Burbank, Calif.— Klorman Construction has been selected to be the design/build contractor for a 1,234-stall parking structure for the new 7-story Empire Center office tower in Burbank.

The company recently started building the 403,000-square-foot post-tensioned, moment-frame parking structure. The 6-level structure — which will service Higgins Development Partners' 364,000-square-foot office building at 2300 Empire Center — is expected to be completed in December.

Higgins Development's $130-million office tower is the last piece of the Empire Center, a 105-acre master-planned retail, hotel and office project near Bob Hope Airport. Already major retail anchors include Target, Lowe's Home Improvement, Costco, Best Buy, and Staples, among others. The office building is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2009. The parking structure will be built over a 10-foot-deep soil cap, designed to isolate contaminants left over from Lockheed Aircraft Co.'s long manufacturing history at the site.

Given its proximity to Burbank Airport, the parking structure design will accommodate the Federal Aviation Administration's imposed 75-foot height restriction.