O.C. Firm in Japan: Though real estate...
O.C. Firm in Japan: Though real estate development is scarce in Southern California now, Japan is keeping Austin Co. busy with construction projects.
The Japanese Ministry of Construction last month awarded a consortium of two Japanese contractors and Austin’s western district office in Santa Ana a $337-million contract to construct research, training and housing facilities for the National Olympics Memorial Youth Center in Tokyo. The facility will be used by athletes training for the Olympics.
The consortium beat out eight other groups competing for the project, which includes a nine-story, 116,000-square-foot conference center and housing complex and a four-story, 5,900-square-foot building with additional housing units. Construction is scheduled to begin in late February.
Way back in 1985, when the U.S. construction industry was thriving, the company nonetheless set a goal of winning projects in Japan.
Austin Co., based in Cleveland, has won four other projects in Japan. Its other work there includes an air cargo terminal and baggage handling system at Kansai International Airport at Osaka, a 796,000-square-foot wing of the Asia and Pacific Trade Center, also in Osaka, and the main passenger terminal at the New Hiroshima International Airport. All the projects are partnerships or consortiums with Japanese companies.
