McCarthy has started construction on two parking facilities for the Los Angeles Community College District. The two structures will total over 800,000 square feet at a combined cost of approximately $48 million.
The first of the two structures is being built on the West Los Angeles College campus in Culver City and is scheduled to complete in late fall of this year. The estimated cost is just over $23.5 million for a four-level, 302,689-square-foot structure holding 998 parking spaces. Designed by Choate Parking Consultants of Irvine, Calif. in conjunction with AC Martin Partners of Los Angeles, the structure’s façade will have a decorative, cast-in-place concrete wall with colored cement tiles and stainless steel perforated panel fins. The facility will include a framed elevator shaft with a glass curtain wall. The rooftop of the parking structure supports over 2,000 photovoltaic panels to help support the campus electricity needs.
McCarthy has also started construction on a 1,881-car parking structure for the East Los Angeles College campus in Monterey Park. Set for completion in May 2009, this $25.1 million structure will provide 553,725 square feet of parking across six above-grade levels. The facility, which was designed by International Parking Design of Sherman Oaks, Calif., will include a precast concrete façade with embedded brick veneer, a galvanized steel entrance canopy, galvanized steel screens, and brick veneer elevator shafts with glass curtain walls. Two bridges will connect the structure to the campus’ walkways; one will be on the east side at the second level, with the second on the third level of the north side.
After construction began at East Los Angeles College, a production crew visited the project site to film a ramp pour for a new children’s television show tentatively titled, “Bob the Builder on Location.” A spin-off of the animated “Bob the Builder” series, the show will demonstrate how actual projects are constructed.
Safety during construction is a top priority, since McCarthy will be working in close proximity to students and staff of the two colleges. Well-fenced perimeters will keep outsiders from entering the construction sites, and special haul routes will utilize additional flag men as materials are moved in and out of the sites.
The two new parking structures will help resolve the congestion of the surface parking lots and help to eliminate the impact of street parking on the surrounding neighborhoods. Each campus also has an additional parking structure planned for bid this year.
Both of the structures are part of the Los Angeles Community College District’s master expansion plan, which is funded through the Proposition A/AA construction bond.
About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies and has been one of the leading parking structure builders since the advent of the modern parking structure in the 1960s. The company has delivered nearly 400 parking facilities throughout the United States, with parking spaces for more than 70,000 cars in California alone. The firm offers general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for parking structures; healthcare, educational, mixed-use, laboratory, biotechnical, retail, entertainment, industrial, multifamily and microelectronics facilities; green buildings; office buildings; tenant interiors; and bridges and highways. McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.
