Hopkins hires Skanska for St. Petersburg building

In one of the largest new commercial construction contracts of the year along the Gulf Coast, Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital has retained contractor Skanska USA for a major new research and education building.

The seven-story building, now under construction within the hospital's St. Petersburg campus, is slated for completion in 2018. It will house 200 workers and faculty when completed, and house research for the hospital's pediatric heart, cancer and blood disorder, fetal and neonatal institutes; brain protection sciences center; and a 250-seat auditorium.

As part of its $62.7 million contract with the hospital, Skanska is expected to hire 300 construction workers.

The new building, whose land was donated in 2014 by the University of South Florida, comes amid a wave of redevelopment at the hospital's St. Petersburg's campus since 2010.

“Ultimately, Skanska was determined to be the best construction group for us based on the strength of their onsite team and the depth of their experience,” says Johns Hopkins All Children's Chief Operating Officer Roberta Alessi.

The project marks the latest in a significant line for Skanska in the region. In addition to the hospital, the company — a subsidiary of a Stockholm-based construction firm that generated more than $7 billion in revenue last year — is building the nearly 1,400-foot St. Petersburg Municipal Pier, the $122 million main passenger terminal at Tampa International Airport, and a new eight-story patient tower at the Golisano Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida, which is part of the Lee Memorial Hospital System in Fort Myers.