The Architect Newswire is an aggregation of news from media outlets around the world, intended to keep you abreast of all of the industry’s important developments. The stories we feature are not reported, edited, or fact-checked by Architect’s staff.
MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE
Lisl Close dies
Minneapolis architect Elizabeth “Lisl” Close has died at 99. Mary Abbe reports that Close was perhaps Minnesota’s first woman architect. “By her example she inspired many women in architecture, myself included, but she didn’t want to be known as a woman architect—just as an architect who happened to be a woman,” says architectural historian Jane King Hession. Close collaborated with husband Winston Close for 50 years in their firm, Close Associates. Her designs included the Gray Freshwater Biological Institute in Navarre, Minn.; the Peavey Technical Center in Chaska, Minn.; and Ferguson Hall at the University of Minnesota. The Austrian-born architect grew up in a house designed by Adolf Loos.
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PORTLAND BUSINESS JOURNAL (OR)
Custom house (still) for sale
Portland, Ore.’s former U.S. Custom House is back on the market. Wendy Culverwell reports that the General Services Administration previously “sold” the building in a 2010 auction for $2.5 million, but winning bidder Prem Group couldn’t raise the funds to complete the transaction. The four-story, 78,838-square-foot structure that was built in 1910 now requires a minimum bid of $250,000. The building has been vacant since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers left it four years ago, although it has recently been used for the filming of “Leverage” and “Grimm.” Previous proposals to adapt the building as a hotel, school, and offices have not been successful.
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BOSTON.COM
Changes keep Pier 4 development moving along
New England Development intends to break ground on their Pier 4 project in South Boston early next year, but with some revisions due to the market. Patrick Rosso reports that Phase One was originally approved as a 21-story office building, but current plans are for a 380-unit rental apartment tower. The building’s footprint has been reduced from 31,000 square-feet to 25,000-square-feet. The Boston Redevelopment Authority is seeking public comments on the changes and is likely to vote on the project on Dec. 15.
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DAILY WORLD (OPELOUSAS, LA)
Arthur Q. Davis dies
Architect Arthur Q. Davis has died at 91. Janet McConnaughey reports that the New Orleans native studied at Tulane and Harvard before working under Eero Saarinen. Davis’s designs include the Superdome, New Orleans’s Rivergate Exhibition Center, the main branch of the New Orleans Public Library, the Vietnam War-era U.S. Embassy in Saigon, and the Free University of Berlin Medical Center. “He was very much a creature of New Orleans. He absorbed it. Loved it,” says former Ogden Museum of Southern Art director Richard Gruber.
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THE DAILY IOWAN
Architect for Justice Center
The Johnson County (Iowa) Board of Supervisors has chosen Neumann Monson Architects to design a new Justice Center adjacent to the Johnson County Courthouse. Asmaa Elkeurti reports that the firm will receive $98,000 for the pre-schematic design of the $39 million facility. A bond issue to cover the cost will be on the ballot in November 2012, with final design to take place after the vote. The building is needed to solve overcrowding in the current jail.
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ANNARBOR.COM (MI)
Apartments plans for Ann Arbor
Locally based Urban Development Group is proposing a six-story apartment complex in downtown Ann Arbor, Mich. Lizzy Alfs reports that the 140,000 square-foot structure will have almost 200 apartments targeted for young professionals and empty nesters. The design by Chicago’s VOA Associates is “a simple, brick structure with steel and glass infill and recessed residential balconies,” according to Alfs.
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MCAS YUMA NEWS (AZ)
Topping off hanger
Marine Corps Air Station Yuma’s new Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) hanger was topped out on Nov. 21. Cpl. Aaron Diamant reports that the facility will house the new F-35B aircraft. “The JSF is the largest military contract in history,” says station commanding officer Col. Robert Kuckuk. “If any instillation has all eyes on it, it’s Yuma, as nearly all military construction money will be coming here for the next several years.” The fast-track project was started in August and is on schedule to be finished by Mar. 16.
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THE TENNESSEAN
Two apartment buildings for East Nashville
Memphis, Tenn.–based developer Michael Hampton is proposing two apartment buildings in East Nashville. Bobby Allyn reports that the developer will receive $875,641 in tax credits over 10 years for a four-story, 54-unit affordable building and is seeking $1.9 million in tax-exempt public bonds to fund a 32-unit, market rate building. Pending financing, Hampton plans to break ground early next year on both projects.
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NEW ENGLAND REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
Ground broken for Boston project
Ground has been broken for a 12-story, 286-unit apartment building in Boston. The New England Real Estate Journal reports that ADD designed the $92 million project, called The Victor. The LEED Silver project is being built by Suffolk Construction and is scheduled for completion in early 2013.
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CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL (NC)
UNC Charlotte’s PORTAL
Groundbreaking for UNC Charlotte’s new PORTAL— “Partnership Outreach and Research to Accelerate Learning”—building is scheduled for Dec. 15. Jennifer Thomas reports that the four-story, 96,000-square-foot building will house the university’s business incubator, the Ben Craig Center. “We hope to be an engine to help companies grow,” says Charlotte Research Institute associate director Barry Burks. “One way that we can engage the community, support the community, is by creating infrastructure so these companies can succeed and grow.”
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