The agency has outgrown its existing space in three leased facilities and will need new space for the planned consolidation and expansion. The FBI’s existing local operations are at 255 N. Commerce Park Loop near where the new facility is to be built, 1 S. Church Ave. in the UniSource Energy Tower downtown, and 2551 N. Dragoon St. off West Grant Road and Interstate 10.
“This is being done nationally, there is a push by the FBI to get their smaller regional offices into one larger building. It is driven by a need to be more efficient, to support new functions and meet enhanced IT infrastructure,” said Gene Gibson, public affairs officer for the General Services Administration (GSA) in San Francisco.
 The FBI plans to consolidate its three existing facilities into a new 84,000 square-foot, regional office near downtown. GSA rendering |
The headquarters has been designed to achieve a minimum of LEED Silver rating (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Energy Star benchmarks will be achieved or exceeded, and a full-time engineer will be located in the facility. Gibson added that FBI operations in the Phoenix area are undergoing a similar consolidation process.
The GSA is directing the project for the FBI. The FBI is leasing the building for 20 years, a move that Gibson said “will meet the FBI’s long-term housing needs in Tucson.”
WSM’s deaf-blind design Construction has begun on a unique, affordable housing project for low-income, deaf-blind senior citizens in Tempe, designed by WSM Architects of Tucson, 4330 N. Campbell, Suite 268. The $10.2 million Apache ASL Trails Community is a four-story, 88,000 square-foot apartment complex designed to serve residents who communicate primarily with American Sign Language.
“This project has a high degree of community interaction for the blind, deaf and other disadvantaged individuals,” said Paul Mickelberg, president of WSM. “Incorporating deaf technology into the building such as visual signalers for phones and doorbells, audio loop systems and video cameras, and line-of-sight design elements was important throughout the design process.”
The 1.8 acre, urban-infill project is located at 2428 E. Apache Blvd. Mickelberg’s firm designed the L-shaped complex to include features especially for the deaf such as a videophone-equipped lobby and elevator, and TTY and videophone hookups in every apartment. The video intercom system will enable residents to communicate directly with friends and family using ASL, or via a videophone relay system.
ASL-friendly amenities also are featured in the community room, exercise room, laundry and storage area, beauty salon, conference room and outdoor plaza. At a later date, Mickelberg said commercial development at the 75-unit complex should include businesses that provide deaf/blind-related services to residents.
“There are less than 20 facilities like this in the nation,” said Mickelberg.
Construction is set for completion in the summer of 2011. The developer is Cardinal Capital Management, Milwaukee, Wis.
ACT scholarshipsScholarships of $1,000 each have been awarded to Bianca Cervantez and Joshua Landau by the Alliance of Construction Trades (ACT). Executive Director Jim Kuliesh said both students were chosen “based on rigorous academic and community involvement standards.”
Cervantez is studying sports medicine at Pima Community College where she has a 3.8 grade point average. She volunteers in the Amphitheater High School Athletic Department and is involved in the school’s softball and volleyball programs.
Landau graduated this year with honors from Catalina Foothills High School and will be attending the University of San Diego Business School this fall. He was the only local student to be named a Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Program intern this summer. Landau is a member of the Jewish-Latino Coalition and active in the Save Darfur Coalition.
ACT is a nonprofit, construction trade association representing about 300 specialty trade contractors and suppliers.
Ott YMCA expansionT.L. Roof & Associates Construction, 710 S. Campbell Ave., has completed a $2 million renovation and addition to the Ott Family YMCA, 400 S. Prudence Road. The upgrade features a new 7,200 square-foot gym, 975 square-foot cardio room, and a 1,400 square-foot lobby addition with a new elevator and stairwell.
The two-level building received extensive interior renovations and several green elements such as rainwater harvesting and solar power generation. The project’s designer was Klimatic Architecture, 6375 E. Tanque Verde Road, Suite 130.
Sales and leases purchased Northgate Plaza Shopping Center, at the northeast corner of East Grant Road and North Alvernon Way, for $8.05 million from Crestline Investments LLC. The 7.8-acre site is anchored by a Walmart Neighborhood Market. TNP is a public registered non-traded real estate investment trust based in Irvine, Calif., that invests in grocery- and drug store-anchored, multi-tenant properties.
• TNP Strategic Retail Trust Inc.
• Red Fort Denver LLC purchased the 28-unit, 1.2-acre Oasis Apartment Complex, 5801 N. Camino Esplendora, for $1.4 million from Oasis Project LLC. Bob Kaplan and Allan Mendelsberg, Picor Commercial Real Estate Services, represented the seller and buyer.
• Tucson Young NAK Church purchased a 26,000 square-foot building for $1 million at 6570 N. Thornydale Road from M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank. Mick Cluck, Tucson Realty & Trust Co., represented the seller. John Suh, Long Realty, represented the buyer.
• 3D Distribution purchased a 5,000 square-foot facility at 1270 W. Glenn St. for $325,000 from Glenn Properties Inc. Jeff Zellet, Picor Commercial Real Estate Services, represented the seller. Steve Cohen, Picor, and Andrew Ogan and Jeff Conrad, Lee & Associates, represented the buyer.
• Aedificium De Caeleste LLC purchased a 1,579 square foot office condo shell in Ina Corporate Park, 3011 W. Ina Road, for $245,000 from Ina Corporate Park LP. Andrew Sternberg and Doug Marsh, Oxford Realty Advisors, represented the seller. Nancy Gansline, also of Oxford Realty Advisors, represented the buyer.
E-mail news items for this column to ryohem@azbiz.com. Inside Real Estate & Construction appears weekly.
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