Combining a solid existing client relationship with pre-project coordination is saving months of time for the owner of a $53 million mixed-use construction venture that is the biggest project in the Village of Twin Oaks’ history.
Holland Construction Services (Holland) Project Executive Doug Weber says the work Holland is performing to transform the 11-acre site of a former grocery store into a retail and apartment development has been thoroughly orchestrated from the very start, thanks to the long-time relationship Holland shares with Haley Holdings Seven LLC, the project’s owner and developer. The location is at the southeast quadrant of Big Bend Boulevard and Highway 141, on the site of a former grocery store. The project entails transforming a former Schnucks grocery store into 219 luxury apartments and adding 17,000 square feet of new retail space to 25,600 square feet of existing retail.
Long before ground was broken on the project, Holland’s team carved out certain work packages to release them for bid ahead of time, saving the owner and the construction manager valuable time – and saving costs as well. The early work packages included earthwork/site utilities, mechanical/electrical/fire plumbing/fire protection, footings/foundations, structural framing, and building envelope.
“Having a longstanding relationship with Haley Holdings Seven and understanding the market enabled us to focus design efforts to establish early work packages to begin construction,” Weber said. “Firming up these critical details sooner than would have been done in a traditional construction project scenario gave us nearly a four-month head start. Most importantly, this allows key pieces of the project to be designed, priced, and contracts written which ultimately reduces risk on ownership and accelerates the project schedule.
Holland took many of the lessons learned from an earlier construction project – the Alinea luxury apartments at Interstate 270 and Manchester Road in Town & Country, Mo. – and applied them to the Twin Oaks project. Alinea was also a Holland partnership with developer Haley Holdings Seven.
Twin Oaks broke ground in July, but much of the coordination was completed months earlier, according to Weber and to Tim Breece, spokesman for Haley Holdings Seven.
“Holland Construction Services has been a great construction partner through the years,” said Breece. “Holland brings great expertise and knowledge about construction of multi-family projects to the table. Their pre-construction efforts, including project estimating and ultimately all the elements that lead up to the construction phase, have been synchronized extremely well. We find that they’re extremely professional in their approach. We’re pleased to have Holland Construction Services on our team.”
The $53 million construction project on what was known as Big Bend Square includes 4 floors of apartment units of up to three bedrooms located above one floor of ground floor retail, according to Holland. It is expected to be completed in 2018.
