Wharton-Smith, Inc. is the Construction Manager proudly serving the School District of Osceola County, Florida in the new construction of the Knightsbridge K-8 Relief Main Package that will be located on Poinciana Blvd., north of Old Tampa Highway, Kissimmee, Florida. This project consists of a 145,000SF +/- New 3 story Kindergarten through 8th Grade school with Gymnasium, Cafeteria/Assembly, Media Center, Classrooms, Labs/Science Demonstrations, Locker Rooms, Administration, and utility/support rooms. The building is concrete tilt panel and steel, with thermoplastic membrane roofing over lightweight concrete. This project also includes outdoors sports fields (football, track, basketball courts), a concessions/restroom building and all supporting site construction (parking lots, sidewalks, driveways, curbs/gutters, etc.) encompassing roughly 58 acres. The project includes all Disciplines/CSI Divisions, from 02 Existing Conditions through 33 Utilities. Question Deadline 01/05/2023 at 5:00 PM ET Please submit RFIs to comest@whartonsmith.com. Do not contact the Architect or Owner for information on this project. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The School District of Osceola County has plans to add a new K-8 school near St. Cloud. Documents submitted to the county by the district propose a school on land at 2080 Indianola Road. An entity connected to Fort Lauderdale-based BTI Partners and Connecticut-based Westport Capital Partners owns the 262.2 acres of land, and it was not listed in documents how much of that the district would use. BTI Partners has plans for a master-planned community called Edgewater West, which would have 3,624 residential units (both single and multifamily) over 1,185 acres of land. Plans for the community include a school campus which would serve the new residents and the district would likely be either given or sold the land. The school's application includes multiple options for consideration on planning, including a two-story, 148,472-square-foot option and a three-story, 143,625-square-foot option with an attached 17,302-square-foot gymnasium. The project is being reviewed by Osceola County as part of a pre-application process. Representatives with the district were not immediately available. The new school comes as Osceola County has seen population growth over the past decade, from 268,685 residents in 2010 to 388,656 in 2020. In response to that growth the district has a new K-5 school in the Celebration Island Village community set to open in August 2023, two K-8 schools set to open in August 2024 (Sunbridge and Knightsbridge), two more K-8 schools in 2025 and a high school in 2026. The district often works with its local county and city governments, as well as residential developers, to coordinate where schools may be needed in the future. The School District of Osceola County has more than 69,000 students and 7,300 employees. It is the largest employer in Osceola County, according to Orlando Business Journal research. American Institute of Architects Chief Economist Kermit Baker wrote that while commercial construction spending is expected to drop in 2024 and industrial construction in the U.S. is only expected to have a modest rise, institutional construction is expected to be the leader for growth in the nonresidential building market. "The 4% expected growth [in institutional construction] for 2023 is projected to fall only modestly to just below 4% for 2024," Baker wrote. "The two key pillars of the institutional market – health care and education – are both projected to have relatively healthy years with growth in health care spending slowing modestly to 3.2%, and education accelerating to 4.6%."
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