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Skanska USA, a unit of Swedish construction giant Skanska AB, is no stranger to big projects. In the past decade, the Parsippany company has repaired bridges, renovated airline terminals while they were operating, rehabilitated a bustling Queens subway terminal and built a stadium for professional football's New England Patriots.
But Skanska's latest project may be its biggest and most challenging yet.
Last month, the United Nations chose Skanska to execute the organization's $1.88 billion capital master plan. It is the first significant renovation of the complex since it opened in 1952.
The plan was approved for one purpose: to renovate the iconic U.N. headquarters, which comprises six buildings on 17 acres with a total of 2.6 million square feet. The work is expected to be completed in 2014.
"From the company's perspective, this is a positive project to be associated with," said Steven Pressler, executive vice president and area general manager of New York for Skanska USA. "We're very honored to be picked for it. As we are a worldwide company, this is a validation that the rest of the world can see a project that we're doing."
The push to renovate the U.N.'s complex is more than a decade overdue. Much of the proposed construction is needed to bring the buildings up to code. Driving the project is the need to install sprinkler systems in all the buildings and to remove asbestos, said Pressler.
When the complex first opened, it was considered to be state of the art, said Michael Adlerstein, the U.S. executive director of the U.N. plan. But now, "many of the moving parts, like the mechanical systems, are antiques," he said. "They need to be...