Mixed-Use Construction Demands a Different Level of Pre-Planning
Mixed-use projects succeed or fail based on how well they are planned before construction begins. Here are a few insights on how to plan a project.
Construction strategies
Commerical Construction Best Practices: Why Pre-construction Planning Determines Project Success
Most schedule disruptions, cost overruns, and coordination issues in commercial construction can be traced back to decisions made before construction begins. For construction directors managing complex projects, disciplined preconstruction planning is where successful outcomes take shape. The projects that run the smoothest rarely get that way by accident. Long before crews mobilize, key decisions around […]
3 Construction Strategies for Senior Community Housing Renovation Projects
As noted in January’s Hard Hat Chat post about commercial real estate trends shaping Englewood’s work in the year ahead, we expect 2018 will maintain the same strong momentum we’ve recently experienced working with owners and operators to update existing senior communities. What’s driving the uptick in renovation and remodeling activity in this sector? For […]
New Ideas for Old Shopping Malls: 3 Ways Retail Developers are Remixing the Shopping Center Experience
Coming out of the International Council of Shopping Centers’ RECon convention in Las Vegas last month, there’s been a lot of conversation in the media around the future of retail development. One topic I find particularly interesting is the discussion on different ways developers are reimagining existing shopping centers, especially in the wake of shifting […]
Commercial Construction Project Management: Managing What You Don’t Control
I wouldn’t go so far as to call myself a control freak, but as a national general contractor, it’s part of the job description to be the one calling the shots and telling everyone what to do on a complex commercial construction project. However, from time to time, we have to manage things that are […]
Commercial Construction Trends: The Highs and Lows of 2016
With December here, it’s time for our annual post reviewing some of the positives – as well as a few of the challenges – that shaped the commercial construction business in the past year. Here’s a look at our top 2016 commercial construction “highs” and “lows”: Low: Mall Retail Tenants Choose Local over National As a […]
Commercial Construction 2017 Trends and Predictions
Rounding the corner into the final weeks of 2016, it’s time for our annual post predicting the commercial construction trends that will influence the industry in the coming year. Looking back at the past 12 months, we’ve seen a tremendous variety of opportunities ranging from restaurant construction to senior housing development, yet there has been […]
Commercial Construction Trends: Why More Clients Are Choosing the Design-Assist Model
Anyone who reads this blog regularly probably already knows I’m a huge proponent of client partnerships that bring the general contractor into the commercial construction planning process as early as possible. Rather than a competitive bid scenario, where clients choose a commercial construction firm based solely on their estimated costs, we prefer to be brought […]
3 Keys to Finishing a Commercial Construction Project on Time
Leading up to the start of the Olympic Games earlier this month, one of the main story lines revolved around the question of “Will Rio be ready?” Before the 2016 Games opened, media coverage showed crews in Rio de Janeiro putting finishing touches on new-construction Olympic facilities, and reporters speculated whether venues and the athletes […]
Managing from the Mother Ship: How a National Commercial Contractor Operates
The other day I was talking with a Chicago-area client who didn’t realize Englewood is a national general contractor that manages national commercial construction projects across the country. He asked me, “You only have offices in Chicago, right? So how does that work?” I was happy to have this conversation because at Englewood, working on […]