By Dean Petersen

The construction industry is cranking right now, and our team is loaded up with projects. Not a bad problem to have – although it meant that summer flew by without me writing this update. Better late than never I say. Here’s a look at what we’ve been up to over the last several months, and what’s on tap for fall/winter.

We are excited to be completed with our third project for Family Health Centers of San Diego – the 35,000 square foot HITEC facility on Federal Boulevard. When it opens its doors in January the new building will house a family medicine clinic and job training programs, in addition to FHCSD administrative offices, which are already occupied. Managed by myself and Matt Renault, the project removed an old, abandoned building on a rundown site and constructed a beautiful, new, high-tech, two-story concrete tilt-up building on an environmentally friendly site, complete with drought tolerant plants and multiple bio-retention basins.

We are also nearing completion on Jewish Family Service of San Diego’s new Joan & Irwin Jacobs Campus, which is expected to be complete in November. Located off Balboa Avenue, the project is a complete remodel of two 25,000 square foot buildings along with extensive site work. The buildings are being combined to form a new facility where JFS can better serve the San Diego community. HMCM was proud to assist JFS with procurement of over $150,000 worth of grants from Homeland Security, the state, and the federal government to help complete the new campus.

Managed by Dave Bates and Matt Renault, the multi-phase project involves construction of a commercial kitchen, server room cutover, three TI phases, and four site phases. All three TI phases are now complete and occupied by JFS staff, and three of the four site phases have been completed, all without impacting JFS’ ability to serve the community. Construction is scheduled to wrap up by the end of November.

Over in City Heights, we are thrilled to be working with the Ocean Discovery Institute on their new Living Lab educational facility. The Living Lab is scheduled to break ground in February and, when complete, will provide after-school science education to underserved students in nearby schools. The forward-thinking facility designed by Rob Wellington Quigley, FAIA will incorporate green technology to create a zero net energy building, including solar power and gray water systems. HMCM recently attended ODI’s annual ‘Bubble Up Gala’ and couldn’t be more excited to start construction.

In Torrey Pines, I’m pleased to be working with Zane Keith on a new project for the Center for Creative Leadership. Located on North Torrey Pines Road, the project consists of 31,000 square feet of tenant improvements on the second and third floors of a newly renovated research park building. We will be constructing an open-air patio to showcase beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean and Torrey Pines golf course, as well as adding an internal stair for connectivity between the two floors.

With a design from the creative bunch at Hollander Design Group, the space will be sure to impress. Taking inspiration from all things San Diego – Torrey Pines, the Del Mar Racetrack, La Jolla Shores, Sunset Cliffs, etc. – each section will have a carefully selected color palette to match! We look forward to seeing the finished project, which is expected around late February.

Also in Torrey Pines, Nik Bandak and team recently completed a 10,000 square foot expansion project for CoStar’s San Diego location. Incorporating high-end finishes and a Lutron lighting control system, the space achieves a polished, corporate feel and is energy efficient to boot. We collaborated with Perkins+Will’s Washington DC based design team to ensure the project would meet local codes, and were proud to complete it on time and under budget! CoStar was so pleased that they selected Hughes Marino CM to manage the upcoming expansion of their offices in Irvine, with construction slated to complete in March.

Further north, we wrapped up a killer new project for The Enthusiast Network (aka TEN) in Santa Ana this summer. The 61,000 square foot space is part office, part tech center, and even includes a 6,000 square foot automotive shop. Steven Gorup really did an amazing job on this one. Read more about it from the man himself, in this post he wrote with David Marino, who located the space for TEN.

Spotted Around Town

In Downtown San Diego, we’re watching progress on the Lane Field development at the northeast corner of Broadway and North Harbor Drive. The two-wing building now under construction is to house two hotels connected by a shared elevator bank, along with restaurants and retail space, all surrounded by a public park. Construction is expected to complete in 2016.

Back up in Orange County, we’re seeing good progress on the Irvine Company’s latest office project. At 21-stories tall, 200 Spectrum Center will offer desirable new options for office space in the heart of Irvine Spectrum. The project is slated to complete in early 2016 and is already partially leased.

It’s an exciting time to be in this business, and we’re looking forward to seeing what the coming year will bring. Check back for our next update in 2016!