The New England Regional Council of Carpenters’ new headquarters in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood has been topped off.

Suffolk Construction Co. held an informal ceremony and was joined by representatives from the New England Regional Council of Carpenters, Boston-based architect ADD Inc, RDK Engineers, Goldstein-Milano Structural Engineering, the carpenter’s Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee and trade workers.

Suffolk has partnered with ADD Inc to convert the highly visible, abandoned two-story industrial building adjacent to Interstate 93 into a three-story office building and training facility. The completed 75,000-square-foot building will include union offices, a bank, an eye care center for union members, and an apprentice training/trade school that will train 2,000 students per year.

"Today’s topping off of steel erection by Capco Steel marks a significant milestone in the successful completion of this project," stated Chris Kaufmann, Suffolk’s project executive. "Our entire project team has been working diligently keeping this project on schedule, and we look forward to our next critical milestone-exterior façade closure and dry-in of the building."

The New England Regional Council of Carpenters said it has been looking for a site to accommodate a new headquarters facility for the past decade. Suffolk and its project team are on schedule to deliver the new facility in January 2010.