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BKV Group Releases Look Book and Project Profile Collections
BKV Group released two, new captivating collections – our Look Books and Project Profiles – which we’ve packaged and released together the first week of 2021.
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525 South Wabash Avenue Spotlight in Chicago Tribune
BKV Group was featured in the Chicago Tribune with our proposed 525 South Wabash project in the Near South Side of Chicago now being in the planned development phase of design, marking a huge leap forward for our firm’s footprint in Chicago.
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Bisnow Showcases Cotton Annex
BKV Group is reviving and redeveloping the historic Cotton Annex property in southwest DC. This adaptive reuse project will rehabilitate the existing structure and add 370,000 SF of new construction to the site, plus an apartment building.
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The Aspen: A Case Study on Light Gauge Steel Construction
Watch the short film about our project, The Aspen, which showcases the return on investment our client saw with regards to sustainability, efficiency, and cost yielded by the light gauge steel process The Aspen was constructed with.
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Landmark Touts New Brunswick in SHB
We’re proud to see our student housing project, The Standard at New Brunswick, be featured in the latest issue of Student Housing Business. Cheers to our developer partner, Landmark Properties, for promoting this fantastic project.
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Project Update: Ingham County
Our Ingham County project made substantial progress in tearing down their old jail facility, with BKV Group replacing it with a new justice center complex featuring a new jail, sheriff’s department, administration offices, and district court facilities along with 410 beds. Opening in mid-2023, read more about this project in the Lansing State Journal.
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Anthology of Simsbury Named Finalist in 2020 SHN Awards
In the 2020 Senior Housing News Architecture & Design Awards, our Anthology of Simsbury project was named a Finalist nominee in the Assisted Living category.
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Project Update: Landmark on Grand River / Newman Lofts
Located across from the Michigan State University campus in downtown East Lansing, this completed project is one part student living (Landmark on Grand River), and one part active adult (Newman Lofts), with both buildings being positioned as market-rate residences.
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Elaine Fitzgerald Featured in PROSOCO
Chicago Senior Project Specifier and Senior Associate, Elaine Fitzgerald, was featured in construction product manufacturer, PROSOCO’s, social feed in November, addressing the biggest changes she’s seen in the field since the start of her career.
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Ramsey Fire Station #2 in Firehouse Magazine
In the latest Firehouse Supplement issue, BKV Group was pleased to see our Ramsey Fire Station #2 shown on the cover (completed March 2016). In addition to its exemplary design, this project is an energy-efficient facility featuring three drive-through apparatus bays.
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Project Update: The Majestic
Once standing as one of Milwaukee’s finest theaters in the early 1900s, The Majestic and is now being renovated by BKV Group into a luxury apartment building, featuring a two-story clubroom with vibrant colors and eclectic patterns, and a secret speakeasy leading.
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Project Update: Wright County Tactical Training Facility
A joint effort between Wright County and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Wright County Tactical Training Facility was recently completed, providing a modern facility for training and operations and housing 21,000 SF of 911 dispatch stations, offices, an emergency operations center, backup data center, training rooms, and an indoor and outdoor firing range. BKV Group was
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Project Update: Grand Casino Corporate Offices
The project establishes a new, open-concept design for the office interior, reflective of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Native American Indian Tribe’s desire to look to the future while embracing their past.
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Project Update: Georgia Southern University Cottage Row Student Housing
Cottage Row Student Housing is a renovation project and a first impression of campus for many students, so the BKV design team focused on creating a colorful portal, designing it with natural greenery, woven lighting, and incorporating a two-story lobby connector space where all programs converge.
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CCA Minneapolis Wins MNCREW Celebration Award
MNCREW virtually hosted its annual Celebration Awards, with our City Club Apartments LLC CBD Minneapolis project receiving the 2020 Excellence in Design Award! BKV Group would like to congratulate our team which included CCA Design, Frana Companies, Odeh Engineers, and the City of Minneapolis who worked together to establish a first-of-its-kind, mixed-use environment in downtown Minneapolis.
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Presenting to the Industry About Designing for Change
Dallas Director of Architecture and Associate Partner, Sam Watkins, and Minneapolis Project Manager and Associate Partner, Susan Morgan both spoke to the COTE measure Design for Change as part of AIA Dallas’s Design Excellence summit, with the virtual session hosted by BKV Group Architectural Designer in Dallas, Joe Iglesias.
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Union Flats Wins Environmental Impact Award
At November’s Minnesota Brownsfield Rescape Awards, our Union Flats project was recognized as an exemplary development for its high levels of innovation in sustainability and restoration, earning a 2020 Environmental Impact Award in the Large Projects category.
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Site Tour at Beckert’s Park
In DC’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, BKV Group is putting the finishing touches on Beckert’s Park – a 5-story, 325-unit luxury apartment community above a new ground-floor Safeway. The development has a setback penthouse for residential use and amenity space, with the grocery anchoring the first level and underground parking.
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Project Update: Circle Pines City Hall
In Minnesota, Circle Pines received CARES Act funding, and our design team quickly completed a project to update their work space, delivering an environment that allows city staff to have clear sight lines and flexibility for shared service responsibility for prompt service delivery.
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Chris Palkowitsch Speaks to Safer and More Habitable Senior Living Environments
Safely distancing from his fellow panelists, BKV Group Partner and subject matter expert, Chris Palkowitsch was featured in MN Minnesota Real Estate Journal Annual Senior Housing Summit today, speaking about making senior living more safe and habitable – now, and in the future.
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Project Update: Legends of Berry
BKV Group has recently finished designing a new, walkable/bikeable senior living community just outside downtown offering 241 affordable units, access to rivers and trails, and an immense courtyard that’s complemented by modern furnishing and a full suite of amenities on the interior.
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Ebrahim Shemshadian Co-Authors Study in ASCE Practice Periodical
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) publishes monthly studies in their Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction journal. Ebrahim Shemshadian, Structural EIT based in Minneapolis, co-authored a recent paper which investigates the use of advanced manufacturing techniques for intermeshed steel connections.
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Project Update: City Club Apartments Cleveland
Four decades after the Hippodrome Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio was demolished, in its place will rise CCA Cleveland which carefully balances spectacle with the functional.
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Project Update: Mississippi Crossings
This two-phase development features market-rate apartment-style units, community amenity space, and street-level walk-up units within a highly landscaped, park-like setting overlooking the Mississippi River.
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Project Update: Flair Tower
An awe-inspiring renovation located in the heart of Chicago, Flair Tower presents a subtle elegance by bringing in artistic art deco elements and bright, vibrant colors. This transformed apartment building now features a newly renovated clubroom and extensive outdoor roof deck capturing the great views of downtown Chicago.
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Angel Valtierra in Arquitectos
In October, Senior Project Architect, Angel Valtierra, was featured by Arquitectos (The Society of Hispanic Professional Architects) in their #hispanicheritagemonth social media campaign spotlighting members and their professional backgrounds and contributions to their firms. Congratulations, Angel!
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Project Update: City Club Apartments Crossroads
This newly completed CCA project in Kansas City is National Association of Home Builders Green Building Certified and is complemented by a 24/7 concierge, terrace club and sky park, rooftop restaurant and bar, rooftop outdoor pool, hot tub, club room with gourmet kitchen, fitness facility, enclosed bike storage, and private bark park.
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Project Update: 3700 American Boulevard
This project embraces creative placemaking, environmental awareness, sustainability, quality of life, safety, and comfort. With experiential connections to the light rail transit and bus transit systems, this project provides market-rate apartments with 37 affordable units, helping Bloomington meet its demand of 319 deep subsidy units.
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Project Update: Brookings County Detention Center
BKV Group has been working with Brookings County in South Dakota for the last four years to address their long-term jail and justice planning needs. In mid-October, a groundbreaking was held, with the on-budget project slated for completion in spring 2022.
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Project Update: University of North Dallas Waterview Parkway
In Texas, our reach from downtown Dallas is extending to the outer rim of the city where we are designing a three-parcel, five-story project near The University of Texas at Dallas campus. The multifaceted development will feature 247 market-rate units and 800 beds along with a business center, amenity deck, and courtyard space.
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Duffey Lofts Begins Construction in North Loop
Our much anticipated Duffey Lofts project has begun construction, recreating a former paper company’s warehouse buildings into a 200-unit residential project featuring 20,000 square feet of retail space along historic Washington Avenue in Minneapolis, adding to the rich context of the North Loop neighborhood.
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Henry Pittner’s Thought Leadership Piece Published in Firehouse Magazine
Partner and Senior Project Manager, Henry Pittner, authored “Station Construction: Budgeting for Soft Costs” in the October 2020 issue of Firehouse Magazine. In the article, Henry explains how to thoroughly break down hard costs, owner contingencies, and soft costs to prepare clients and trade partners to answer the difficult questions about a project’s budget.
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DBJ Awards Modera Katy Trail
Our building footprint in Dallas is expanding, led by a project the Dallas Business Journal named as one of the Best Real Estate Deals for Urban Multifamily category. Located directly off Katy Trail in uptown Dallas, the under-construction Modera Katy Trail is a 395,000 SF, 14-story residential project that uses light gauge steel construction.
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BKV Wins Big at 2020 MREJ Real Estate Awards
Minnesota Real Estate Journal’s Real Estate Awards honored three BKV Group projects – Union Flats (Affordable Housing), City Club Apartments LLC Minneapolis CBD (Urban Multifamily), and The Legends of Woodbury (Senior Housing). We are proud of our design team members for creating best-in-class projects across a dynamic range of scales and project types. Congrats!
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Project Update: Dinkytown Redevelopment
Many developers are still seeing a demand for student housing, and flagship developments like our Dinkytown project we’re partnered with CA Ventures on is moving toward a possible 2021 construction start in rezoning a former McDonald’s property into a seven-story, 308-unit apartment building with 27,000+ square feet of commercial space.
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Navigating Through a Pandemic: Celebrating Our CA Team
For National Construction Appreciation Week, we are recognizing our outstanding Construction Administration team, and learning from them the safe and effective best practices for team communication and project site coordination in the age of COVID-19.
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Navigating Through a Pandemic: Celebrating Our IT Team
For National Information Technology Professional’s Day, we are recognizing our outstanding IT team members for the initiatives they spearheaded prior to and during COVID-19 to allow our staff to remain as productive and connected as possible whether in the office, at home, or through a hybrid working style.
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BKV Group Soft Opening Update
While the pandemic has been challenging for all of us, we’ve also come together in many positive ways. Read how BKV Group is implementing a Soft Opening for staff and clients, and what lessons we’ve learned along our road to reentry.
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Our Fifth Practice Site in Hanoi, Vietnam
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Joan Sizemore Joins the Dallas Office of BKV Group as Director of Interior Design
Joan will spearhead the growth of the interior design team in Dallas as it undertakes more complex, nationwide projects in the housing, hospitality, and corporate/commercial sectors. Joan brings her experience with dynamic hospitality brands to our firm, in addition to an equally deep list of clients within market-rate and multifamily, workplace and commercial, and museum and art galleries.
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A New Development Precedent with One Southdale Place
The Star Tribune recently focused on luxury apartments being adjacent to shopping centers, detailing the ease of access to dining, fitness, retail, and more these mixed-use residences provide. The article featured our One Southdale Place project as their case study, stating that developments like it have become a win-win-win strategy for the trio of stakeholders.
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Le Sueur County Justice Center Receives Fanfare in Finance & Commerce
Finance & Commerce released their annual Top Projects issue, with BKV Group having three projects featured. One of these included the new Le Sueur County Justice Center which entailed replacing a 1912 jail with a modern-day justice center housing booking areas, holding cells, a library, fitness room, classroom, and medical facility.
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Archinect Showcases Piazza Terminal Leading the Way for Development in Philadelphia
Archinect details the surge of development occurring in the Philadelphia area, spotlighting our under construction Piazza Terminal project adjacent to the Delaware River, Schmidt’s Common Plaza, and Girard Station. The 935,000 SF development will provide residential and retail space, and seamlessly incorporate a pedestrian experience to connect to the larger Germantown Ave neighborhood.
See Full PostBKV Group Launches Refreshed Website
We invite you to visit our rebranded website where we hope our work, our story, and our expertise can begin – and extend – conversations with clients and project partners, while informing the world about the unique capabilities and experiences BKV Group has to offer. Cheers!
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New Normal
In response to COVID-19, BKV Group has moved to staff working remotely from home where we will continue to provide our design services while protecting the health of our colleagues, families, and communities.
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Paris Affordable Housing Challenge
France is 800,000 to 1 million units short on housing and BKV Group submitted a design solution for the city of Paris to Architecture Competitions // Bee Breeders that is both sustainable and modular, while also preserving the historic fabric of the city.
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Project Update: Parham Road Senior Living Building
Our in-progress Parham Road Senior Living Building’s architecture is inspired by the Colonial/Georgian style, with a focus on symmetry and use of brick and ornamentation. The design is further enhanced with projected bays that include balconies, along with red brick featuring decorative herring bone and Flemish bond panels to add to the overall visual interest.
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Project Update: City Club Apartments Lafayette Park
City Club Apartments Lafayette Park is a mixed-use, high-rise redevelopment in Detroit, featuring a vibrant, textural, and eclectic interior design concept with references that are distinctively Detroit. The 411,000-square-foot building skillfully resolves being closely adjacent to other structures while providing added space in the pedestrian realm and allowing green space to come forward.
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Tracey Bush, RID, Joins the Dallas Office of BKV Group as Director of Business Development
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Welcoming Ron Butler and Jeff Swanson as Senior Designer and Senior Project Manager in Dallas
Both will help lead the development group in Dallas office in undertaking more complex, nationwide projects in the market-rate housing, student housing, commercial, and hospitality sectors.
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World Landscape Architecture Month
In April, BKV Group wants to recognize the great work our in-house landscape architecture experts do to enhance the communities we serve.
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Welcoming New Partner in Chicago, Robert Muller
As the managing partner of the development group in Chicago, Rob will provide design, marketing, client relationship, and internal leadership to the entire practice site, collaborating with our local contingency of studio experts.
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Welcoming New Director of Landscape Architecture, Jeff Johnston
As Director of Landscape Architecture, Jeff brings a well-rounded design aesthetic and a new layer of expertise that will integrate seamlessly with the development and government work Dallas currently leads.
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A Five-Fold Case for The Penfield: How A Blighted, Historic Block Become Valuable and Desirable
How a transformational project preserved the historic Saint Paul Public Safety Building, resulting in an underutilized block and stalled development becoming a success story.
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Welcoming New Associate Partner, Susan Morgan
Susan will begin to rebuild our Education and Library sectors by translating BKV Group’s deep experience in collaboration, learning, and communal spaces into education design.
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BKV Group at the 2019 Station Design Conference
As a Platinum Sponsor at this year’s SDC in Illinois, BKV Group is an active contributor to the conference through networking events, presentation sessions, and releasing a new, client-focused film.
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Welcoming New Associate Partner, Chris Sachse
By joining the Chicago office, Chris will establish best practices for his architectural team members, integrate improved technologies into daily work flow, and conduct research into new, innovative building materials to incorporate into our projects.
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Quoting Kelly Naylor and Megan Van Beck in Student Housing Business
Kelly Naylor, Partner, and Megan Van Beck, Senior Associate, were quoted in the March/April issue of Student Housing Business magazine about recent interior design trends that impact student housing residences. Naylor and Van Beck were sources for the article, “Maturing Style,” which described shifting tastes among Generation Z students.
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Doing Our Part for #IWD2019
Annually, #InternationalWomensDay encourages action, and to align with that message, BKVGroup asked select voices around our firm to describe a piece of literature that’s inspired or motivated them to improve themselves, or their world.
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Revitalizing an Entirely Blighted City Block
In a part of Minneapolis where few historically significant buildings still stand today, Millworks Lofts stands out as a unique historic adaptive reuse project which was just honored with a 2019 AIA Minnesota Preservation Award.
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Announcing 240 Park Avenue
The high-rise, multi-family residence has an impactful urban presence with the design pulled back at the street edges to provide added space in the pedestrian realm, allowing green space to come forward, and creating a welcoming retail experience within Minneapolis’s emerging East Town neighborhood.
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Building The Vertical Sustainable City
BKV Group’s inaugural submission to the eVolo Skyscraper Competition creates an architectural depiction of what the future of housing might look like.
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Competing in IIDA’s Stitch
Our Chicago office is participating in Stitch, a local competition in which design firms collaborate with product and manufacturer representatives to create haute couture in preparation for a spring fashion show.
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Welcoming New Associate Partner, Paul Andresino
As a facilitator of the profession of architecture, Paul, AIA, will leverage his 30 years of experience in delivering successful projects and mentoring and managing staff in his new role as Associate Partner and Director of Architecture in Washington, D.C.
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Launching Our Texas Office
BKV Group will open our firm’s fourth office in Dallas, Texas in Adolphus Tower in downtown Dallas. Vibrant and expanding, Dallas provides the platform for BKV Group to grow their urban and high-rise design specialties, while offering innovative pre-development services.
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Celebrating the Fridley Civic Campus Grand Opening
BKV Group celebrated the grand opening of the Civic Campus in Fridley, Minnesota alongside Mayor Scott Lund and community development director Scott Hickok. The 184,000 square-foot campus was conceived as a “City Center” – a nexus point situated in the heart of Fridley on a 38-acre property.
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Quoting Kelly Naylor in Multifamily Executive Magazine
Kelly Naylor was quoted in Multifamily Executive Magazine about the popularity of repurposing former industrial buildings in modern housing and mixed-use architecture. She spoke about choices she and the design team made in the creative reuse of the Schmidt Artist Lofts, formerly known as the Schmidt Brewery in St. Paul shown here.
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Winning Gold in Firehouse Magazine’s Annual Station Design Awards
Short Pump Fire House 19 in Henrico, County, Virginia was announced by Firehouse Magazine as a Gold Award winner in the 2018 Station Design Awards. The design took top honors in the satellite station category.
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