More than a year ago, Trammell Crow Corporate Services rolled out a program for one of its customers in the eastern half of the U.S. The vision was to streamline project delivery, including leveraging national buying power for increased cost savings and reducing the number of service providers to enhance consistency.

The company requested proposals from architects and general contractors to identify those who offer the “optimum mix of quality, service, cost and diversity.” The result, on the general contractor side alone, was a decrease from 211 contractors to a total of six.

As one of six providers for one of the nation’s largest financial institutions, DPR currently has some 60 projects in preconstruction or under construction from Texas to Georgia to Maryland and has been collaborating with other contractors and architects to create a more efficient process.

On DPR’s first job in Dallas, the team was commended for recovered savings. The 3,000-sq.-ft. project, which wrapped up in early 2003, included conversion of a coin-sorting room to a bill-sorting room. During demolition, crews found loose change beneath the rubber base. “Knowing how high security is, we collected all of the change and turned it over. All in all, it was only about $20, but the customer appreciated the extra effort, and we all joked about the ‘savings on the job’,” said Jay Darwish of DPR.

Since that first job, DPR has completed 90 projects in Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and McAllen and currently has more than 20 projects underway in various stages throughout Texas. One of the biggest challenges is the quick schedules that can be difficult to manage with so many going at one time. To save time, teams have standardized a majority of the submittals to speed up the administrative side on repetitive projects.

In Virginia, where DPR has more than 12 projects simultaneously under construction, DPR’s Brian Brezozsky said that some advantages to having a contractor on board for multiple projects are:

More consistent quality control—Teams have the opportunity to make comparisons project by project and implement innovative solutions across projects to provide a higher degree of service.

Ability to leverage subcontractor services—Projects are packaged in groups of 3 and 10 for increased efficiency and better fees.

Savings through a commodity purchasing program—Materials consistent across the projects, such as fixtures or millwork, are purchased for all projects at one time.

For example, DPR is procuring light fixtures, mechanical equipment, paint, drywall, and ceiling grid/tile through national purchasing accounts on a commodity basis of mass purchasing to save the customer money on the front end.

“Since the beginning, Trammell Crow has created a collaborative environment, allowing us to do what we do best—build buildings and help our other team members be successful,” said Andy Andres of DPR in Atlanta.