Best Of 2008

Best of 2008

Newark’s Prudential Center Voted Region’s Best

We gave our jury of six a pretty tall order this year.

Scheduling conflicts dropped our jury from nine to six over the last week leading up to the big judgment day on Sept. 10. Normally this would not have presented much of a problem but this year was different. New York Construction received so many submissions—269 to be exact—that we had one of our smallest juries to date poring over the largest collection of entries we’d ever had.

And that wasn’t all.

We promised to have them out of our 7th Avenue office by 3p.m.

But for the second consecutive year, the judges were asked to bring their own computers to the jury event and the projects were presented to them on disks rather than in bulky, cumbersome binders that are usually used at these types of events. Our paperless system, which we instituted last year, made the arduous task of judging so many projects in so little time much easier and the day actually went rather smoothly.

Needles to say, we are thrilled with the job our judges did this year.

This year they gave awards to 38 projects, up 10 from last year’s total. Twenty-one entries were given Project of the Year honors in their particular category, while an additional 17 were recognized as Award of Merit winners. We look at each one of those award-winning projects in the pages that follow.

Their selection for the overall Project of the Year took us outside of New York City for the first time in several years and also broke us of a recent run of highly visible new office projects nabbing our top prize. This year the Project of the Year goes to the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., the new home of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League. This $375 million, 850-000-sq-ft facility is being viewed as the linchpin in the revitalization of downtown Newark, a city that for years was known best for its high crime and debilitating blight. With one NHL season and several major concerts under its belt (one of our judges even recently accompanied his daughter to the Prudential Center to catch preteen heartthrobs The Jonas Brothers), the judges were most impressed with this project’s ability to transform an entire city.

One judge put it: “I’m, from New York, and as hard as it is to vote against so many wonder projects that were built here in the city, this one had it all. [It] looks wonderful, an impressive team put it together, they were able to fight through some political and business issues to get it done and it’s already meant a great deal for Newark. That city deserves a building like this.” –Ed.

Meet the Jury

The judges on the 2008 panel came from varied disciplines across the construction industry and contributed their diverse experience to evaluating this year’s projects. Carefully considering the nearly 270 submissions during a one-day, marathon meeting in September, the judges discussed the construction and design of each project in detail. Working off one another’s fortes, they were able to constructively comment, admire, argue, praise and disagree on each project from various angles, ultimately selecting 36 winners and one outstanding Project of the Year. This year’s jury included:

Ron Berger

Executive Director, Subcontractors Trade Association, Inc., New York, N.Y.

He is responsible for the administration of STA, including membership development, legislative advocacy and implementing the association’s educational, communication and outreach programs.

With over 43 years of experience in management, design, procurement and installation of systems, he has worked for both Fortune 500 companies and government agencies.

He is a member of the National Fire Protection Association, Life Safety Committee on Building Services and Fire Protection Equipment, and New York City Fire Alarm Code Revision Steering Committee, as well as a founder and former board member of the Automatic Fire Alarm Association.

David Collins

National Director of Safety & Senior Vice President of Tishman Construction Corporation, New York, N.Y.

He has more than 35 years of construction experience and leads both corporate safety and loss prevention initiatives nationally for Tishman Construction.

He is a member of the American Society of Safety Engineers, a licensed Site Safety Manager in New York City, and a Board Member of the Safety Executives of the State of New York.

Roger Goodhill

Project Designer, RMJM Hillier, New York, N.Y.

His work covers a range of project types including residential, commercial, education, mixed-use and healthcare/research. His recently completed projects include 111 Central Park North, and “A’ Condominiums in Jersey City. He was also involved in the expansion of Gouverneur Hospital on the Lower East Side, the Bronx Studio School, and a competition to design a new arena for Newark, New Jersey.

Presently, he is working on the one-million-square-meter “Madinat Al Soor” development in Dubai—a modern, sustainable, pedestrian city for 22,000 inhabitants that is part of Nakheel’s Waterfront City project.

Roger holds an architecture degree from the Pratt Institute, where he has also been an associate professor.

Ken Levien

President, Levien & Company, Inc., N.Y.

He brings more than 30 years of experience in project management, construction monitoring, physical assessment, architecture and business management to the firm, which he founded in January of 1992.

He performs real estate advisory and project management oversight on many of the firm’s projects. He also performs physical assessment evaluations of properties to be purchased, financed, or improved.

He received his Master of Architecture from Washington University and prior to founding the firm, spent two years at Jones Lang Wootton and a decade at Levien, Rich & Co.

Lawrence Petretti

President, Hunter Roberts Interiors, New York, N.Y.

He is responsible for overall operations and sales, as well as all progress related to firm growth.

With more than three decades of diversified executive experience, his knowledge of the industry, sense of client focus and in-depth understanding of the construction complexities make him a valued resource to global clients such as CIBC, Regus, IBM, GE Capital, Bank of America, Columbia University, Marist College and the New York City Public Library.

Jeffrey Smalls

President & CEO, Smalls Electrical Construction, Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y.

He received his Master Electrician’s License in 1997, becoming the youngest licensee in New York City the same year he founded Smalls Electrical Construction, Inc., whose clients include the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, MTA-New York City Transit and the New York State Department of Transportation.

He currently serves on the Executive Board of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials as Secretary, as well as Chair of the Fund Raising Committee Friends of COMTO-NY.

He has been selected as one of the “40 Under Forty” honorees by The Network Journal for 2007 and named as one of Crain’s New York Business’ Top Entrepreneurs’ for 2006.