MONTHLY ARCHIVES: OCTOBER 2016

North Hall is the first ever traditional residence hall constructed at IUPUI since the founding of the campus in 1962. The $40 million building is 172,000 square feet and provides housing for 700 students. The new hall has two residential wings providing single and double occupancy rooms. The north wing is six stories and the south wing is four stories.

To promote resident interaction, the building’s design includes a grand lobby and micro-lounges throughout each residential floor. The new hall also features a computer lab, game room, fitness area, laundry facility, a large programming area and two classrooms.

Powers & Sons provided Construction Manager as Constructor (CM at Risk) services and the project is seeking LEED® Silver Certification. The project team included Don Buchanan as Project Executive, Jesse Langebartels and Zane Alcorn as Superintendents. Construction on the project began in April 2015 and was completed in 15 months. The building opened this past August welcoming incoming students for the 2016-17 school year.

 

Photo Credit: Property of MSKTD & Associates, Inc.

The Michigan Boulevard Garden Apartments were constructed in 1929 in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood by Julius Rosenwald, then president of Sears, Roebuck & Co. to provide decent, affordable housing for the working class African-American community. The complex became known as “The Rosenwald” in the neighborhood and was called home by many legends in Chicago’s African-American community, including Nat “King” Cole, Gwendolyn Brooks, Joe Louis, and Quincy Jones. Since 1999, the complex sat vacant and fell into disrepair. On September 30, 2016, Developers and City Leaders celebrated the $132 million restoration and reopening of Rosenwald Court Apartments.

The eight building, Arts & Crafts era complex has been historically restored and renovated with 239 apartments, ground floor retail spaces, a 2-acre landscaped courtyard, and includes a full range of resident amenities. The development offers affordable and senior housing units.

Powers & Sons was part of the construction team selected to renovate Rosenwald Courts Apartments. Our project team was led by Claude Powers (Project Executive), Dan O’Laughlin (Senior Project Manager), Henry Taylor (Project Superintendent), and Jeremy Booker (Project Engineer).

Powers & Sons restored the original construction including all interior finishes to 33 walk-up units in the three historical flats located on 46th and Michigan. The apartments are two bedrooms, 1.5 baths and approximately 900 – 1,383 square feet. Each includes granite countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms, hardwood flooring and black appliances. Original woodwork and casework are featured throughout the buildings. This included preserving original entry lobbies, wood staircases, wood trim, and fireplaces.

The redevelopment was made possible with the support of the City of Chicago and the Chicago Housing Authority. “Thanks to a strong partnership and commitment to creating strong, stable neighborhoods, we are bringing back a historic property to Bronzeville and providing quality, affordable housing in the way this building did when it was first built almost 90 years ago,” Chicago Housing Authority CEO Eugene Jones, Jr. said.

More than a dozen financing sources came together to fund the project which included tax exempt bonds, historic tax credits, low income housing tax credits, Illinois Affordable Housing Tax Credits, TIF, NSP funds, and private loans. Rosenwald Courts Apartments is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Powers & Sons participated in the Junior Achievement of Central Indiana’s first JA JobSpark event on September 29-30. Modeled after Alabama’s JA JobSpark, the event introduced various careers to more than 7,500 eighth grader students enrolled in Indianapolis areal schools.

The event received overwhelming support from the city’s administrators and officials with representatives from the Mayor’s office, Indianapolis Public School (IPS) Superintendent and surrounding school districts who attended the event.

Mamon Powers III and Keith Shanklin represented Powers & Sons for the event’s Architecture, Engineering and Construction business sector. Our team put together several interactive displays and activities for the students which included:

• Giant LEGOS to design and build a structure
• Backhoe and Crane simulator to experience operating heavy machinery.
• Signing of a steel I-beam that will be placed in the St. Vincent Indiana Pacer Practice facility.

The most exciting part of the event was giving away hardhats. Students crowded the area eagerly trying to get a bright yellow hard hat. By the end of the event, the 145,000 square foot facility was filled with students wearing our hard hats.

Glenn Miles, former Midwest Regional Manager for Walbridge Industrial Process, has joined Powers & Sons Construction as its new Director of Operations. Mr. Miles brings more than 25 years of Commercial Construction expertise in addition to client relations and personnel management experience to the position. He will operate from the company’s offices in Gary, Indiana and Chicago, Illinois.

During his career, Mr. Miles has worked as a Division Manager, Senior Project Manager, Principal Professional Engineer, and Civil Engineer for companies based in Iowa and Washington. He has a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from St. Martin’s College in Lacey, Washington, and he holds a Professional Engineer license in the state of Washington.

Mr. Miles is a Board Member and past-President of the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Mississippi Valley, and an Advisory Board member of the Bettendorf Family YMCA.