Dive Brief:
- Marquette University in Milwaukee announced Friday that it awarded Mortenson Construction a $120 million contract for a campus athletic performance research center, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- University officials said there is no scheduled construction start date for the project, as they have yet to raise the full amount necessary to begin. However, it has secured $40 million from its project partner, Aurora Health Care.
- Marquette officials said their previous experience with Mortenson combined with the company's sports facility expertise — 170 such projects around the U.S. — were heavy influencers in their decision to hire the contractor.
Dive Insight:
Mortenson is currently at work on the new $540 million Milwaukee Bucks arena, completing the venue's first concrete pour earlier this month. The Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Center is the focal point of a 30-acre development that will offer restaurants, shopping, a practice arena, parking and other entertainment and event facilities.
The company is also beginning work — as a joint venture partner with Clark Construction — on the Golden State Warriors new $1 billion arena in San Francisco. The Warriors organization cleared their last hurdle in the California Supreme Court earlier this month when a last-ditch attempt to stop construction based on the project's environmental review was thrown out. Mortenson was also the contractor on the $1.1 billion Minnesota Vikings' U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
Another major Mortenson project with a significant research element is the $6 billion Destination Medical Center project in Rochester, MN. Mortenson has been selected to develop Discovery Square, the first phase of the 20-year project. The first of six "sub-districts," Discovery Square will include what Mayo has referred to as an "urban bioresearch campus," as well as research, commercial and private development space for Mayo and other private companies.