Today, the Orlando City Council approved the selection of Balfour Beatty Construction as the construction manager for the pre-construction phase of the Dr. P. Phillips Orlando Performing Arts Center. The contract is valued at approximately $1.5 million and will continue through summer 2010. Exceeding the M/WBE requirements set forth in the City of Orlando’s Blueprint Initiative, Balfour Beatty Construction has committed to 26.9 percent participation by minority firms.
“Bringing Balfour Beatty on board as construction manager signals a key milestone in the development of the performing arts center. We are moving forward with this project according to our founding mission and vision. A partner with the experience and integrity of Balfour Beatty will help us as we approach the realization of ground breaking,” said Dr. P. Phillips Orlando Performing Arts Center Board Chairman Jim Pugh.
Balfour Beatty Construction was selected through a publicly appointed procurement committee established to oversee the open and public procurement process of select contractors and consultants. Services to be provided by Balfour Beatty Construction include cost estimating, value management, constructability analysis, site logistics planning, subcontractor bidding, evaluation processes and community outreach. Minority firms engaged for pre-construction services as part of the Balfour Beatty Construction team include: GCI, Inc.; Rey Group, Inc.; RL Burns, Inc.; Forte Young, Inc. and Oraneva Consulting Group, Inc. Additionally, nearly 40 percent of the total current Balfour Beatty Construction team members assigned to the performing arts center project are LEED accredited professionals.
“We are absolutely thrilled to be selected to work with such a talented group of professionals on this landmark venue for our community. This is a true highlight for our company. The only better moment will be when the performing arts center opens its doors,” said Balfour Beatty Senior Vice President Robert S. Baker.
Balfour Beatty Construction has extensive experience working with performing arts centers including Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center (original and renovations) in Dallas; The News-Journal Center in Daytona Beach; Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts in Jacksonville; Florida Center for Arts and Education (pre-construction) in Orlando; Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center in Tampa; The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. and Christopher Cohan Center, San Luis Obispo.
Currently, the Dr. P. Phillips Orlando Performing Arts Center is finalizing design development documents for review by the City of Orlando. With approval of the design documents, a construction plan for the performing arts center will be developed in alignment with available funding. Groundbreaking is projected for spring 2010.
In Central Florida, Balfour Beatty Construction’s projects underway include The Peabody Orlando Expansion; University of Central Florida College of Medicine; UCF Arts Complex II; SCC-UCF University Partnership Center; Lowell Correctional Annex Phase 1 and Mayo Correctional Annex & Main Unit Expansion Phase IA & IB. Its recently completed projects in the local market include Disney’s Vacation Club Villas at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, Osceola County Communications/Emergency Operations Center and the University of Central Florida Convocation Center.
About the Dr. P. Phillips Orlando Performing Arts Center
The Dr. P. Phillips Orlando Performing Arts Center is an independent non-profit 501(c) 3 corporation dedicated to developing, building and operating the new performing arts center in downtown Orlando. The performing arts center plans to develop a mixed-use urban arts center with three main halls, educational facilities and a public theater plaza. The performing arts center will be Central Florida’s destination of choice for arts, cultural and entertainment programming. It will serve our diverse community by educating and nurturing artists, arts organizations, audiences and students throughout the region and the state of Florida. The performing arts center is committed to the City of Orlando’s Code for minority/women business enterprise contract and employment participation. For more information, visit www.orlandopac.org.
About Balfour Beatty Construction
Balfour Beatty Construction has been a leader in the U.S. commercial construction industry for 76 years, providing general contracting, at-risk construction management, design-build, preconstruction, public/private and turnkey services for clients nationwide. The company employs 1,600 professionals and is part of London-based Balfour Beatty plc, a leading international engineering, construction, and investment business exceeding $16 billion in annual revenues. For more information, visit www.balfourbeattyus.com.