E.W. Howell, one of the region's leading general contracting and construction management firms broke ground on its ninth construction project for the giant do-it-yourself retailer Lowe's. Staten Island Borough president James Molinaro joined E.W. Howell and Lowe's executives as the first shovelful of dirt was unearthed at 661 Veterans Road West in Staten Island. E.W. Howell vice president of business development Dominic Paparo Jr. made the announcement. "We are proud to be a valued partner with one of the largest home improvement retailers in the world," said Paparo. "Long term associations of the kind Howell enjoys with Lowe's are a hallmark of our success, and an objective in all of our relationships." The new building, which is slated to be completed in the late fall of 2010, will feature 117,000 s/f of retail space with an additional 22,000 s/f garden center. In addition to this latest project, E.W. Howell has constructed Lowe's stores in Garden City, N.Y., Brooklyn (Gowanus), NY, Union, N.J., Farmingdale, N.Y., Hicksville, N.Y., Clarkstown, N.Y., West Bay Shore, N.Y. and Stony Brook, N.Y. Howell is also under contract to build new stores in Brooklyn at Kings Plaza, and in Rosedale, Queens. E.W. Howell has carved a strong presence into the retail construction market, having constructed more than a dozen stores in the New York area for Target over the last decade, and recently built two Century 21 Department stores one in Rego Park, Queens and the other in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Other retail clients have included Costco Wholesale, Barnes & Noble, AMC Theaters. Having earned a reputation for expertise, integrity and reliability over the course of more than one hundred years in the business, E.W. Howell is one of the most respected construction firms working in the New York metropolitan region. With offices in Manhattan and on Long Island, E. W. Howell has a distinguished history of diverse, quality projects and satisfied customers in New York City's five boroughs, Long Island, Northern New Jersey, the Lower Hudson Valley and Southern Connecticut. For more information please visit www.ewhowell.com.