DPR Completes Retailer’s New 150,000-sq.-ft. Corporate Headquarters in Aggressive 13 Weeks, Delivering One Week Ahead of Schedule

When Ross Stores, Inc., the second-largest off-price apparel retailer in the United States, called upon DPR to renovate an existing space for the company’s new corporate headquarters, the team was faced with extraordinary technical and scheduling challenges. The 150,000-sq.-ft tenant improvement, which included considerable structural work and the conversion of office space into a data center, needed to achieve substantial completion within 14 weeks to meet a July 5 move-in date.

Further complicating the project were the coordination requirements inherent to working in an occupied building. Located on Rosewood Drive at CarrAmerica Corporate Center in Pleasanton, CA, the project involved demolition, structural upgrades, a 3,000-sq.-ft. raised-floor data center buildout with full Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) backup, and interior improvements on four floors of the existing five-floor building—all while PeopleSoft maintained operations on the first floor.

“At any given time, we had more than 300 trades people on site, tackling four floors at a time and working around tenant spaces to ensure business continuity,” said Mark Whiley of DPR. “The infrastructure for the data center was also particularly challenging, since the space was not originally designed for the floor-to-ceiling heights necessary for a data center with a raised floor on the second floor. The overhead air distribution had to be modified, and we resequenced activities to keep the project moving forward while the space was re-engineered for two weeks.”

The conversion also required the installation of all new electrical systems—without shutting down existing operations—and a raised floor to house Computer Room Air Conditioning (CRAC) units and cabling. To accommodate the additional weight from the raised floor and equipment, DPR completed structural reinforcement to the second floor and temporarily relocated PeopleSoft employees to another section of the building.

“It took great tact and competence to balance the needs and demands of Ross, CarrAmerica and PeopleSoft and still make them all feel good about the result in the end,” wrote Edward D. Pike, president of the Edward Pike Company that served as the project’s construction manager in a letter to DPR. “I would have to say that Mike Humphrey, Mark Whiley, John Eberhard and Eddie Taituha compose the strongest construction team that I have worked with on any project in 25 years in the business. Congratulations on achieving substantial completion a week early.”

Mike Humphrey of DPR credits the entire project team for the early completion of the aggressive, complex job. To expedite the delivery process, the team, including the owner and architect, IA Interior Architects, committed to a 24-hour turnaround on Requests for Information (RFIs) and 72 hours for submittals. Daily conference calls were also held, with various team members on the line, to review outstanding RFIs and submittals, as well as discuss general project issues.

“Spending a short time on the phone every morning to discuss the project as a group really saved overall back-and-forth communication time and kept us aligned throughout the project,” said Humphrey. “If there was an issue, it would be brought up on the call, resolved sometime during the day, and the next morning there would be closure. It was a powerful process.”

The project was also completed without an incident, helping to maintain DPR’s stellar safety record—one of the best in the country. In fact, in late April, about halfway through the project, a California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) compliance officer inspected the site and told the superintendent that he had never walked a site in better condition and had such a great amount of documentation produced for him on site on the day of inspection.