JW Marriott construction crews pour a floor a week

The Grand Rapids skyline is changing at a quickening pace, as construction crews on the JW Marriott recently started pouring the concrete floors at a rate of nearly one a week. The distinctive glass shell that will reflect the Grand River and cityscape will soon follow, becoming visible on lower floors in the coming weeks.

Construction crews have custom built a “coreform self climber” that raises itself on six hydraulic jacks as it pours concrete floors. Those floors now reach 13 stories high, about two floors below the central shaft upon which the climb is connected. (The central shaft will eventually contain the hotel’s elevators and stairwells.) The basic shape of the 24-floor structure should be complete by mid November.

The glass, which attaches to the structure, must be installed by crane. But that crane gets heavy use throughout the week for other tasks. Still, the site superintendent expects the full glass casing to be completed by mid December, heralding a radical transformation of the city’s skyline.

Rockford Construction and Pepper Construction have teamed up on the $100 million Alticor project. The 340-room, 24-story elite hotel is scheduled to open in fall 2007 as a compliment to Alticor’s nearby Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, DeVos Place Convention Center and the Van Andel Arena. Both the convention center and the arena will be connected by skywalks to the new hotel.

The hotel will also feature a restaurant, lounge, pool and exercise facilities and a business center. An adjacent 750-space parking structure, which recently had its concrete foundation pour started, will also be built just south of the hotel.

Source: Michael VanGessel, President , Rockford Construction Company, Inc.; Jeff McLennand, senior superintendent, Pepper Construction