Alexan Broadway Station
For more than 30 years, Colorado Structures Inc. has built with exceptional quality, it says. The Colorado Springs, Colo.-based contractor excels in a multitude of project types from industrial to commercial to residential, and has developed a reputation as a national leader in retail developments.
“Our clients expect insight, ingenuity and innovation skillfully applied to every project we’re entrusted with,” ColoradoStructures asserts. Its commitment to client satisfaction not only results in repeat business – 90 percent of its business is repeat, it says – but also piques the interest of new clients who are aware of its status as a leading contractor and wish to obtain the same level of quality on their own projects.
Such was the case for the Denver office of Dallas-based Trammell Crow Residential (TCR), which awarded Colorado Structures an approximately $60 million contract to construct three five-story apartment buildings and a six story parking structure in Denver under its Alexan brand.
Alexan Broadway Station
The Alexan Broadway Station in Denver
will consist of three five-story apartment
buildings encompassing 525,000 square
feet that wrap around a six-story,
202,000-square-foot precast parking
garage. The apartment buildings will feature
four stories of wood framing on top
of a second-floor concrete podium deck,
and will utilize four types of exterior finishes:
cementitious siding, metal panel
siding, brick and stucco.
One of the three buildings will contain 60 units of affordable housing and about 10,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor. Another will contain 373 market-rate apartments. The third building will feature 47 units along with key amenities such as a clubhouse, leasing center and athletic facilities. The project utilizes 13 different floor plans ranging from one to two bedrooms. Construction began in February 2008 and is slated to finish in January 2010.
‘Mutually Beneficial’
Project Manager Matthew Johnson says
Colorado Structure’s relationship with
its new client has been “mutually beneficial.”
TCR was formed in 1977 and has
quickly grown to be one of the leading
residential development companies
in the United States with more than
225,000 multifamily units in its portfolio
and a nationwide scope.
Colorado Structures benefits by performing quality construction for a prestigious client and hopes to gain additional projects as a result. TCR says it benefits from Colorado Structures’ expertise in the Colorado building market, which includes its familiarity with local building regulations and its ability to progress the permit expediting process.
In addition to being able to complete a project on time and within budget, “Colorado Structures has provided a great deal of product research and procurement services to the owner in addition to being a general contractor,” Johnson says. “We helped them modify building assembly systems that were not commonly part of TCR’s conventional buildings and projects of the past.”
Tight Urban Site
The Alexan Broadway Station site once
contained a portion of the Gates Corp.
rubber and tire plant, which was demolished
by a previous landowner. However,
no unforeseen soil conditions were
found in the excavation process.
Colorado Structures’ main challenge was building in a tight, urban area with busy existing streets. Three sides of the project faced heavily traveled streets, while the other side was occupied by a contractor operating under a separate contract with the developer.
“There were existing, above-ground power lines that had to be relocated before any of the underground stormwater and sanitary work could occur – that took much longer than expected,” Johnson says. The stormwater sewer system retains all runoff on-site and collects it in a central stormwater vault, where it’s pumped into the city’s existing stormwater sewer system. “The buildings were then constructed on top of and around these utilities – all on a five-acre site,” he adds.
Talented Subtrades
Colorado Structures utilized more than
40 subcontractors and suppliers on the
Alexan Broadway Station project, some
who were new and others who had
worked with the contractor on past projects.
“Each sub needs to keep up with
owner-directed changes and change
directives from the architect and owner,”
Johnson says. “Communication and
information organization that transfer
down to the trades are key components
to what we’re doing.
“Colorado Structures excels in pushing the critical path of the project, communication and dissemination of project documents and revisions, communication with the owner’s representatives and with the specific individuals putting this project together on a daily basis.”