News
DOCTOR'S ORDERS: CONSTRUCTION
August 17, 2011
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| 1st/3rd Photos: Jessica Frankl |
| What’s driving IBEX Construction’s business today? Stethoscopes and schoolbooks, CEO Andy Frankl told us when we visited his Midtown offices recently. The major hospitals will continue to grow their specialty practices, especially as people age, which necessitates more construction, he says. Currently, IBEX is providing a gut rehab for Mount Sinai Medical Center’s rehab and physical therapy center, which “looked like a sanatorium… so I see it as rehabilitating the rehab” he says, making the interior look equal to the high-quality care patients receive there. IBEX also built a new 7,100 SF sleep center for Weill Cornell Medical College, making it look like a W Hotel, Andy says. (It’s certainly easier to sleep with a mint on your pillow.) |
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| Harry Potter would be proud of one of IBEX’s latest: the 200k SF Claremont Prep School at 25 Broadway. There’s a critical need for private schools in New York City, like Claremont, Andy says. It’s a historic building, so the firm had to carefully remove two floors of the building in order to fit in classrooms, administrative offices, a basketball court, swimming pool, a cafeteria and theater. (We think some of the Potter-esque magic would have come in handy there.) In addition to private schools, the firm’s seeking construction opportunities in casinos, hotels, restaurants, banks, and high-end office projects. |
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| Meanwhile, the office sector, though slow, is starting to show some signs of life, says Andy, looking over some blueprints with IBEX colleagues. Buildings are being recycled and renovated as the office market heats up, like its newest project at JPMorgan Chase’s Park Avenue HQ. IBEX has also completed many retail projects nationally, including stores for Nordstrom and retailers like REI, Ascot Chang, London Jewelers, Gant, and H. Stern. This month, it finished a build out of Swatch’s brand new store at 666 Fifth Ave. |
