HardHatChat

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

Activity was up for retail and restaurant construction and once-stalled commercial construction projects are finding themselves back on 2014 bid sheets for the best commercial general contractors. This new mixed-use construction project will include multifamily and 161,000 square feet of retail. Big is back.

Commercial 283

Commercial Industrial Chicago Retail 283

HardHatChat

SEPTEMBER 10, 2009

What Every Developer Should Ask General Contractors During the Retail Construction Bid Process. For my first blog post, a lot of people at Englewood Construction suggested I write about how to choose a retail construction company. Does your proposal include the complete scope of work specified in the bid documents?

Retail 136

Retail Bidding Construction Contractors 136

HardHatChat

AUGUST 11, 2010

But that doesn’t mean we aren’t seeing interesting retail construction projects or innovative commercial construction retrofits, like the 23 up-and-coming new-store concepts as noted by Retail Traffic. It’s taking the mall jewelry store concept to a sophisticated new level. Michigan Ave., First, there is WONDER!,

Retail 209

Retail Chicago Commercial Michigan 209

HardHatChat

MAY 13, 2014

Be sure to check references of general contractors before entering into a negotiated or competitive bid situation. Commercial general contractors generally don’t find their way into the mainstream news unless it is for something negative, often involving criminal activity. This scenario does not apply to competitive bids.

Commercial 281

Commercial Bidding Negotiation Construction 281

HardHatChat

DECEMBER 22, 2011

As 2011 comes to a close, it’s time for us to look back on the commercial construction building trends , news and projects of this past year and share our thoughts on the highs and lows in the industry. It was optimistic and certainly gave us a lot of commercial construction news to talk about around the water cooler. I was wrong.

Commercial 207

Commercial Union Retail Construction 207

HardHatChat

DECEMBER 9, 2014

In 2010, commercial construction firms were in survival mode and had to bid on anything available. Now, we can avoid bidding on projects that already have too many bidders, or, are too small for Englewood to be competitive. Low – Retail takes a step back. High – Shopping Mall Renovation. www.EnglewoodConstruction.com.

Commercial 192

Commercial Retail Construction Chicago 192

HardHatChat

MAY 4, 2010

With four months under our belt, I think the time is right to revisit one of the trends I mentioned called “Back on Track” and its relevance to the retail construction industry. As for new retail construction, it seems the big winners are niche retail brands that dominate a market category, such as American Girl and lululemon.

Retail 159

Retail Commercial Construction Remodeling 159

HardHatChat

NOVEMBER 19, 2012

Michigan Avenue in Chicago is seeing a mix of high-end retailers and value retailers, a trend that will continue in 2013 in markets across the country. This mix benefits retailers such as American Girl, which Englewood built out in 2009 at Water Tower Place, as more foot traffic passes through the area.

Commercial 289

Commercial Retail Chicago Construction 289

HardHatChat

MAY 18, 2011

While I think everyone in the retail industry likes to hear news that 2011 retail sales are up – as it usually means new retail construction projects are in the pipeline – it’s still tough for shopping center landlords to make deals work with retail tenants. Vanilla box. Turnkey from spec.

Commercial 184

Commercial Retail Construction Bidding 184

HardHatChat

JULY 11, 2013

The summer always brings more commercial construction activity, more bids, and, as a result, higher pricing. Also, a lot retail construction projects are initiated in the summer to have everything complete by November 1, just in time for the holiday shopping season. List your needs, list your wants. Buy domestic when you can.

Commercial 276

Commercial Construction Bidding Chicago 276

HardHatChat

JANUARY 18, 2011

Don’t always take the lowest bid. The low-bidding general contractor was often in over its head, which meant deadlines were missed or work was shoddy and another, more experienced GC was brought in to finish the job—at an additional cost. While bidding on the commercial construction remodel of a 500+ sq. Take a leap of faith.

Commercial 263

Commercial Bidding Negotiation Construction 263

HardHatChat

DECEMBER 17, 2010

We saw much-improved activity in shopping center construction – not necessarily the building of new malls, but in general commercial contractors working with landlords and developers on pre-construction services , such as commercial construction budgeting to help them propose attractive lease deals for new tenants.

Commercial 196

Commercial Retail Construction Chicago 196

HardHatChat

MARCH 4, 2019

One of the biggest challenges for commercial construction firms today is the tighter project timelines that have become the norm at every phase of a project – from shorter deadlines for submitting initial bids and budgets, to quicker resolution on addendums and change orders, to compressed schedules for construction and delivery.

Project Management 349

Project Management Commercial Management Construction 349

HardHatChat

DECEMBER 20, 2016

Here’s a look at our top 2016 commercial construction “highs” and “lows”: Low: Mall Retail Tenants Choose Local over National. However, over the last year, we’ve seen more retail brands award tenant build-out work to local firms rather than national construction partners. High: Big Opportunities in Big Box Retail.

Commercial 156

Commercial Retail Construction Chicago 156

HardHatChat

MAY 31, 2012

Don't forget to vet your general contractor's background and experience when reviewing bids. While there are three sides to every story, recent commercial construction news stories like this one from the Chicago Tribune , “Construction firm caught in contract probe” , really burn me up.

Commercial 245

Commercial Union Chicago Bidding 245

HardHatChat

AUGUST 12, 2014

Working directly with a restaurateur generally implies a negotiated bid scenario. In the case of the aforementioned Harry Carays, Water Tower Place is home to retail, restaurants, apartments and a hotel. For these following reasons, restaurateurs should consider working with an experienced restaurant general contractor.

Chicago 278

Chicago Commercial Construction Remodeling 278

HardHatChat

DECEMBER 22, 2015

Thanks to clients who put their trust in us, we’ve built on our roots in tenant interior finish jobs and retail in-store build-outs and found our niche in ground-up projects, flagship stores and high-end restaurant construction and hospitality work. Low – Retail’s Continued Slump.

Commercial 120

Commercial Industrial Retail Construction 120

HardHatChat

JULY 19, 2011

It’s a mixed bag of commercial construction news for shopping center developement. On one hand, retail sales continue to show improvement from last year, yet the suburban shopping mall – or at least the traditional enclosed shopping mall – seems to be on the way out. Most retailers today want less space. Qualify your team.

Commercial 201

Commercial Retail Change Orders Construction 201

HardHatChat

NOVEMBER 30, 2011

Value-based retailers like hhgregg, Ross Dress for Less and Savers should experience construction growth in 2012. It’s that time of year when our team predicts the 2012 commercial construction trends – from what’s on tap for Chicago retail construction to national restaurant construction and hospitality construction.

Commercial 179

Commercial Retail Chicago Construction 179

HardHatChat

DECEMBER 15, 2009

Low – Chicago losing the 2016 Olympic bid. When Chicago lost the 2016 Olympic bid this fall, it was a devastating blow to the city’s restaurant and retail construction industry. Jobs that used to have 2-3 bids, now have 10. High – Niche or value-driven retail construction. If you look at the Top 10 U.S.

Commercial 196

Commercial Retail Construction Chicago 196

HardHatChat

JUNE 23, 2015

Working with a commercial contractor on a negotiated-bid basis, as Englewood Construction does with long-term client American Girl, can minimize the likelihood you’ll hear “no” from your GC during the bidding process. As a national commercial contractor , we are first and foremost in the business of customer service.

Commercial 120

Commercial Contractors Bidding Negotiation 120

Viewpoint Construction Technology

AUGUST 30, 2018

Even if you’re busy, we recommend taking a look at this month’s top headlines in construction news, especially since some pertain to seasonal safety and the industry’s labor market. Even if you don’t work in infrastructure, this bill indicates that many members of Congress would like to see new materials become more prevalent.

Industrial 197

Industrial Construction Infrastructure Innovation 197

HardHatChat

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

Rather than a competitive bid scenario, where clients choose a commercial construction firm based solely on their estimated costs, we prefer to be brought to the table at the initial planning stages so we can provide a construction perspective that could ultimately save everyone time, money and headaches.

Commercial 120

Commercial Modeling Design Construction 120

HardHatChat

NOVEMBER 30, 2011

Value-based retailers like hhgregg, Ross Dress for Less and Savers should experience construction growth in 2012. It’s that time of year when our team predicts the commercial construction trends for the upcoming year– from what’s on tap for Chicago retail construction to national restaurant construction and hospitality construction.

Commercial 120

Commercial Retail Construction Chicago 120

Construction Enquirer

APRIL 25, 2023

London’s former newspaper district is to be transformed over the next five years as developers shrug off recessionary fears to press ahead with a pipeline of 34 refurbishment and new build projects. “This is a golden opportunity, a landmark moment.

Housing 86

Housing Estimating Retail Office 86

HardHatChat

AUGUST 31, 2011

Trust me, we provide the best retail/restaurant/office construction budgets we can, but there are additional factors to consider when reviewing your commercial construction bid. Does your GC provide you with an industrial construction preventive-maintenance checklist? What about satisfied commercial construction client testimonials?

Commercial 213

Commercial Chicago Construction Retail 213

HardHatChat

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Here are just a few ways technology plays a critical role at Englewood Construction in how we not only manage the construction process, but also provide the best possible service for our clients: 1) Efficiency: In the old days, pre-2006, clients sent a physical set of plans when they wanted us to bid a construction job.

Commercial 144

Commercial Construction Bidding US 144

Construction Marketing

AUGUST 30, 2019

Now, though, the companies have fully integrated the lead generation software with other products supply chain participants would want during the preconstruction process, such as estimating and takeoff software, customer relationship management software, and bid management software. Category, such as commercial, industrial, etc.

Comparison 123

Comparison Construction Software Software 123

HardHatChat

APRIL 6, 2010

The travel expenses alone for a non-local general contractor would inflate a retail construction bid to the point where the job isn’t economical. It’s better to work with a national retail construction contractor who is familiar with building your store in other cities verses a local general contractor who’s never built for you before.

Commercial 174

Commercial Contractors Retail Construction 174

HardHatChat

JUNE 15, 2010

It amazes me in today’s commercial real estate market when I hear commercial construction news about companies or people who just phone it in with their commercial construction services. When Lucky Brand Jeans told us we had less than four weeks to complete the build-out of its new store on Michigan Ave. Baldwick’s.

Commercial 180

Commercial Contractors Construction Retail 180

HardHatChat

FEBRUARY 25, 2011

We were pulling a feeder cable through a Chicago retail construction project when we heard the explosion. In a restaurant or retail retrofit job, you really are going in blind to the property, which is why you need to enlist a commercial general contractor early on. Then, the transformer blew out. What the heck happened? See below).

CSI 136

CSI Commercial Site Retail 136

Construction Marketing Ideas

MARCH 4, 2016

Low – Retail’s Continued Slump. The retail construction sector was one of our “lows” in our 2014 “Highs and Lows” blog post, and unfortunately it made the list again this year. Retail construction activity in 2015 confirmed that stores simply aren’t building like they used to.

Contractors 48

Contractors Retail US Management 48

HardHatChat

FEBRUARY 10, 2015

This has had an adverse effect on our industry in two ways—as projects come back, they are on a slower timetable as it is often difficult to locate adequate subcontractors for a project, and, the price for commercial construction labor is often higher as many commercial general contractors are bidding for the services of the same subs.

Commercial 120

Commercial Construction Chicago CFMA 120

Cassell Construction Estimating

AUGUST 2, 2009

Not unexpectedly, there’s still plenty of bad news: ENR’s construction revenue data (updated through second quarter) show the commercial market still declining, especially in retail and office construction. Still, the cutthroat bid market persists. Power and fuel-industry construction rose last quarter, compared with 2008.

San Diego 100

San Diego Overhead Bidding Estimating 100

HardHatChat

DECEMBER 22, 2009

At this time last year, there were very few construction projects to bid on as many companies sat on the sidelines. Look for a solid increase in commercial construction renovations verses new locations, which should hold especially true with new retail construction. 2. Green is Gold.

Commercial 166

Commercial Construction Green Retail 166

The Korte Company

JUNE 16, 2022

That’s the Walgreens, the country’s second-largest health and wellness retail brand. It was news to Jerry, who in turn called Dennis Calvert right away. The project bids in seven days.”. He invited the project manager to talk to a man at a new United Stationers facility just a few miles from Walgreens headquarters.

Pennsylvania 52

Pennsylvania California Illinois St. Louis 52

Business Facilities

AUGUST 25, 2017

We’ve chronicled the bidding wars that are the modus operandi of pro sports empires in America, sordid spectacles that force cities to ante up staggering amounts of public funding for billion-dollar stadiums to lure a team or to keep one from moving to another location.

Oakland 74

Oakland St. Louis Las Vegas Los Angeles 74