Hunter Roberts

Fleet footed┬áIn less than four years Hunter Roberts has become a significant player in the Northeast construction market, thanks to some nimble footwork, as Alan T Swaby learns. In the world of real estate, they say that location is everything. So despite any short-term difficulties brought on by the current economic turmoil, a residential project on the New Jersey waterfront, just a few minutes from Wall Street and the World Finance Center, is likely to weather the storm.The $400 million twin tower Hudson Greene project is one of the largest undertaken by Hunter Roberts Construction Group, which is not altogether surprising seeing that the firm has been in existence only since 2004 yet is already 14th-largest among New Jersey construction companies. Last year it had revenues of less than $300 million but a staggering $775 million on its order book.Such a meteoric rise is testament to the man behind Hunter Roberts. Bob Fee has spent a lifetime in construction, working his way up through the ranks at Turner Construction until assuming the role of president and COO in 1998. In 2003 Fee retired, but he hardly had the chance to get his golf clubs dirty before turning his attention once more to the construction industry. He recognized the need for an additional construction management firm to service the Northeast corridor of the United States, and in 2004 he founded the Hunter Roberts Construction Group, where he serves as chairman, surrounded by handpicked managers with a similar lust for business excellence. The company attracted an initial $75 million in private funds and has $750 million bonding capacity.In this short period of time, Hunter Roberts has made its mark across virtually the entire spectrum of construction projects. The New York Jets and New York Yankees both have Hunter Roberts on site. The Hilton Hotel in Charlotte is being renovated by HR. Countless educational facilities from elementary schools to universities are on the client list, as are some of the most prestigious names in healthcare. There is even a very active corporate interiors division tackling projects as diverse as the Empire State Building and MTVÔÇÖs headquarters.Which brings us back to Hudson Greene, one of a dozen or more projects in and around New York City. ItÔÇÖs not often that the adjective ÔÇ£nimbleÔÇØ springs to mind when talking about construction companies, yet this is exactly how Hunter Roberts sees itself. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs been a challenging couple of years,ÔÇØ testifies project manager Izzy Tula. ÔÇ£Fortunately, one of the principal strengths of this company is the speed at which we make decisions. We try to minimize bureaucracy and take full advantage of a very flat hierarchy to speed up communications. We work on the basis that a good decision now is better than a brilliant decision later.ÔÇØLike so many of the contracts HR handles, the Hudson Greene project is aimed at the higher end of the market, featuring apartments fitted out with floor-to-ceiling curtainwalls, hardwood flooring, marble bathrooms and European-style kitchens. The two towers are owned by separate organizations and aimed at different sectors of the market. The 420 units in one tower will be sold as condos, while the 481 units in the other are destined for the rental market.┬á Although not of primary concern to Hunter Roberts, when the project was planned back in 2005, the condominium market was strong and rentals somewhat softer. Now the pendulum has swung the other way, and rental operators canÔÇÖt wait to get their hands on the apartments when they start to become available, on schedule, next April.Of real concern to Tula has been the inflationary pressure brought about by increases in all manner of raw materials such as concrete and steel. The superstructure of the building alone, for example, represents 20 percent of total cost. In order to mitigate the effect of these price hikes, the most price-crucial contracts were awarded long before final designs were complete, enabling members of the supply chain to lock down prices so that no one received any nasty shocks later.In other instances, problems were overcome through innovative design changes. When the price of copper shot up, the specification for electrical distribution bus bars was switched to aluminum. Both do exactly the same job, but aluminum needs more volume than copper. Once again, by making decisions early, the design for service shafts could be modified without disruption to the schedule.Construction in New York during the life of Hudson Greene has been very buoyant, with numerous major projects in the entertainment and sports sectors alone. In a climate such as this, skilled labor became scarce. As it is, pressure eased before becoming critical, but Tula had contingency plans in place that would have broken the project down into smaller packages, spread among more subcontractors, rather than relying on single contractors that could have been impacted adversely. Now that the economy has stalled and labor is more plentiful, Tula has been able to take advantage by pulling forward certain parts of the build that could be done in parallel.While normally in the business of adding something to a project, there is one development that Tula has been careful to avoid. It seems that more than one real estate developer has been hit with sizable damages when sued over the occurrence of mold in apartments. ÔÇ£In reality,ÔÇØ says Tula, ÔÇ£good construction procedures, ensuring the building is watertight, should mean that mold never occurs, even in humid climates. But as this form of litigation has become the flavor of the month among certain of the cityÔÇÖs residents and lawyers, we consider the extra cost of mold-resistant materials to be money well spent.ÔÇØIn the prevailing climate, itÔÇÖs possible that Hudson Greene will be the last project of its kind and size for a while. Tula considers that there will still be enough work around to keep the most enterprising organizations busy, but the mix will swing away from residential projects to those of a more institutional natureÔÇöhospitals, universities and transport. ItÔÇÖs going to be a challenging period, but companies such as Hunter Roberts that are fleet of foot will be well placed to take advantage of all opportunities that come their way.┬á