The institutional structure types settled back during 2002 and 2003, as the tough fiscal climate began to restrain construction," Murray said. "The March improvement does not mean that a turnaround is close at hand, but it does suggest that the broader slowdown for this sector will continue to be mild," he added.

The commercial structure types in March showed a mixed performance. Hotel construction jumped 42%, boosted by the start of a $40 million project in Biloxi Miss., plus a $37 million project in Sacramento and warehouse construction advanced 3%. On the negative side, stores and shopping centers in March retreated 8%, and office construction dropped 26% following its improved pace in February.

The March decline for offices continues the up-and-down pattern for this structure type that has been present over the past year. Rounding out the nonresidential picture in March was a 31% gain for manufacturing plants, boosted by the start of a $100 million food product plant in New Mexico and a $40 million paper mill expansion in Wisconsin.

Nonbuilding construction at $87.2 billion advanced 15% in March. The electric utility category surged 587% after a very weak February, aided by the start of a $675 million power plant in South Carolina and a $230 million power plant in Florida.

"The construction start series for power plants is often volatile on a month-by-month basis, and it's still expected that the year as a whole will see reduced contracting, as the retrenchment from the 2001 peak continues," Murray said. "The public works sector in March included gains for sewers (up 2%), highways (up 5%), and river/harbor development (up 25%), but decreased activity for water supply systems (down 4%) and bridges (down 25%). "Transportation public works has been generally weaker during the early months of 2004 as the result of several factors," Murray said. "These include the delay in getting a new multiyear federal transportation bill passed, plus the dislocations caused by this year's large increase in steel prices."

Residential building in March slipped 1% to $301.3 billion. Single-family housing was down 1%, while multifamily housing was up a slight 2%. The March level for residential building was still quite high, coming in 7% above the average monthly pace reported during 2003.

The cost of financing continued to be very supportive to homebuyer demand during March, as the 30-year fixed mortgage rate receded to 5.4%. Subsequently, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 5.9% in April, and it's expected to move higher as 2004 proceeds.

By region, March showed this pattern for residential building—the Northeast, up 8%; the Midwest and West, each down 1%; and the South Atlantic and South Central, each down 2%.

During the first three months of 2004, total construction on an unadjusted basis was up 7% compared to a year ago, the result of this pattern by sector—residential building, up 18%; nonresidential building, down 3%; and nonbuilding construction, down 7%. The large increase for residential building reflects the comparison to a subdued first quarter of 2003, and the year-to-date gain is likely to diminish in coming months.

By region, total construction in the first three months of 2004 performed as follows: South Atlantic up 18%, Midwest up 7%, South Central up 5%, Northeast up 4% and West was unchanged.

Stockton's $110 Million Waterfront Event Center Breaks Ground

SANTA CLARA — San Francisco-based Swinerton Builders has begun work on the $110 million Waterfront Event Center in Stockton.

Speakers at the formal groundbreaking ceremonies included Mayor Gary Podesto; Mark Lewis, City Manager; Tom Volpe, owner of the Stockton Ports Baseball Club; John Thomas, principal of Regent Development Partners and future owner of the New Major Indoor Soccer League team to play at the complex; and Michael Rinesdorf, managing director of International Facilities Group.

The arena is currently planned to be a 10,000, fixed-seat, multipurpose facility with an event floor of 30,000 sq. ft. with 14 to 20 luxury boxes. A club level is also planned.

It is anticipated that ice hockey, arena football and indoor soccer will be played in the 200,000-sq.-ft. arena.

Additional scope includes on-site and off-site infrastructure, access roadways, sidewalks, utility systems, surface parking lots, and landscaping. The architect is Heinlein, Schrock, Stearns.

The ballpark is to be the new home of the Stockton Ports, a Single A baseball team in the California League. The ballpark is planned to have a capacity of 5,000 people. Also included in the stadium are restrooms, concessions, clubhouse space, dugouts, bullpens, administration spaces and maintenance building. The architect is HKS.

The ballpark is expected to be substantially complete and ready for use by April 30, 2005. The arena is expected to reach substantial completion by Sept. 30, 2005.

UC Berkeley Receives $1 Million Gift for Planned Chang-Lin Tien Center

BERKELEY — The University of California, Berkeley, recently received a $1 million gift from Silicon Valley businessman Saul Yeung for the new Chang-Lin Tien Center for East Asian Studies.

Yeung's donation has been designated to support, in equal parts, the construction of the C. V. Starr East Asian Library and to establish a permanent Chinese Collections Endowment Fund to maintain and build the library's holdings.

With the recent gift, fundraising for the library, which will be the first freestanding building entirely dedicated to East Asian collections in the United States, has reached $41.5 million out of an overall $42 million goal. Construction of the library, which is scheduled to begin next February and end in April 2007, is the first phase of the overall construction project.

Named in honor of Chang-Lin Tien, UC Berkeley's chancellor emeritus, who died in October 2002, the proposed center will create an eagerly awaited point of convergence for UC Berkeley's world-renowned East Asian studies programs.

The Tien Center will be made up of two buildings set in the center of campus near Doe Library; it will house both the C. V. Starr East Asian Library and the East Asian Studies Center, including academic program offices, classrooms and lounges. By providing a world-class facility, the project will ensure UC Berkeley's preeminent position for the study and teaching of East Asian culture, history, politics, literature and language.

Saul Yeung has deep ties to UC Berkeley. Born in China, he received his master's degree in political science and Asian studies from UC Berkeley in 1982 and has returned to his alma mater to study for his Ph.D. He is the founder and president of the Central Group, a Santa Clara-based company with subsidiaries specializing in computer systems, real estate, bamboo flooring, automobiles and training. Yeung also is the executive vice president of a newly formed Berkeley Chinese Alumni International Association, created to foster ties between the UC Berkeley community and China. His younger son, Craig, graduated from UC Berkeley last year.

First established in 1898, the campus's East Asian Library now totals more than 700,000 bound volumes and serials and attracts visiting scholars from around the world.

JTB International Purchases Torrance Building

TORRANCE — JTB International, Inc., a Los Angeles-based travel company, purchased a 26,463-sq. ft. building to house its regional sales offices. The transaction was valued at $4.5 million.

JTB International is slated to occupy the freestanding building, which is located at 19700 Mariner Ave., in the third quarter of 2004. The property was sold by VMA California, LLC of Newport Beach.

Gerald Kim, Jim Biondi and Terry Reitz of the Grubb & Ellis South Bay office represented the seller in the transaction. Rick Mori and Kenji Sakai of CB Richard Ellis represented the buyer.