[dropcap style=”letter” size=”52″ bg_color=”#ffffff” txt_color=”#000000″]T[/dropcap]he multi-family housing sector has been booming and shows no signs of slowing down. Coordinating the continuous flurry of building activity between the various entities involved – the commercial real estate developer, the design-builder, and several contractors – is quite a juggling act, but recently two apartment projects in St. Louis benefited from an especially coordinated effort.
Saving time and money on projects is not only a company goal for The UP Companies (UPCO); it’s also an advantage passed on to its customers. The commercial real estate developer and design-builder responsible for the Ceylon complex in Clayton, Mo., and Citizen Park in St. Louis contracted with both Power UP Electrical Contractors and Square UP Builders.
“By utilizing the combined services of Power UP and Square UP on each project, we were able to bring office and field efficiencies that saved the customer both time and money amidst a very busy construction market with a peaking demand for resources,” explains Michael Kennedy, Jr., owner of UPCO. “This is what we call ‘The UP-Side Advantage.’ The developer was so pleased with our performance and the savings they experienced on the first project, Citizen Park, that they contracted with us for the second project, Ceylon.”
As part of The UP Companies family, Power UP and Square UP were able to offer a litany of efficiencies when customers choose to contract with both entities such as reduced overhead markups for administrative and management time; shared safety inspections and job hazard analysis costs; reduced layout costs; combined deliveries from a single warehouse; tool and equipment sharing; direct coordination between foremen and crews, plus reduced field logistics and material handling expenses.
Power UP Electrical Contractors was the design/build electrical contractor on both projects, which included power, lighting, data, fire alarm and audio/visual installation. Square UP provided finish carpentry services on Citizen Park and framing, finish carpentry and all building exteriors on Ceylon.
Since the Citizen Park and Ceylon projects were design/build, Power UP worked directly with the owner and general contractor to select the lighting fixtures. The majority of apartment unit and lobby decorative lighting fixtures were selected by the owner and general contractor’s architects and purchased by Power UP.
The majority of common area lighting fixtures (i.e. parking garage, corridors) was chosen and purchased by Power UP, which relied on lighting manufacturers’ representative agency Lighting Associates for most of the common area lighting selections. All of the lighting fixtures were purchased through Graybar Electric.
Citizen Park is a 218-unit luxury apartment building at Lindell Boulevard and Euclid Avenue in St. Louis’ Central West End neighborhood. The $68 million, 12-story development includes a four-story parking garage and commercial space on the ground floor and features penthouses, upscale apartments, and a third-floor deck with grills, fire pits, plus a pool and fitness center. The monthly rent for the apartments ranges between $1,300-$5,000.
Ceylon is a six-story, 120-unit residential and retail development in the downtown business district of Clayton. It has two levels of underground parking and two amenity decks for residents, who have access to a club and game room, commercial-grade kitchen for entertaining, conference room, outdoor grill, and fire pit. There is also a state-of-the-art fitness room, 24-hour package lockers in the mail room, a Starbucks coffee bar, and video-enabled building access technology.
Both projects were completed with UPCO meeting or exceeding the minimum requirements of 25 percent minorities and 5 percent women on each project. Square UP averaged more than 20 carpenters on the sites at a time, while Power Up employed nearly 30 electricians on the job sites.
