Building Nevada Briefs - November 2000

Building Nevada Briefs

Clark & Sullivan Constructs School in Nixon

Clark & Sullivan Constructors of Reno has completed work on the new Pyramid Lake Junior and Senior High School located in Nixon, at the south end of Pyramid Lake. Clark & Sullivan finished the job in seven months in order to have the school ready for the start of fall classes. The 43,000-square-foot structure was built to accommodate 250 students; an amphitheater at the rear of the building enables it to double as a cultural events center for the community. The school houses 15 classrooms with Internet connections, a gymnasium, music room, library, computer room, full laboratory classroom, shop rooms and offices. The 53-acre site also features athletic fields, an all-weather track, tennis courts and team locker rooms. Officials from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe participated in the opening ceremony for the school, which incorporated Paiute designs in its construction.

Longford Group Plans Office Park

The Longford Group broke ground this month for an 80,000-square-foot office complex in the southeastern Las Vegas Valley. At the groundbreaking were (from left) Bruce Woodbury, chairman, Board of County Commissioners, Chris Murtagh, president of Longford’s commercial division, M.J. Harvey, chairman, Paradise Town Board, John Murtagh, founder and CEO of the Longford Group, and county commissioner Dario Herrera. Longford Plaza will serve as headquarters for the Longford Group, a Las Vegas-based developer with divisions in Albuquerque, Tulsa, and New Jersey. The 10-building, single-story project is being developed near Warm Springs Road and Pecos Road. The buildings will range from 6,500 to 10,000 square feet and will feature concrete tile roofs, shutters, fiber-optic systems and a central courtyard. The first phase, scheduled for completion next spring, will consist of three buildings totaling 23,000 square feet. Build-out for Longford Plaza is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2001. Perlman Architects of Henderson provided architectural services for the project. VTN Engineering is the engineer, and Lee & Associates will oversee leasing activity.

Pulte Homes Ranks Highest in Customer Satisfaction

Pulte Homes, the nation’s largest homebuilder and third largest homebuilder in Southern Nevada, ranked highest in customer satisfaction among new-home builders in the Las Vegas market, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2000 New-Home Builder Customer Satisfaction Study. Pulte’s Las Vegas division earned top scores in seven of the eight factors comprising overall satisfaction, including: quality of workmanship and materials, customer service representatives, sales staff, price/value, physical design elements, design center and location.

Northport Business Center to Begin New Phase

Jackson-Shaw Company has completed Phase I of Northport Business Center, a 24-acre, $30 million master-planned business park located adjacent to the North Las Vegas Airport. Northport Business Center serves tenants in need of smaller flex products in the city of North Las Vegas. The company will break ground in December on Phase II, which will consist of four buildings with more than 96,500 square feet of office, showroom, retail and warehouse space. At build-out the project will consist of 12 multi-tenant buildings totaling 325,000 square feet.

AGC Announces Pinnacle Award Winners

The Nevada Chapter Associated General Contractors (AGC) held its second annual Pinnacle Awards Dinner in Sparks on Sept. 28. Q & D Construction won an Award of Merit for the Link Piazzo Alumni Center at Reno High School in the category of Building, New, Under $5 Million. Q & D also received a Pinnacle Award for ArrowCreek in the category of Highway/Engineering, New, Over $5 Million. A Pinnacle Award was given to Granite Construction for its Virginia City Road construction project in the category of Highway/Engineering, Renovation, Over $5 Million. United Construction won a Pinnacle Award in the category of Design/Build, New, Over $5 Million, for the Pfizer Western Logistics Center. The Pinnacle Awards were established last year to honor the best Northern Nevada construction projects and recognize members who show leadership, excellence and community spirit.

Korte-Bellew Begins Work on Tech Center

Korte-Bellew & Associates Construction Company broke ground in September on a $5 million high-tech academic and computing center for the Community College of Southern Nevada (CCSN). Completion of the 33,000-square-foot interactive learning center on the Green Valley High School campus near Warm Springs Road and Stephanie Street is scheduled for May 2001. The building will contain 12 general purpose classrooms, four computer classrooms and one computing SuperLab. Leslie and Joan Dunn, developers of the Galleria at Sunset Regional Mall, donated 1.3 acres of land for the center, which will be named in their honor.

Rafael Construction Receives SBA Award

Rafael Medina Jr. has been recognized as the Small Business Administration (SBA)’s 2000 Minority Small Business Person of the Year for the state of Nevada. In nine years, the owner of Rafael Construction in Henderson built his company from a three-person operation to a firm that now employs 120 people and will complete approximately $27 million in construction this year. Medina’s firm is completing work on a section of the Lower Redrock Complex storm drainage project, a contract it was awarded through a federal program designed to assist eligible small disadvantaged businesses.

Vestin Group Breaks Ground for Corporate Offices

Vestin Group, a publicly-held financial services company, has begun construction of a new corporate headquarters in Las Vegas. The 20,000-square-foot offices are being built on a one-acre site bordering the National Golf Club golf course on Eastern Avenue near Desert Inn Road. The two-story, contemporary structure, with a cost of approximately $3 million, is scheduled for completion in February 2001. General contractor for the project is Sunburst Construction, a Las Vegas-based construction firm. JVC Associates, Inc. is the architect.

Zunino to Help Design Las Vegas Springs Preserve

J.W. Zunino & Associates, a Las Vegas-based landscape architecture firm, has been named to the design team of the Las Vegas Springs Preserve. The $171 million project will span 180 acres considered the "birthplace" of Las Vegas, now owned by the Las Vegas Valley Water District. The Preserve will contain a state-of-the-art interpretive center showcasing the natural habitat of the Mojave Desert and offering a historical perspective of how the Las Vegas area was first settled. The project, billed as the "Central Park of Las Vegas," is targeted to open in 2005 to commemorate the city’s 100^th birthday. Zunino specializes in creating water-efficient landscapes that preserve the natural beauty of the desert.

Berryman & Henigar Chosen for NDOT Projects

Berryman & Henigar, a municipal professional services firm, has been chosen to provide crew augmentation for Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) projects in Western Nevada. The Las Vegas office of the San Diego-based firm is working on three projects: roadwork in Carson City, repaving near Virginia City, and a 10-mile reconstruction project on U.S. 395 between Carson City and Minden. It is providing inspection work and a complete field laboratory to perform testing services in support of NDOT crews. Work will continue this fall as long as weather permits, and will resume in the spring.

The Keith Companies Provide Services for Dermody

The Keith Companies Inc., a civil engineering and design firm with offices in Las Vegas, has been contracted to provide professional services for Dermody Business Center West. Keith is performing civil engineering services for the project, and has already completed conceptual designs for the infrastructure. Dermody Properties is developing the 140-acre industrial park at Craig Road and North Fifth Street in North Las Vegas. The industrial center will create approximately 2.6 million square feet of available space for big-box tenants. The Keith Companies also assisted Dermody Properties in the development of the Dermody Business Center, a 2.14-million square-foot industrial park.