Hunter Roberts
Construction Group
A Passion to Exceed
By Jan Wilson
“Hunter Roberts considers itself a big small company,” says James McKenna, president and CEO.
“The world has changed a lot in the last three years, but we have never changed— we will always have a passion to exceed our clients’ objectives.”
In only six and a half years, the firm has built a portfolio of projects in varied market segments including education, healthcare, interiors, residential, commercial, and the public sector. Part of the strength of the firm is the vast network of relationships and pertinent project experience which senior executives developed and maintained throughout their careers.
“We spend an exhaustive amount of time building partnerships and working with clients,” says Robert Barbera, Senior Vice President. “We value maintaining relationships, which helps us anticipate our clients’ needs and understand the marketplace better.”
Great service in a Service Business
From the pre-construction phase until the final closeout, Hunter Roberts takes customer service seriously. “We provide great service in what is essentially a service business,” says Derek McGovern, Executive Vice President.
The firm, with headquarters in New York, and offices in New Jersey and Philadelphia, employs about 270 people, and has grown by 15 percent over the past year. “We will continue to hire the right people as they become available,” says McKenna. “There is plenty of work here and we are looking for the right kind of talent.”
As a relatively new company, the firm offers its professionals great opportunity for growth. “People know they can grow their careers here,” says Joan Gerner, Executive Vice President. “Hunter Roberts is a young company who has attracted a great deal of talent; we are a new, progressive, entrepreneurial firm, with a great deal of passion.”
Differentiating itself through a focus on safety, diversity and sustainability has paid dividends as well. Hunter Roberts “Incident & Injury Free” safety initiative is an innovative program designed to eliminate danger at construction sites through a highly personalized approach. “The way we manage safety is a radical departure from training programs of the past, and we hope it will combat the risks associated with our industry,” Andrew D. Amico, VP, Director of Business Development.
The firm’s safety program has employees focus on their personal lives and the personal lives of their associates in the aim that it will make them less likely to act in an unsafe manner and more likely to speak up if they see others acting unsafely. The firm has been honored by the <b>General Building Contractors of New York<b> for its impressive safety record.
Hunter Roberts is also quickly becoming one of the industry’s leading green builders. “Our team members identify all green options and materials during the pre-construction phase, and use the information to develop a Green Action Plan, which comprehensively manages all documentation required as part of the LEED application submittal,” says Barbera. The firm currently employs 26 LEED accredited professionals. Hunter Roberts is working on 18 projects that are seeking LEED certification. These jobs span a variety of market sectors and include hotels, schools, luxury residential buildings, and commercial spaces. Of this list, five jobs are Gold Certified and six are Silver Certified.
In performing design/build services for the Philadelphia Housing Authority at the Mantua Square development, Hunter Roberts was able to incorporate solar panels and a rainwater-harvesting system on the roof which will use that water to irrigate the development’s green space. The development received the Bronze 2010 Commonwealth Award, given by the 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania organization.
Hunter Roberts is committed to diversity among its own staff and the subcontractors on its projects. “For several clients, the ability to increase minority and female participation is paramount,” says McGovern. “At Avon and MTV, having that diversity in place was an essential element of the job.”
For Avon, its current headquarters move means managing a tight budget and schedule, seeking LEED Gold certification, and, at the same time, honoring the company’s long-standing commitment to increasing opportunities for women. “We had 17 percent female participation on that project,” says McGovern. “This included ironworkers, laborers, electricians and plumbers, not just more of the traditionally female-oriented trades such as wall covering, blinds, and painting.”
At MTV, a broadcast facilities and interiors build out completed in 2008; the Hunter Roberts project team included an average of 7 percent tradeswomen, almost twice the federal guidelines.
It is the company’s emphasis on excellent service that has led to its boasting high percentage of repeat clients, including Beth Israel Hospital, JP Morgan, CBS, Reed Smith, the New York City School Construction Authority, Robin Hood Foundation, and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York. “Over 70 percent of our clients have worked with us before,” says McGovern. “Trust is paramount in this business, and we have earned our clients’ trust.”
An Experienced Leadership Team
Hunter Roberts has a leadership team with experience going back decades. “We have great depth in our senior management,” says McKenna. This individual expertise is leveraged to draw Hunter Roberts into new market segments, such as historic preservation work. “Joan Gerner compiled an impressive body of this work before joining Hunter Roberts, and our portfolio of these types of projects continues to grow,” says McKenna.
Hunter Roberts’ core business approach—making the right decisions on projects to benefit its clients—is key to its success even during economically challenging times. “Companies know that we will offer creative solutions that will benefit them far beyond the cost of our services,” says D’Amico. The firm’s market segments are organized in the following manner:
• Healthcare – Public, Private and Life Sciences (which includes laboratories and research projects)
• Education – Higher Education, K-12, Charter, K-12, Public
• Public – Federal, State/City, Transportation
• Hospitality
• Residential – Rental, Condominiums, Student Housing
• Interiors
• Commercial
• Mission Critical – Data Centers
• Sports Stadiums/Facilities
• Preservation/Cultural
• Transportation – Rail and Aviation
All about partnerships
Hunter Roberts believes in partnerships with all of its constituencies. “Whether it is with contractors, owners, or developers, we believe in partnering with our colleagues to get the job done,” says D’Amico. In an effort to have a more efficient partnership with subcontractors, the firm employs a stringent method of making sure that they are qualified for projects. “We are approached by hundreds of potential subs and vendors in the course of a year,” says Barbera. “We are careful to pre-qualify all vendors before assigning them to a project.”
Under the pre-qualification process, “We have the subs fill out a very thorough proprietary subcontract form and we rigorously review their capabilities to perform specific types of projects,” he says. Under the open book contracting method, “the owner works with us to evaluate and interview the pre-qualified list of subs from their own experience and the ones we recommend. The hiring decision is then a joint effort.” Once the subs undergo the rigorous pre-qualification process they are placed on Hunter Roberts’ approved sub list.
When Hunter Roberts solicits a project out to bid, projects are awarded after a review of three equally important criteria:
• Is the firm completely qualified and experienced in this project type and do they fully comprehend the scope of work?
• Do they have the manpower to take on this assignment and complete it with the team they presented in their proposal?
• Are they a financially sound firm, with healthy balance sheets and a competitive price compared to the market-place for the scope of work defined?
The firm also will partner with other project team members in creative ways.
A Trusted Advisor
“Experience is what gets Hunter Roberts a ‘seat at the first table,’” says McKenna. “We can come in at the beginning of a project because the client sees us as a trusted advisor. This allows us the opportunity to share our knowledge and experience in constructability, estimating and scheduling, and cost control with the entire design team and the client’s project team. This positively impacts the project before design documents, specifications and construction documents are finalized, thereby saving significant costs while at the same time improving the overall quality of the project.”
Hunter Roberts has built this kind of relationship with the Robin Hood Foundation, through its work on the Crown Heights Charter School. “Robin Hood was looking at five different sites and we were able to give them expert advice on what it would take to build on each site, so that they could make the best decision,” says James.“As general contractor, we commented on the design from Day 1.”
Of a long-standing client, CBS, McGovern says that “much of what gets done happens after we have given them our advice. The firm not only looks at how the project gets built, but also how space needs work with the company’s strategy. “It’s all about the quality of information we give our clients—we take the time to listen and evaluate all the way down the line,” says McGovern. Recent projects for CBS include general contracting services for CBS College Sports, WCBS 880, and CBS/Showtime.
At Bloomfield College, Hunter Roberts was servicing a client whose project was potentially slipping behind schedule. “We came in to manage the project, replacing the previous construction manager,” says Barbera. “There was a huge challenge of establishing new relationships with the subcontractors while still completing the facility in the heart of the school’s campus on time.” Hunter Roberts also helped the owner reconcile and successfully negotiate several existing change orders with the general contractor.
When St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital wanted to build a Cancer Center in Newburgh, Hunter Roberts needed to work diligently to begin construction on time. The permitting on the project was difficult, which the firm handled by expediting the process itself. “We also increased communication and expanded weekly meetings, because the construction was part of an active facility,” says McKenna. Hunter Roberts is currently working on five separate projects at the hospital funded under the Healthcare Efficiency and Affordability Law.
Civic Builders was founded as a developer of non-profits, and their team had a great deal of experience in finance but none in construction management. So, when they started work on the Harlem Village Academy, they were dismayed to find that there was a problem with putting in the foundation. “The subsurface conditions were nothing like the drawings or what the test borings indicated,” says McKenna. “Immediately there were six or seven change orders, potentially running into the millions of dollars. We came in and remedied the problem [and saved the client a hefty sum of money.]” The school, scheduled to be completed in January 2012, is planning to achieve a LEED rating. Due to its work at Harlem Village, Civic later awarded a contract for preconstruction management services at the Pave Academy Charter School in Red Hook to the firm.
The Best Of Both Worlds
Although the last few years have created a low price mentality in construction, the firm has a good backlog of projects. “Our clients appreciate value and understand that our fees are a small part of the overall cost of a project,” says McKenna.
He says the firm’s clients get the ‘best of both worlds’ because the firm is competitive on a lump sum basis while at the same time is a very professional, creative company. “Construction managers are responsible for getting costs in line, no matter what the market sector,” says Gerner, “but what the client appreciates is having a construction manager that can think outside of the box.”
Hunter Roberts performs as both a General Contractor and a Construction Manager (“C.M.”). As a Construction Manager, Hunter Roberts, as the constructor, operates under the terms and conditions of a guaranteed maximum contract, as well as the guidelines of a cost plus agreement. Other types of C.M. agreements include representing the Owner in an Agent role, where a separate General Contractor is responsible to perform the actual construction work, hiring and managing the trades and vendors.
Each approach has different advantages depending on client needs and capabilities, schedule, site constraints, and cost considerations. The firm often finds clients focused on cost plus or GMP arrangements when time to construction start is critical, in which an open book and team-oriented approach is most appropriate. The firm may be in the construction phases for foundations while interiors are still being completed more times than not; sometimes even as a Design-Builder. Hunter Roberts typically performs Lump Sum contracts in the public arena, where competitive bids on completed documentation is required.“Regardless of the approach, flexibility is critical in helping our clients to achieve and surpass their goals,” says McKenna.
As an example of a key cost saving measure, the firm does an analysis when reviewing a project’s drawings so they can tell the client what is missing upfront, to avoid the ‘gotchas’ at the end.
A Healthcare Focus
Just a few years ago, Hunter Roberts did very few healthcare projects, but that has all changed. “Now probably 40 percent of our revenue comes from healthcare,” says McKenna. Hunter Roberts has 15 senior executives working in the healthcare sector.
The firm is working on a modernization project at Gouverneur Hospital, for the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation. “This project is divided into three primary areas of work—renovation of the existing building, mechanical infrastructure upgrades and developing a new facility,” says McKenna. “The challenge is the construction phasing required in the 24/7 fully occupied facility.” Departments receiving renovations include pediatrics, medicine, imaging and dental, and the new building will house surgery and OB/GYN, among other departments. The new building is 100,000 SF while the interior renovation work is 300,000 SF. Construction is scheduled to be completed in 2013. The firm also has a contract to perform modernization and rehabilitation of HHC facilities throughout the five boroughs on an as-needed basis.
Hunter Roberts is providing pre-construction and construction management services to Kennedy Health System for multiple projects at their Washington Township, Stratford and Cherry Hill, NJ campuses, including emergency rooms, ICUs, surgical suits, same day surgery areas and MRI fit-outs.
For Catholic Health Services of Long Island’s St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn, NY the firm is renovating an operating room, emergency department and a cardiac catheterization lab. “Phasing of these projects is critical so that there is a seamless transition between the functioning facility and the newly improved department,” says McKenna. The firm also provided construction management services for Mercy Medical Center’s construction of a stand-alone fire pump building.
Other key healthcare projects include:
• Construction management services for various projects at Mt. Sinai Medical Center and Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, including work on procedure rooms, laboratories and offices, totaling over 500,000 SF
• Construction management services for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centers in locations including Commack and Harrison NY, and Basking Ridge, NJ
Education Expertise
In addition to its K-12 work, Hunter Roberts has a strong foothold in higher education, particularly in the Southern New Jersey/Philadelphia area, and part of its strategic vision is growing that business in New York City.
At PS/IS 264 in Brooklyn, three old buildings had to be demolished, 1,000 tons of contaminated soil and above and below ground oil storage tanks had to be removed for the complex project to proceed. Hunter Roberts is performing construction management services for the New York City School Construction Authority on the project, where the foundation system for the new building will include the installation of dozens of 50-ton capacity micro piles, pile caps, grade beams and foundation walls.
In a high rise condominium tower in New York, Hunter Roberts is performing construction management services for Forest City Ratner for the interior fit out of the 120,000 SF Beekman School, a new public school. “A major challenge is getting this project ready while construction of the condos goes on above us,” says D’Amico. The five-story school is slated for completion in Fall 2011 and includes a gym, auditorium, kitchen and classrooms.
Other public school projects in New York include:
• PS 29, in Queens, where Hunter Roberts will be construction manager on a multi-phased project that includes demolition, a new addition, and the renovation of several parts of the existing 62,000 SF school. The project’s scheduled completion is 2012.
• PS/IS 281, in Manhattan, where Hunter Roberts will construct a new out-of-the-ground 103,000 SF school to be completed in 2012.
In the higher education arena, the firm has provided construction and pre-construction services for Fiterman Hall, part of the Borough of Manhattan Community College’s campus. The 400,000 SF building will house an art gallery, classrooms, assembly rooms and libraries. “These clients needed the structure to be completed on a very aggressive schedule, so we spent 18 months on pre-construction activities to get everything in order and allow for a smoother construction process,” says McKenna. The project will be completed in 2012.
Erecting a structure in the heart of a college campus is a major challenge for any builder. For the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center, Hunter Roberts’ staff was able to develop a site logistics and utilization plan, working closely with the university’s facilities team. “People needed to have access around the construction and into all of the adjacent buildings,” says D’Amico. “Our team designed and built a series of boardwalks, ramps and cantilevered bridges to facilitate that.” The 51,000 SF building, which includes broadcast studios, offices and conference space, was completed in 2009.
Other higher education projects include:
• Temple University School of Art, a three story, 255,000 SF structure completed in 2008. The firm provided construction management services.
• Camden County College Science and Classroom Building, a three-story, 114,000 SF building that includes laboratory space and surgical suite.
• As owners’ representative, the firm is working on a 1,500-bed apartment style dormitory project on Rutgers University’s Livingston Campus.
The Office Interiors And Residential Markets
“There’s a lot of opportunity in interiors because of new churn in the marketplace including a ‘flight to quality.’ Corporations are realizing that the terms for new leases and the costs of construction/renovation may never be better than they are now so they are aggressively seeking to restack/upgrade or relocate their facilities,” says McGovern. “We have a number of clients now looking for 500,000 SF or more of space and we are consulting with them on cost and schedule issues,” McGovern says. “This bodes well for our firm and the construction industry in the near term and the real estate market in general.”
When Reed Smith built out space in 2007, Hunter Roberts acted as construction manager, and created with the architect hold dimensions for all finishes. “Virtually every surface was millwork, glass or stainless steel so there was very little margin for error on the project—in most cases 1/16 of an inch of tolerance at most,” says McGovern. “We made sure the project was done correctly by constant site walkthroughs together with a zero-defect policy.”
Hunter Roberts provided construction management services to Jones Day for the renovation of almost 95,000 SF of existing built-out space, which included a high-end cosmetic redesign of some areas. The project was completed last year.
Other major interiors projects include:
• Construction management services for Avon Products, Inc., a 275,000 SF interior fitout of floors 2-12 and a partial basement. The new space is slated to achieve a minimum LEED Gold Certification.
• Construction management services for the interior/infrastructure demolition of a large New York bank’s corporate offices, totaling 635,000 SF.
• Acting as general contractor on a relocation of BBC Worldwide from 747 Third Avenue to 1120 Avenue of the Americas; a 47,000 SF space.
• FBN Holding’s offices fit-out in 2009.
Hunter Roberts acted as an ‘at risk’ contractor holding all subcontracts and maintaining full responsibility for the completion of 122 Greenwich Avenue, an 11- story, 35 unit, 58,000 SF luxury residential condominium. “We had to construct a deep caisson foundation system spanning over the A and C subway lines with a permanent vibration isolation system so that the building would remain absolutely still,” says McKenna. The building also features curved concrete slabs that align with a custom field-assembled curtain wall system creating one of the most unique façades in the West Village.
188 Ludlow Street, a 243-unit residential building, for which Hunter Roberts acted as construction manager, also needed to mitigate vibration from the subway lines below. This involved engineering, manufacturing and construction of isolation spring assemblies in the foundation of the building. Another challenge was the coordination with Con Edison to receive, handle, and set the Con Edison Vaults located on Ludlow Street, which was challenging due to the size of the vaults and their adjacencies to the crane used to erect 188 Ludlow. “We helped the developer price the cost of the credit expected by the developer, Edison Properties, from Con Edison under the same agreement,” says McKenna.
The firm acted as construction manager for the 150,000 SF Surrey Hotel in Manhattan, which includes 190 hotel rooms, a private English rooftop garden, a bar and a restaurant.
Other Major Projects
Hunter Roberts acted as construction manager for the 26,000 seat <b>Red Bull New York Arena<b> in Harrison, NJ, completing the project in 2010.
The firm completed construction management services for the New York Jets Corporate Headquarters and Training Facility in Florham Park, NJ in 2008. The 15-acre site houses a 218,000 SF two-story campus building.
Pre-construction services were provided to JPMorgan Chase to upgrade mechanical and electrical systems to its 2,155,000 SF building at 1 Chase Plaza. The project was completed in 2010.
Future Vision
Hunter Roberts’ executives believe that the healthcare market will continue to grow in the tri-state area and Philadelphia due to “aging demographics and the need to renovate and upgrade facilities in response to advances in technology,” says McKenna. Healthcare firms will also take advantage of grants available under the Health Care Efficiency and Affordability Law (HEAL) of New York State.
Another area of growth is in the renovation and restoration of historic projects, an area in which Gerner has decades of expertise. For instance, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Harvey Theater Seat Replacement Project will be a renovation of the existing 880-seat audience chamber. The project will be funded, in part, by New York City agencies such as the Department of Design and Construction (DDC) or the Economic Development Corporation (EDC).
Hotels are also becoming more of a focus of the firm, and it is currently performing construction management services for a new hotel in midtown Manhattan. The work includes the demolition of the current structure, to be replaced by a new 29-story, 133,000 SF hotel facility with roughly 250 guestrooms.
“In all market sectors, clients appreciate the value that Hunter Roberts brings to the project through our advice, expertise and experience,” says McKenna. “We like to stay below the radar, but clients know how much value we add, and that’s what counts.”_
