NATIONAL CITY, CA Sundt Construction, Inc., along with the Southwestern Community College District and Johnson Favaro Architects, celebrated the groundbreaking of a new two-story building at Southwestern College's Higher Education Center at National City, near San Diego.

The event brought together South Bay officials and college administrators, faculty and students to commemorate the start of construction of the new 20,000-square-foot building, designed to meet the space and academic needs of the school's growing population.

Sundt was selected as the Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) for the $22.3 million project, which will expand course sections and programs for more than 3,400 students who enroll in the center annually. The expansion includes new, modern classrooms, biology and chemistry laboratory spaces, a teaching clinic and laboratory spaces for the center's medical office professions, and medical lab technology programs.

The center expected to be complete in early 2018 will also feature a 90-person community facility and be home to the college's Small Business Development Center and Contract Opportunities Center offices.

Sundt's work on Southwestern College's Higher Education Center further enhances the general contractor's presence in California as a leader in education and laboratory construction. Other notable Sundt community college projects completed across the state include the Business, Math & Computing Center at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, the Center for Media and Performing Arts buildingfor San Diego City College in San Diego, and the Library/Learning Resource Center and Central Quad at San Diego Miramar College in San Diego.