Since opening for business in 1988, GCM Contracting Solutions (GCM) has built many of the largest and most visible examples of tilt-wall concrete construction in Southwest Florida, including Chico’s World Headquarters, the Miromar Design Center and much of the Gulf Coast Town Center. However, as demand for large-scale commercial projects has declined dramatically, GCM has shifted its focus almost exclusively to design-build general contracting for local and national clients.

Whether negotiating snow-covered slopes or commercial real estate transactions, Scott Cameron, CCIM, has never been one to shy away from treacherous terrain. In the mid-1970s, the native of upstate New York was a professional skier, winning the North American Professional Aerial Acrobatics Championship in the freestyle division. Just a few years later, he was living in Naples, navigating the peaks and valleys of Southwest Florida’s commercial real estate market.

Few contractors broker the real estate they build projects on and even fewer real estate agents have the construction expertise to advise clients on permissible land use and development costs. But in Southwest Florida, Gulfcoast Consulting Group (GCG) has long recognized the symbiotic relationship between construction and real estate and is now gaining market share by dovetailing the two.

Of the many developers that made their Southwest Florida debut within the last 10 years, Cape Coral-based Creighton Commercial Development is one of the few still standing — and staying busy. That might not be the case had things gone exactly as CEO Dan Creighton intended when he opened for business.
Initially, Creighton Commercial focused exclusively on procuring and developing commercial properties to either keep for investment or sell. “I would go out and find the land, find the tenants and hire a contractor to perform the construction,” says Creighton. “But if the contractor wasn’t on schedule or had cost overruns or problems with permitting, it came back on me.”
Even more frustrating to Creighton was the lack of quality control. “The contractor held all the cards (and) nothing protected me as the owner. I really got fed up with that.”

It’s a scenario that sounds implausible at best: When an outgoing and extremely successful jock-turned-commercial real estate broker dies at the height of his career, his ex-wife, an unassuming residential broker, steps in to preserve his business — and his legacy — while proving herself in a male-dominated industry.

For the first time in years, plunging prices and adjusted impact fees are beginning to draw buyers back into Southwest Florida’s commercial real estate market. Most are end users with many of the same questions: Is it more affordable to buy and remodel an existing building or build a new one? How much money can I save on construction costs by having an architect design the project and then put it out to bid to multiple contractors? The answers often surprise them.

When it comes to the mechanics of air conditioning, Theo Etzel is the first to admit that his expertise is confined to setting the thermostat. But that hasn’t stopped him from making Conditioned Air one of the most successful Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) contractors in Southwest Florida.
The Naples-based company has sold and serviced HVAC units and pool heaters to commercial and residential customers throughout the area since 1962, making it the second-oldest company of its kind in Collier County. However, business began to really take off in 1995, when Etzel joined Conditioned Air and was named president and CEO by the partners who had purchased it two years before.

Just a few years ago, community banks were proliferating in Southwest Florida, often with the goal of building deposits to attract a megabank buyer. Now, in the wake of the real estate bust and mortgage meltdown, many smaller banks either have failed or are struggling to survive, leaving consumers with increasingly few banking and borrowing options. But to the founders of First National Bank of the Gulf Coast (FNB), all that red ink signals a golden opportunity.

To the casual observer, the Skatium and the Shoot Straight gun range in Fort Myers have nothing in common. But to those familiar with Compass Construction, Inc., the dissimilar projects exemplify the scope of commercial products the company can deliver.
Since 1984, the Cape Coral-based general contractor and construction management firm has tackled assignments ranging from healthcare, faith-based and educational facilities to recreational, public works and multi-family projects. To date, its completed projects total more than $450 million.

It’s been said that value is what someone is willing to pay for something. But when that something is commercial real estate in a tumultuous, transitional market, valuation is not that straightforward, as the principals of RKL Appraisal & Consulting in Naples will attest.
“The disparity in prices makes it very difficult to determine property values in this environment,” says RKL partner Rachel Zucchi, MAI. However, business has been booming at RKL, thanks to the rising demand for professional, credible appraisals.

Drive down almost any street in Lee County and you’d be hard pressed not to notice a building designed by Gora/McGahey Architects. “You know who we are, you just may not realize it,” said Dan McGahey, AIA, the firm’s president and principal architect.

Completing projects on time and on budget used to be a selling point for commercial developers and builders. But as developer Donald Hinks and contractor Tom Overstreet have observed, it’s not enough to succeed in Southwest Florida’s marketplace today.

Consulting may be its middle name, but Gulfcoast Consulting Group (GCG) does much more than that. Based in Fort Myers, the family-owned general contracting firm offers its clients every type of service needed to take a commercial project from concept to completion, including design/build, property development, site selection, construction management and finance coordination.

At Vic’s Painting, Inc., getting the job never has been as important as doing it well and at the best price. Although that has been a growing challenge in the current economy, it has also propelled the Fort Myers-based contractor into new markets where it is finding fresh opportunities.

The types of projects that many commercial contractors are reluctant to tackle are the very projects that have made Vanderbilt Bay Construction (VBC) in Naples a success. After 20 years in business, the family-owned construction management and general contracting firm continues to excel at delivering complicated municipal projects and other challenging commercial assignments. Take the Collier County jail for example.

Since 1979, Huff Insurance in Fort Myers has weathered the sorts of storms – both natural and manmade – that have forced many of its competitors out of business. Now celebrating its 30-year anniversary, Huff Insurance has six Southwest Florida locations and a sunny outlook on future growth.

From the day it opened for business in Fort Myers, Grubb & Ellis|1st Commercial has operated in a way that distinguishes it from other commercial real estate brokerages in Southwest Florida. In just one year, its unique approach to serving clients has helped a growing number of commercial owners and financial institutions face a challenging real estate market.

Most Southwest Florida developments touted as places where residents can live, work and play, fall woefully short of their promises. But that’s not the case at Ave Maria, where Barron Collier Companies and Tom Monaghan are creating a community that not only lives up to its hometown billing, but also sets a new standard for comprehensive land planning and commercial development.

For more than 40 years, Kraft Construction has been a construction powerhouse in Southwest Florida, resistant if not immune to the boom-and-bust nature of the market. The current economic downturn is no exception. In fact, Kraft is moving full steam ahead by expanding its services and operational territory to all of Florida and beyond.

Delivering projects on time and within budget is cause for celebration at many commercial contracting firms. Not at Wright Construction.

“If being on time and within budget is all we can do, we’re doing the minimum and clients deserve more than that. They deserve real value from us,” says Fred Edman, president and CEO of Wright Construction. The full-service, commercial contracting firm designs, manages and builds commercial projects for public and private clients in Southwest Florida and throughout the Southeast.

Like many Southwest Florida contractors, Stevens Construction, Inc. was turning down work two years ago. But unlike many of its commercial competitors, the company has continued to stay busy, despite a depressed economy.

At a time when some local commercial brokerages are struggling to make deals, the principals of LandQwest Commercial, LLC in Fort Myers are moving ahead with expansion plans. Given the current economic environment, that’s an especially ambitious undertaking for an independent that opened just as the market was contracting. However, the downturn has had little effect on the company’s growth.

Ongoing speculation that Southwest Florida’s commercial construction could be slowing to a stop doesn’t seem to faze contractors Don Brooks and Richard Freund. As Florida natives and principles of Brooks & Freund, LLC in Fort Myers, they know something about trying times and say that the current commercial market isn’t so bad.

Although there’s little evidence that Southwest Florida’s commercial real estate industry is headed for a decline, many builders and developers say they’re starting to feel the first ripples from the residential slump. As a result, some are choosing to postpone their commercial developments or at least scale them back until the housing market rebounds or land prices adjust. McGarvey Development Company is not one of them.

It’s been 10 years since Colliers Arnold established its first Southwest Florida office in Fort Myers. Although it opened initially with little fanfare, the full-service, commercial real estate brokerage is now a major presence in the tri-county market and beyond.

Exceeding $200 million in annual sales would be reason enough for any company to celebrate, especially after 25 years in business in Southwest Florida. But while many would opt to mark the occasion with a silver anniversary gala, the top brass at Owen-Ames-Kimball Company (O-A-K) had other plans.

While most of Southwest Florida’s established commercial firms are just starting to feel the fringe effects of a market correction, the pain is mounting for scores of smaller, newer companies, many of which opened to meet the growing demand for income-producing assets after the dot com bust and subsequent stock market plunge in 2002.

Most real estate developers and builders probably would agree that now is not the best time to expand products, services or staff. Todd Gates is not one of them.

Commercial construction continues at warp speed throughout Southwest Florida, even as skyrocketing insurance premiums and soaring material costs threaten the viability of future commercial projects. This is prompting some owners and developers either to postpone the start of construction or pare down their projects.

Any Southwest Florida business that’s still growing almost 10 years after opening has bragging rights. Any community bank that does so is in a league of its own.
Since opening in December 1997, Riverside Bank of the Gulf Coast has done what few of its S.W. Florida competitors have ever done – remained a community bank.

You don’t have to be a contractor to realize there’s more to commercial construction than groundbreakings and grand openings. But not all commercial property owners see it that way. Armed with architectural plans, many believe they can fill a construction manager’s shoes and bid out to multiple general contractors, saving time and money in the process. Mark Stevens knows otherwise.

It’s not easy to find a full-service, commercial brokerage in Southwest Florida that’s not affiliated with a much larger, global entity. By now, most smaller independents have either been absorbed by mega brokerages or squeezed out of the marketplace entirely. But based on the early success of LandQwest Commercial in Fort Myers, reports of the independent broker’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.

For most businesses, the party is over long before they reach their 60th anniversary. But that’s not the case at Wright Construction. As it celebrates six decades of sustained success, the company continues to improve, expand and excel.

In Southwest Florida, the term “family owned and operated” often refers to small, mom-and-pop businesses. While the commercial real estate firm of Leffler & Associates is family owned and operated, it is also one of the area’s most sophisticated and comprehensive companies of its kind.

Their names seem to be everywhere – on television, in print and on their distinctive blue and white signs posted on commercial properties for sale or lease throughout the area. However, to business partners Frank D’Alessandro and Tom Woodyard, the success of D’Alessandro & Woodyard, Inc., Commercial Realtors(r) has more to do with its professional team than their names.