Completion is tentatively scheduled for July 2002.

What makes the project innovative is that it is being built with precast concrete components at a plant 175 miles from the construction site at 25% less than a stick-built, on-site project.

The contract price equates to $57.74 per sf. for the entire project. Construction industry sources familiar with comparable ventures tell GlobeSt.com an estimated $65 per sf ($15 million) would be the minimum going price for a project built and concrete-poured on site.

"Finfrock created a solution for us that provides the college with a mixed-use building on a schedule faster than we could achieve with conventional construction and at an affordable price," college president Paul R. Corts says in a prepared statement.

The cost savings are realized by having Finfrock manufacture the precast components at its Orlando plant and then truck them to the one-acre site on the south side of Downtown West Palm Beach for assembly by cranes and erection crews.

Finfrock's marketing vice president Glenn Valenta calls the project "the first of a kind built for a college in Florida." He tells GlobeSt.com the project opens "a new class of opportunities" for the 55-year-old, family-owned and operated company. "We envision a multitude of urban development opportunities in which parking and other uses are combined in a single structure by necessity due to the limited availability of land."

He says Finfrock's patented precast processes are especially adaptable to tight infill sites which prevent a large assemblage of construction materials and equipment.

Despite cutting costs for the client, Finfrock "still makes a profit" on their projects, Valenta tells GlobeSt.com. "We are already working on several other innovative projects."