Making News in...

Michigan

Architect, Kenneth Crutcher has been appointed a Commissioner of the Planning Commission of Farmington Hills. His three-year term expires June 30, 2011. Source: Studio of Kenneth Crutcher Blog

Meridian Capital Group of New York, NY has arranged $2.7 million in financing for the Beverly Hills Apartments in Muskegon. The 138-unit apartment community houses 12 three-story buildings. David Lesser in the New Jersey office of Meridian Capital Group negotiated on behalf of the borrower, Dodgson Southwell Properties. Source: RE Business Online

General Motors Corp. announced that it will spend $349 million on a new 552,000-square-foot engine plant in Flint to build the 1.4-liter, four-cylinder engines for the Chevrolet Cruz and the Chevrolet Volt. Construction is set to begin next month with production slated for 2010. GM is planning to assemble the car at its Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant, pending Detroit City Council approval of tax abatements. The Michigan Economic Growth Authority already has approved tax credits for GM's Volt-related plans. Rick Wagoner is GM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Don Williamson is Flint’s mayor. Source: Detroit Free Press

Beaumont Hospital of Royal Oak plans to build hospital facilities on a 15-acre parcel of land currently occupied by the Northwood Shopping Center just east of the hospital. Plans for the site include an outpatient clinic and medical school facilities. Farmington Hills-based Grand Sakwa Properties would purchase 14 acres of city land east of Northwood to build a shopping center with a Kroger supermarket as anchor tenant. Source: Detroit Free Press

The $80 million, 330,000 square foot Shoppes at Gateway Park open-air mall proposed for Detroit will move forward without Chicago developer, General Growth Properties, Inc. Bloomfield Hills developer, Bernie Schrott, is an investor in the project. Source: Detroit Free Press

At Peter Basso and Associates in Troy: Jennifer H. Buschta joined the Electrical Design group; Richard M. Seger became part of the Electrical Engineering group; and Lindsey Whitlock is now a CAD Specialist in the Technology and Support Services Group. Source: Detroit Free Press


Missouri
The new Town & Country Crossing retail center in Town & Country features an equal mix of free-standing buildings and park-like outdoor areas. The project used recycled materials and landscaping that included the planting of more than 1,200 trees and 5,000 plants, and creation of a 3-acre lake. Brinkmann Constructors was the contractor. Ninety percent of materials from a leveled Lucent warehouse and office building were used in the new development, resulting in great savings for developer TNC Investors, LLC and the city. Source: Associated Construction Publications


New Jersey
Crews are completing the paving of a eight-barrel precast arch bridge along the Raritan River in New Brunswick. The bridge is part of the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s four-year, $200-million makeover of the two-mile Route 18 corridor. Thomas Zink is a manager at Mt. Laurel-based Gannett Fleming Inc., NJDOT’s engineering consultant. Sherif Aziz is mid-Atlantic manager for Reinforced Earth Company (RECo) of Vienna, VA, which designed and supplied the structure. Helser Industries of Tualatin, OR, fabricated steel forms; Precast Systems Inc. of Allentown, N.J. cast the 128 arch segments; Concrete Safety Systems of Bethel, PA also cast molds for the project. Mustafa Gok is a project manager at Conti Enterprises Inc. of South Plainfield, N.J., the project’s general contractor. Structural Services of Bethlehem, PA is also involved in the project. Source: ENR

Bed Bath & Beyond of Union, NJ will continue pursue major expansion of its newer concepts and its namesake stores in Canada where it currently has two stores. For 2008, the company will open 50 new Bed Bath & Beyond stores, as well as 12 Christmas Tree Shops, several buybuy BABY stores, and freestanding and in-store Harmon and Harmon Face units. Warren Eisenberg is a co-chairman at Bed Bath & Beyond. Source: Globe St.com

Designer Amir Ilin, owner of Küche + Cucina, Paramus and Madison, NJ and Architect Tony Kowidge of IS & L Architecture Studio, LLC, Fair Lawn, NJ designed a contemporary kitchen for a home in Tewksbury, NJ. See the story on K+BB Online.