McCarthy Building grows JoCo presence with $300M in projects awarded

Five years after restarting its presence in the Kansas City construction market, McCarthy Building Companies is touting over $300 million in business booked in Johnson County and a full-time staff of 40 employees. 

McCarthy's largest KC-area project to date is the $267 million Tomahawk Creek Wastewater Treatment Facility expansion. As the Construction Manager at Risk for the project, McCarthy is overseeing demolition of the existing facility at 107th and Lee Boulevard in Leawood and providing construction services for a new plant that almost triples existing capacity. Delivery is set for 2021.

The project represents an unexpected growth opportunity in public infrastructure for the St. Louis-based contractor that averages more than $3 billion a year in business. When McCarthy re-entered the KC market in 2013 after a five-year hiatus, its goal was to build on its traditionally strong markets of health care, education, and advanced technology and manufacturing.

“Those are the three markets we targeted, but we have found our way into both the municipal and water/wastewater markets,” said Barry Sutherland, who leads business development for McCarthy’s local office. “As a national contractor, we have the ability to offer robust service to deliver a project on budget and on schedule. We help clients think through ways to meet their budget and work to build trust early.”

Additional recent public projects include design-build services for Merriam’s new $30 million 66,000-square-foot aquatic and community center, as well as construction of Johnson County’s new $16.5 million, 32,500-square-foot facility to house medical examiner operations.

Steve Meuschke, McCarthy's vice president of KC operations, said his team plans to build on the recent string of local government projects while continuing to chase McCarthy’s traditional bread-and-butter markets.

“There’s a lot of work out there,” Meuschke said. “I think clients are now spending money that they weren’t willing to spend in the past. That’s just how the economy is right now. All the markets are very active.”

Lenexa's The District mixed-use offers case study on cold-formed steel construction

Construction has hit the midway point for the multifamily portion of The District at City Center, a mixed-use project that adds luxury apartments, retail and office space to the Lenexa City Center development area at 87th Street Parkway and Renner Boulevard. 

The multifamily portion of The District includes 175 units and serves as the region’s first suburban apartment-over-retail project constructed of cold-formed steel. General Contractor Haren Laughlin Construction (HLC) is touting the benefits of the product, which uses prefabricated steel studs to shorten construction times and eliminate on-site labor while improving fire safety during construction and throughout the life of the building.

“The owners wanted to build something that they could sustain for longer than what a wood structure is going to give you, so they brought us to the table and we put together a proposal and really dove into what it was going to take - the parts and pieces - to get this built,” said Matt Fisher, pre-construction manager for HLC. 

HLC, along with design partner Klover Architects, met with potential subcontractors and chose Dahmer Contracting Group led by Dusty Dahmer because its bid was the most competitive and cost efficient. By using an "off-the-shelf" metal stud system, Dahmer said his team was able to tighten the margins so the project made financial sense for co-developers Copaken Brooks and EPC Real Estate Group. 

“The difference between wood and metal framing used to be a bigger spread, and the market’s gotten so much more efficient, so now the difference is a lot smaller,” Dahmer said. “There was a steep learning curve at the beginning of the project, but now we are cruising." 

Reuben Hamman, HLC project manager, said steel framing makes for a safer and cleaner construction site.

“It’s a lot safer product to install because everything we are building is off of a slab, so we are not three stories in the air in a multifamily area swinging stuff around,” Hamman said. “On the job site, it’s just metal and concrete, so there’s not much to clean up. The waste has been minimized and everything we do throw away is recyclable.”

Because cold-formed steel is still more expensive than wood, it isn’t likely to overtake traditional wood framing, but HLC Vice President Jeff Wasinger believes there’s plenty of potential for growth in higher-end multifamily construction.

“We think for a small premium, apartment developers get a longer lasting, better quality, safer structure,” Wasinger said. “The end result is going to be above everyone’s expectations.”

In additional to luxury residential apartments, The District adds 45,000 square feet of office and 35,000 square feet of retail space to the existing 800,000-square feet of developed space at Lenexa City Center. 

The full project team includes EPC Real Estate Group and Copaken Brooks, co-developers; Klover Architects, architect; Studio A Architecture, residential consultant; BSE, structural engineer; Latimer Sommers & Associates, mechanical design; Phelps Engineering, civil engineer- private; and GBA Architects + Engineers, civil engineering- public. John Coe and Ryan Biery of Copaken Brooks are handling the leasing for the District. 

Teamwork and expertise prove good medicine for SMMC project timeline

Shawnee Mission Medical Center has opened the city’s largest hybrid operating room, a fast-tracked project that converted an outdated clinical area into a 3,550-square foot surgical space equipped with the latest advanced imaging equipment and technology.

Built by general contractor United Excel and designed by health care architecture firm Pulse Design Group, the new multidisciplinary operating room allows health care professionals from different specialties to treat patients undergoing minimally-invasive heart and vascular surgeries in the same location. Procedures will include Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacements (TAVR), electrophysiology, vascular procedures and cardiac catheterization.

Most of the construction took place after normal business hours to meet an expedited project timeline and to minimize disruptions to patients and ongoing operations. It was a challenge that United Excel was prepared to meet.

“It’s so different from building a big box store or standalone construction because there are birthing mothers and even NICU patients right next to us.” said United Excel Project Manager Lucy Campbell. “Adjacent areas remained active during hospital hours and during off hours. If someone was admitted for an emergency surgery, we had to stop what we were doing but still maintain the construction schedule.”

United Excel built a shell around the construction space to limit harmful fumes, dust, vibration and noise. Once the hybrid OR was completed and equipment installed within the shell, crews performed a thorough terminal cleaning to ensure the space was 100 percent sterile.

“We built a whole room around the space in which we were going to be working, so you are building twice, basically,” said United Excel President Dennis Burns. “Those in health care construction understand how important infection control is. If you don’t do health care construction, then you may not be aware of how important that piece is.”

Architectural details included a flexible floor plan that was developed and vetted by nurses and physicians with the aid of virtual reality, custom solid surface casework provided by Shield, and an elevated control desk for optimal patient viewing. The advanced room design allows for a patient to transition from an interventional catheter-based procedure to a surgical procedure without being transported to another setting.

“Our firm has designed hybrid operating rooms for numerous clients, but the new hybrid operating room at Shawnee Mission Medical Center is by far the most spacious and technologically advanced. It sets the highest standards for future hybrid operating rooms,” said Pulse Design Group Principal Rick Embers.

Greg Highbarger, SMH design and construction manager, agreed that the complexities of the hybrid operating room project-- including a September-to-January timeline-- provided challenges.

“...the synergy of our design and construction partners defused any concerns that our project would not be completed on time and under budget,” Highbarger said in a release. “The success of our new state-of-the-art hybrid operating room is a testament to having the right expertise at each phase of the project.”

The project team included: Professional Engineering Consultants (PEC), P1 Group, Capital Electric, Allied Construction Services, Shield Casework, and Jayhawk Fire Sprinkler Co. Medical equipment was provided by Steris, Phillips, Biosense Webster, GE, Drager, Siemens, & Sorin.

United Excel built an actual infection control barrier during construction of Shawnee Mission Medical Center's Hybrid OR. The wall blends visually into the adjacent hallway.

Burns & McDonnell pumps up design-build presence with veteran hire

Burns & McDonnell is aiming for a bigger slice of the Kansas City commercial construction market, hiring KC architecture and design veteran Trevor Hoiland to lead its growing commercial design-build team.

In the newly created position of Design Manager, Hoiland brings 20 years of experience designing some of Kansas City’s most visible projects, including the world headquarters of H&R Block and AMC Entertainment.

“My world has been the corporate office environment and office campus master plans. I think now as I'm designing, it is a faster speed-to-market that I find intriguing,” Hoiland said. “Adding engineering and construction to the whole process really makes a lot of sense to me.”

According to Burns & McDonnell Senior Vice President Mike Fenske, having the entire team under one roof saves time and money while boosting collaboration, creativity and productivity.

“Our integrated design-build method is attracting top talent in our industry, like Trevor, because they are passionate about working on a project from concept to completion,” Fenske said. “This approach, common in the era of master builders a century ago, is now disruptive to tradition.”

Hoiland plans to bring a unique “inside out” conceptual design approach to a wide range of commercial projects within Burns & Mac's Global Facilities Group, from office to multifamily and even industrial facilities.

“The ultimate is to create something that we don’t know we need or want-- and finding those things in projects is what gets me excited,” Hoiland said.

Veteran KC architect Trevor Hoiland will help Burns & McDonnell boost its design-build presence. 

Five minutes with JE Dunn MW President Paul Neidlein

Paul Neidlein stepped into the role of Midwest region president for JE Dunn Construction on January 1. The 22-year veteran of the Kansas City construction industry succeeded Dirk Schafer, who retired from Kansas City's top construction company in December. 

MetroWire Media caught up with Neidlein to take his pulse on the 2018 market and beyond:

MWM: What do you expect from the market in the next 18-24 months?

Neidlein: We feel good about 2018. In Kansas City, as well as in every market that we have an office, the arrow is pointed straight up. It will be a record year and 2019 will be as well. I'm not smart enough to predict after that.

MWM: Where does JE Dunn see the most short-term growth potential?

Neidlein: We feel bullish about federal work because we have done a fair amount of it, and JE Dunn has even started a separate federal group to manage those projects. Government facilities are a growth area for us. Part of that is strategic from a diversity standpoint because public work can help balance things out when the corporate side slows down. Anything and everything related to health care has been steady, including medical office. 

MWM: Historically, public projects have been JE Dunn's bread and butter. Do you expect that to continue?

Neidlein: Public projects remain a leading area for us. We still think there is a fairly large program being planned in Missouri with construction of state prisons and county jails. Municipal work on civic centers and community centers still looks pretty positive for us too.

MWM: What do you see as a market headwind?

Neidlein: There is a healthy skepticism about how long this boom is going to last. We will see major players get into trouble and get overextended. It goes back to the capacity side of things. Creditworthiness becomes more important when you think everything is good. 

MWM: What is the impact of all this activity on the trade contractors?

Neidlein: Contractor supply and workforce issues are real. The biggest issue is the capacity of individual companies and labor and what that does to pricing and availability.