IRVINE
Construction is halfway done on the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine. The project, which is slated to cost about $60 million, is funded by a grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine as well as private donations and campus debt funding. The 61,000-square-foot building is modeled after the existing Hewitt Hall at the southwest corner of campus, just off Bison Avenue. The building will have three stories and will house a core stem cell laboratory with the latest equipment for harvesting stem cells. The building also will include clinical space to see patients.
The project is expected to be complete by next summer. The contractor for the pro-ject is San Francisco-based Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Co. The architect is Redwood City-based Des Architects & Engineers Inc.
ANAHEIM
Construction is nearly complete on an expansion of the Anaheim White House restaurant. The expansion, which is the first in the building’s 100-year history, calls for a 1,900-square-foot structure adjacent to the main building on Anaheim Boulevard and West Vermont Avenue.
The structure must be freestanding because the restaurant, which originally was built as a home in 1909, is on the National Register of Historic Places. The design of the new building will closely resemble the main restaurant with white wood panels and columns. Management intends to use the facility, which will hold 150 to 180 guests, for wedding receptions and charity events. Construction is expected to cost $250,000 and will include a courtyard of Italian travertine that will connect the two buildings. Construction is on schedule to be complete by early this month.
A K-6 elementary school is being built near South Haster Street and East Orangewood Avenue. The four-building, 60,000-square-foot Ponderosa Elementary School will have 38 classrooms for 950 students. Also being built is a public library, which will be used for students during the day. The school will cost an estimated $28 million and is set to be complete by August 2010. The Anaheim City School District is the developer. Modesto-based Lionakis Beaumont Design Group is working as the architect and Los Angeles-based Woodcliff Corp. is the contractor.
FULLERTON
Construction has begun on a Bank of America branch at the southwest corner of Orangethorpe Avenue and Harbor Boulevard. The branch, which will be the fifth Bank of America in the city, is slated to be some 7,000 square feet. It will feature nine teller stations, five universal conference rooms and three walk-up ATM vestibules in the lobby. The property formerly housed a restaurant and was leased by Bank of America Corp. in November of last year. The architect for the project is Roy Herbold Jr. of Tustin. Chico-based Armstrong Construction is the contractor. The branch is expected to open by early next year.
A design has been completed for a public parking structure to expand parking facilities at the Fullerton Transportation Center near Harbor Boulevard and Commonwealth Avenue. The project includes construction of a three-story parking structure with five levels of parking. The structure will provide 1,000 parking spaces and pedestrian access across Harbor Boulevard to the transit center. The project is state funded with a budget of $41 million. More money needs to be allocated before a general contractor is selected.
