Under Construction: Top Facility Projects of February 2025

Facilities Management Advisor’s “Under Construction” series highlights some of the latest, most interesting facility project announcements every month.

HBCU’s New Residence Hall

February was Black History Month. Morehouse College, one of the country’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), celebrated the Atlanta school’s own 158th anniversary with a groundbreaking ceremony for a new residence hall. This marks the first new construction at the all-male institution in over two decades. The five-story, 324-bed living facility will span over 88,000 square feet and include a green space, lounge area, technology room and labs, and welcome center.

Organization: Morehouse College
Location: Atlanta
Type of project: New build
Size: +88,000 square feet
Estimated cost: $170 million
Status: Ground broken Feb. 21
Expected completion: N/A

Interesting tidbit: The project is part of Morehouse’s $500 million Making Men of Consequence Campaign, which aims to update the historic campus and boost the student experience. Although Morehouse has already raised over $320 million in campaign funds, the college is working hard to meet its ambitious goal. Most recently, the school received a $20 million grant to support its next major project—a 58,000-square-foot Campus Center, which will feature a dining hall, rooftop plaza, and other gathering spots.

Quote: Morehouse President David A. Thomas said the college aims to “provide more state-of-the-art spaces for our scholars to live, learn, and grow into the men of distinction and consequence that they are destined to be.”

More details are available here.

Army Ammo Factory

If you want soldiers to prevail, you need to arm them with the best equipment. That’s why U.S. Army officials have broken ground on a new 6.8 mm ammunition factory at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence, Mo. The 6.8 mm family of ammo, which was developed as part of the Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon Program, is specifically engineered to maximize the performance of the XM7 rifle and the XM250 automatic rifle. It is designed to be more lethal, accurate, and have a longer range than existing rounds.

Organizations: U.S. Army agencies and Olin Winchester
Location: Independence, Mo.
Type of project: New build
Size: 450,000 square feet
Estimated cost: N/A
Status: Ground broken Feb. 5
Expected completion: N/A

Interesting tidbit: The 6.8 mm ammunition is expected to play a vital role in advancing the Army’s modernization goals. The new production facility, which will be operated by Olin Winchester, is the culmination of an 18-month public-private design process. It will span 450,000 square feet and feature modern manufacturing systems with an enhanced annual production capacity totaling hundreds of millions of rounds.

Quote: “It is not lost on me that victory on the battlefield begins in our production facilities,” said Maj. Gen. John T. Reim, Joint Program Executive Officer for Armaments and Ammunition. “Lake City has been central to our nation’s ammunition production since 1941, and this new facility builds on that proud and historic legacy.”

More details are available here.

Greener Natural Science Building

SUNY Old Westbury, part of the massive State University of New York (SUNY) system of public colleges and universities, has kicked off a renovation and deep energy retrofit of its Natural Science Building. The facility serves as the academic home for the school’s biological sciences, chemistry, physics, and public health programs. Backed by $200 million in state funding, the three-phase project will expand the 40-year-old building to 70,000 square feet and make it more sustainable.

Organization: SUNY Old Westbury
Location: Old Westbury, N.Y.
Type of project: Renovation/retrofit
Size: N/A
Estimated cost: $200 million
Status: Ground broken Feb. 5
Expected completion: N/A

Interesting tidbit: The project at the Old Westbury campus is part of SUNY’s system-wide Climate and Sustainability Action Plan to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and zero waste. The renovated Natural Sciences Building is expected to be 50% more energy efficient and will boast a geothermal system for heating and cooling, as well as energy-efficient glazing on the facility’s windows. It will also feature modernized teaching labs, a new campus greenhouse, and collaboration spaces for teaching and co-curricular activities. The final phase is expected to include a green roof.

Quote: SUNY Old Westbury President Timothy E. Sams said, “The renovation and expansion of our current science facilities into a modern center of learning is crucial to our ability to continue to grow as an institution and to prepare young men and women for the positions in hospitals, laboratories, wind and chip manufacturing, public health, and more that await them.”

More details are available here.

Billion-Dollar Neurological Institute

The Cleveland Clinic and partners recently topped off the academic medical center’s new Neurological Institute by placing the final steel beam on the $1.1 billion project. Spanning more than 1 million square feet, the facility will dramatically expand the center’s infrastructure dedicated to neurological care and consolidate inpatient and outpatient services under one roof. It will house advanced technology and spaces to better understand and treat disorders of the brain, spine, and nerves.

Organization: Cleveland Clinic
Location: Cleveland
Type of project: New build
Size: +1 million square feet
Estimated cost: $1.1 billion
Design-build team: Hopkins Architects, Stantec Architecture, and Turner Construction,
Status: Topped off on Jan. 30
Expected completion: Early 2027

Interesting tidbit: The Neurological Institute will be the largest building on Cleveland Clinic’s main campus and will include 218 inpatient rooms, 120 outpatient exam rooms, 36 neurological ICU beds, and 12 operating rooms, with designated space for future expansion. The facility will also use smart building solutions, including real-time location technology that will direct patients where to go as soon as they enter the facility.

Quote: Robert Bermel, M.D., director of the Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis Treatment and Research at Cleveland Clinic, said, “Physicians and engineers joined forces to develop systems that will make this a smart building that facilitates advanced diagnostics, research, and patient outcomes.”

More details are available here.

Honorable Mentions

• $500 Billion Apple Investment
• IKEA’s Smaller-Format Stores
• Memphis Music Venue
• Community Stadium Renovations
• Arizona Wildfire Dispatch Center

Do you have a major project announcement you’d like considered for the “Under Construction” series? Please contact Editor Joe Bebon at [email protected].

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