When owners and developers think about repositioning or upgrading a commercial building, the conversation often starts with finishes, layouts, and amenities. Electrical infrastructure is frequently an afterthought until a prospective tenant asks a simple question that can stop a deal in its tracks: “What is the building’s electrical capacity, and can it support our operations?”…
Concrete tilt-up construction shaped much of Southern California’s built environment throughout the mid-twentieth century. Fast to erect and cost-effective, the method involves casting large concrete wall panels on-site and lifting them into place with a crane. What it did not always provide, however, was sufficient seismic resilience. The core vulnerability in tilt-up buildings lies in…
Why isn’t San Diego a hub for data centers, especially given the region’s concentration of technology and life sciences leaders with massive data transfer and storage demands driven by AI and machine learning? The answer is neither hidden nor complicated: power cost and availability. Commercial electricity rates in San Diego County range from $0.39–$0.40 per…
When your business is ready to expand, relocate, or refresh its workspace, office tenant improvements (TIs) represent one of the most significant investments you’ll make. Yet too many companies rush into TI projects without proper planning, only to face budget overruns, construction delays, and spaces that don’t quite meet their operational needs. The difference between…
Laboratory buildings require significantly more cooling than a typical office building. This is due to the large amount of equipment scientists use daily to conduct research. Autoclaves to clean instruments, incubators to grow cells, ultra-low-temperature freezers to store samples, and high-powered lasers are just a few examples of equipment commonly found in laboratories. All of…
Having an architect as an owner’s representative or project manager brings a strong layer of technical and design expertise to a project – one not typically seen with a construction management-focused project manager. Only about 1% of OPMs have an architectural background, giving them a unique ability to bridge design and delivery. Architects are uniquely trained to…
Coring into a post-tensioned (PT) slab is not a “grab a drill and go” task. Post-tensioning tendons—high-strength steel cables in sleeves—are hidden in the concrete, rebar runs in multiple directions, and conduit is often embedded. If you nick a tendon, you jeopardize the structure and trigger an expensive repair. Hit conduit, and you shut down…
In high-stakes environments such as healthcare, life sciences, mission critical facilities, or advanced manufacturing, managing a budget is not just about cutting costs. It is about ensuring performance, compliance, and reliable delivery in buildings where failure is not an option. Too often, project teams lean on Value Engineering (VE) as a late-stage fix. But in…
What happens when your general contractor (or its subcontractors) mistakenly doesn’t pick-up a condition omitted from one design discipline’s drawing sheets, but that condition is picked up on another’s? We see this frequently where there are inconsistencies or a lack of coordination between disciplines and drawing sheets. Example: Civil sheets missed a telecom vault…
Throughout my 37-year career in commercial construction, it has been the principal practice of competitively bidding out contractors, architectural & engineering firms, construction managers, furniture dealers, etc. Many large corporations have adopted Sarbanes Oxley Compliance to ensure that they get the lowest price possible for any goods and services. These practices may work when purchasing…
On November 7th, I was fortunate enough to attend and speak on a panel at the 2023 Texas Life Science Forum held at Rice University in Houston. This was the first time I had attended this event. Put on by BioHouston and the Rice Alliance, this event was very well attended, well-structured, and…
Mergers and Acquisitions: Good and Bad In the ever-changing field of scientific research and development, mergers and acquisitions of biotech companies can open the door to amazing possibilities. One recent acquisition was between Charles River Laboratories and Explora Biolabs. Explora Biolabs, started in 2004 in San Diego, and was known for its expertise in facilities…
