Special Services Groups Fill Unique Niche

They say that big things come in small packages. That’s certainly the case for DPR’s Special Services Groups in Redwood City, Austin, Sacramento and San Diego, which have been facing big challenges - and scored some major successes - on smaller dollar volume projects.

DPR launched its first designated Special Services Group in Redwood City in late 1998, in part to service existing clients with smaller project needs and also to develop new business relationships with some of the numerous startup firms that have popped up in the Bay Area. Many of those start-ups have small but often technically challenging projects for which DPR is well suited.

In addition, DPR sought to dispel the perception among owners that it was only interested in larger jobs, according to Area Manager Mike Ballou. “We have done anything from $1,800 to $5 million,” he notes. “We can staff those projects and be successful.” So successful, in fact, that the Group far exceeded expectations in 1999, completing $30 million in work spanning 96 separate projects. The original goal was $20 million volume and 50 projects. During 2000, the Redwood City Special Services Group expects to perform $40 million in work.

While one measurement of the Group’s success is volume, another is the many satisfied clients it has cultivated. One prime success story is Sun Microsystems. Last year, the Special Services Group completed 32 individual projects for Sun, encompassing everything from lobby and laboratory renovations to a complete 30,000-sq.-ft. build-out. Sun was so satisfied with the relationship established that it requested the Group handle its $15 million, three-building Sunnyvale Campus expansion project. “It’s all based on relationships and it’s all about being flexible,” says Ballou.

In Austin, a Special Projects Group formed last fall has completed projects for Janus Mutual Funds, Southwest Airlines and Lucent Technologies and is actively pursuing the red-hot tenant improvement market in the region. One $50,000 job for Southwest at the Austin-Berstrom International Airport involved installing foundations, electrical work and coordinating the installation of a loading bridge that will allow passengers to load an airplane from both front and back - the first such project in the U.S.

While the price tags may be smaller than shell and core jobs, the challenges of these projects certainly measure up. Austin Project Manager Daphne Faulkner says one of the biggest hurdles is “finding personnel who are multi-talented and can multi-task.” Field personnel have much more contact with owners than those on larger projects; they often must interact with multiple tenants occupying space around the specific interior they are building out. “The challenge is finding people who are very versatile and owner sensitive,” she comments.

The need to handle multiple projects simultaneously requires a special kind of superintendent, engineer or project manager, according to Ballou. “It’s not like a $10 million project where you’re working on that one project for a year. With these small ones, you’re usually juggling four or five at once.” And most of the projects are fast tracked build-outs, with schedules that leave little room for error.

Speaking of fast track, one of DPR Sacramento’s small projects includes a kiddy roller coaster foundation for Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo, Calif. According to DPR’s Brad DesJardin, the Sacramento office has been taking on smaller projects for such clients as Six Flags, Apple Computer, E*TRADE and Genentech over the last several years but just recently formalized a dedicated group of 12 professionals for these special projects.

DPR’s Ken Worthen in San Diego added that the Special Services Group also provides younger engineers and superintendents the opportunity to assume a much bigger role on a job than they would have on a larger project.

For owners, the Groups provide the same high standards of quality and safety that they have come to expect on any DPR job. Faulkner says, “They are excited to know that DPR has the forces to do smaller remodel jobs, projects that they never would have considered us for before.”