WHAT'S NEW AT URATA & SONS

December 17, 2007 - Excerpts from our Fall 2007 Newsletter

A Good Foundation for CityCenter

The CityCenter project, with an estimated cost of $7.4 billion, is currently the largest privately financed construction in the western hemisphere and the largest in U.S. History. Urata & Sons is playing a vital role in this monumental effort. With a Strip frontage of ¼ mile, CityCenter incorporates a coordinated combination of numerous structures. Any of these buildings would be note worthy on their own but when presented in combination they have created a standard of excellence that will not be transcended in the near future. The highlighted facilities include:

• The 60-story CityCenter Resort and Casino designed by Cesar Pelli. This includes a 4,000 room resort hotel and a 165,000 square foot casino.
• The 400 room exclusive Mandarin Oriental Hotel/Residences.
• The 400 room Harmon Hotel/Residences.
• The twin 350 unit luxury Veer Condo Towers
• SoBella Retail – 500,000 square feet of luxury shopping, restaurants and entertainment.
• The Vdara Condo/Hotel tower with 1500 units.
• Support facilities including over 1 million square feet of spa, back-of-house, utility plant, fire station, parking and more.

Urata & Sons Concrete has been involved since the beginning of construction. Initially we provided concrete foundations and floors for The Sales Center and the Central Utility Plant. We are now supporting the construction effort with foundation, cast in place walls and columns and concrete slabs in the Convention Center,East and West Podiums for the Pelli Tower / Casino, Garage 6, SoBella Retail Shopping Mall, Harmon Hotel Podium and the 2,000 seat Specialty Theater – including the 3 story deep orchestra / mechanized stage pit. To support the ambitious schedule, much of this work involves Urata’s work force on a seven days per week basis.

In addition to our ongoing projects at CityCenter, Urata is working with Perini Building Company to provide our expertise and services on other aspects of the project which will be starting up in the future. These projects may include the main Casino Avenue Entrance, a Harmon Blvd. Entrance, hardscape, pool decks, and mechanical/electrical/housekeeping pads. Urata’s can do attitude and flexible approach to supporting the overall goal of creating a project for the history books has made us a valued contractor in the CityCenter effort.

When complete, CityCenter will epitomize the ideal in urban environment – with pleasantly disguised parking structures, open parks and a complex of rooftop gardens. The project will be a mini-city with its own Fire Station, an on-site power/utility plant and lots of open areas for pedestrian traffic. CityCenter has also achieved LEED certification for the project as outlined by the U.S. Green Building Council. Portions of it are expected to open as early as 2009. For more CityCenter pictures and information, please visit our website at www.urataconcrete.com.

 

June 20, 2007 - Excerpts from our Summer 2007 Newsletter

ONE Las Vegas: Something to Build On

On April 29, 2006 the first concrete was placed on the ONE Las Vegas Condominium project. Now, less than 14 months later, Urata has completed the structural portion of the luxury high-rise complex. Over 51,000 cubic yards of concrete went into the cast-in-place structures. The two 20 story residential towers connected by a large 5 level parking structure have now transformed the skyline at the south end of the famous Las Vegas Strip.

The construction done over the last year represents Phase I of the overall project. When fully developed, the private residential area will contain five residential towers, three parking structures, pools, tennis courts, lawns and gardens. A public area will be constructed on the land fronting Las Vegas Blvd. and is scheduled to include a boutique hotel, shops, restaurants and a fitness center.

This fast track project, Urata & Sons largest completed project to date, has been a pivotal project in many ways to the development and growth of Urata’s Las Vegas office. It has demonstrated Urata’s capacity to effectively handle large complex structural projects. It also served as the core around which the Las Vegas office has assembled the talent and skills necessary to qualify us as a valued participant in some of the largest privately funded developments in the world.

The ONE Las Vegas project also helped strengthen Urata’s reputation and working relationships with suppliers and fellow contractors in the Las Vegas area. Rinker Materials (concrete supplier), JLS Pumping, Ceco Concrete Construction (formwork), Sahara Concrete (slab place and finish), Lochsa Engineering (structural engineering) and J.E. Dunn (general contractor) all participated with Urata in the successful completion of these high quality structures for Midbar Development. Urata & Sons would like to thank the many employees who worked on ONE Las Vegas for their hard work and dedication that contributed to the successful completion of this dynamic project.

View the ONE Las Vegas Project Profile »

 

Spring Reserve

Urata & Sons Concrete recently completed foundation work to support the installation of parking lot canopies equipped with solar electrical generation cells at The Springs Preserve in Las Vegas. In Spanish, “las vegas” means “the meadows” and this 180-acre site literally encompasses the meadows around which Las Vegas developed. The Springs Preserve was once home to bubbling springs that were a source of water for Native Americans living in Las Vegas. It also sustained travelers of the Old Spanish Trail who came to settle the West.

This site is a cultural and historical attraction designed to commemorate Las Vegas’ dynamic natural history and to provide a vision for a sustainable future. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978, the Preserve is located approximately three miles west of downtown Las Vegas. The site represents one of the richest and most unique cultural and biological resources in Southern Nevada.

This exciting attraction offers a unique cultural experience for people of all ages. The Springs Preserve experience includes colorful desert botanical gardens, museum galleries, outdoor concerts and events, an indoor theater, a historic photo gallery and a series of walking trails that meander through a scenic wetland habitat.

Project Location: Las Vegas, NV
Contract Amount: Approx. $130,000.00
Project Manager: Douglas Horman
General Contractor: Powerlight Corporation

 

City Center Shapes Up

The first phase of MGM Mirage’s CityCenter, a gargantuan $8 billion, 68-acre project is well under way. Urata & Sons currently has been awarded several contracts of the project. Our newest projects are the Theater/Showroom and the Harmon Hotel Podium. Our total contract value to date is currently over $50 million. As with every project changes are a fact of life. Work at CityCenter never stops and either do the changes. To date Urata has issued 107 change order requests and of that number we have received 32 changes. We currently have over 90 employees working on CityCenter full time including project managers, engineers and administrators. The number of employees is expected to increase by October. Typically Urata works 6 days a week with pours beginning at 5am but by mid July we will start our pours at midnight. By October Urata is expected to have two full time crews. One that will work during the day and a second crew working throughout the night. An enormous amount of our work on the project consists of place & finish. We would like to thank Freddie Medina and his crew for the excellent quality of workmanship on this project.

CityCenter has become a notable project all over the world for its magnitude, LEED’s efforts, minority expectations and dollar value. It has enhanced our company’s growth and our opportunities for bidding larger projects. We are very pleased to be working with Perini Building Company and MGM on such an exciting project.

View the CityCenter Project Profile »

 

San Francisco’s Mission Bay Project

Urata & Sons is working with The Quorum Group and BOSA Development in San Francisco’s up and coming Mission Bay neighborhood. Urata is scheduled to complete all cast-in-place concrete on the first phase of BOSA Development’s mass development plan by August 2007. When completed the Radiance Towers will have 99 town homes and condominium units and many will have breathtaking views of the San Francisco’s well-known Bay. Radiance at Mission Bay is the first bayside condominium community developed in San Francisco in years. The community is also the first of several planned BOSA residential developments that will create more than 1,700 residences in the new Mission Bay neighborhood rising south of downtown San Francisco.

Urata will start the concrete work on the second phase of construction in late August. The new cast-in-place structure will require 80,000 cubic yards of concrete to complete its two 17 story tower design along with a parking garage. Urata & Sons looks forward to successfully completing the project with both the Quorum Group and BOSA development.

View the Mission Bay Project Profile »