LOS ANGELES-McCarthy Building Cos. started construction on the new $73.5-million Metro Division 13 Bus Maintenance and Operations Facility for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. McCarthy is serving as general contractor and will be self-performing the structural and architectural concrete work on the facility which is located on a 7.5 acre site at the northeast corner of Vignes Street and Cesar E. Chavez Avenue in an industrial area in downtown Los Angeles.
Jim Madrid, VP of McCarthy, tells GlobeSt.com that McCarthy sees the Los Angeles market as critical for the continued rebound in the Southern California construction market.” He points out that “the private market is starting to gain some traction as several developers have contacted us recently to review new opportunities and also revisit projects which have been on idle for the past several years.”
Madrid also points out that “Just as important to us is the public sector which includes Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, LAWA and Metro. Each of these entities, he says, has a substantial work program, many of which are design-build delivery or some other type of best value selection. Currently, we have major projects which include the LAX Central Plant, Metro Division 13 Bus Maintenance and Operations Facility and LACDPW’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Multi-Service Ambulatory Care Center, which all three have a design-build delivery. We believe our successes with each of these public entities will lead to future projects for our McCarthy team.”
This particular 442,265-square-foot project began construction in October 2012 and is scheduled to complete in summer 2014. Designed to optimize the agency’s bus transit service throughout the Central Los Angeles region, the new sustainable facility will accommodate a fleet of 200 CNG (compressed natural gas) buses that provide effective and environmentally responsible public transportation for one of the largest, most populous counties in the country, according to a prepared statement.
Designed to meet LEED Gold certification standards, sustainable construction methods will be used throughout construction such as maintaining proper indoor air quality; utilizing local labor and materials and recycling construction waste. In addition, the facility, which was designed by RNL of Los Angeles, will incorporate construction materials that are regionally sourced and/or have a high recycled content.
According to a prepared statement, water conservations features include a bus wash system that uses reclaimed storm water and a chassis and non-revenue vehicle wash system that uses 100% recycled water. The project landscape features low maintenance native vegetation, and a green roof will be installed on the Transportation Building to reduce cooling costs, minimize storm water run-off and to mitigate the urban heat island effect.
McCarthy project director Khatchig Tchapadarian says that the most challenging aspect of this project is the site location and logistics due to the location of the County jail to the north and busy traffic on the streets at the south and west sides of the project. “McCarthy will work with the appropriate entities to alleviate traffic disruptions and to allow access for the County jail buses and security vehicles throughout construction.”
He continues to point out that tying into and modifying the existing maintenance building on the eastside of the structure will present further challenges. “McCarthy will be removing some of the maintenance building’s exterior skin, concrete decks and bathrooms and reconfiguring the welding shop. We will coordinate closely with the ongoing shop operations in order to mitigate any disruptions to the shop when conducting these construction operations.”
The project consultants involved in the Metro Division 13 Bus Maintenance and Operations Facility project include: MARRS – resident engineer; Maintenance Design Group – design team manager and maintenance facility designer; RNL – architect; McCarthy – general contractor; Nabih Youssef Associates – structural engineer; W2 Design and Huitt-Zollars –civil engineer; C&J Technical Solutions & Services Inc. – electrical and mechanical engineers; Fuel Solutions – fueling; and Ambient Energy – LEED advisor.
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Natalie Dolce
Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com and GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.
