Koll Co. San Diego Division’s Projects Backlog $200 Million

With foundation work under way for the Omni San Diego hotel in Horton Plaza, the construction value of current projects of Koll Construction Co.’s San Diego division now exceeds $100 million--with an additional backlog of more than $110 million.

“Five years ago we were doing $15 million,” Bill Miller, Koll division senior vice president, said.

He explained that his division benefits from the fact that its home territory, San Diego, is being seen as an alternative to booming Orange County.

About 90% of Koll’s contracts are negotiated rather than obtained through the traditional bidding process. Miller said Koll prefers to supervise a project from design through construction. Generally, when bids are solicited, the design is already completed

The Omni hotel, which has a construction value of more than $30 million, is part of the redevelopment at Horton Plaza, a retail, restaurant and entertainment complex in downtown San Diego. It is scheduled for completion in July, 1987.

The hotel is being developed by Py-Vavra Development Inc. of Milwaukee, Wis., and Orlando, Fla., in association with the Centre City Development Corp., a public nonprofit corporation administering redevelopment in downtown San Diego.