Two and a half years after delivering the first phase of the Phoenix Convention Center expansion to the city, Hunt-Russell-Alvarado tri-venture wrapped up the second phase, on time and in budget — a month before the first scheduled convention in January.

For both buildings, the company served as construction manager at risk for the Hunt-Russell-Alvarado tri-venture. Atlanta, Ga.-based H.J. Russell Company is one of the country’s largest minority-owned construction firms, and Alvarado Construction, Denver, a woman-owned company. Kansas City, Mo.-based HOK Venue also designed Phase 2; the firm’s project architect was Jim Handley.

On 22 acres in downtown Phoenix, between Monroe and Washington streets and Second and Fifth streets, the expansion is a cooperative effort between the city and the state. In June 2003, The Arizona Legislature and then-Governor Napolitano approved $300 million for the project, matching the $300 million allocation approved by Phoenix voters two years earlier.

In total, the 1.9-million-square-foot expansion nearly triples the size of the prior campus — including rentable meeting/exhibit space and other amenities such as kitchens, food courts, conference centers, lecture halls and underground loading docks.

Approximately three times the Phase One square footage, the $380 million North Building (Phase 2) is, as with the West Building, four levels including the below-street exhibition hall. Again, following the initial phase, the new North Building incorporates two main structural components. Below street level, the structure is cast-in-place concrete. From street level up, the structure is long-span, high-bay structural steel with composite decks.

The square footage includes the 190,000-square-foot exhibition hall connected to Phase 1 below Third Street. Together, the two phases create 269,000 square feet of contiguous exhibition space below grade. The space is set up with a wireless infrastructure; the project incorporates fiber-optics throughout.         

At the street level are meeting rooms, totaling 47,000 square feet, a 47,000-square-foot ballroom, outdoor meeting space and gardens, a food court and a full-service kitchen. The conference-center level offers an additional 47,000 square feet of meeting rooms. The upper level contains a 190,000-square-foot exhibition hall, climate-controlled truck docks and a pedestrian bridge connecting to Phase 1.