Robert Brown, owner and president of GCM Contracting Solutions, in the conference room of the company’s Fort Myers office.

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.

“The downturn has been hard on us, just as it has been on many others in the construction industry,” says Robert Brown, GCM’s founding owner and president. “We’ve had to reinvent ourselves.”

Reinvent may be too strong a word, as the Fort Myers-based firm remains a premier provider of turnkey construction services for commercial clients throughout Florida and beyond. But in the last few years, Brown has repositioned the company to capitalize on its core strengths to meet the needs of a changing market. The strategy seems to be working.

A Stellar Example

Of GCM’s many successful projects (see box), the Alico Business Park in south Lee County stands out. Brown was the general contractor and part of the development team behind the 130,000sf flex/office development, where GCM relocated in late 2007.

Brown says that after stagnating in recent years, the park has seen a surge in interest from large commercial tenants, particularly high-tech industrial end users including VR Laboratories and Algenol Biofuels. In fact, when GCM completes the interior buildout for VR Labs and the company moves into its 18,000sf facility in the first quarter, the park will be fully leased.

Algenol, the development’s largest tenant, is a global, industrial biotechnology company that is commercializing its patented method of producing ethanol from algae. Last fall, GCM broke ground on the company’s $13 million pilot-scale integrated bio-refinery (IBR) on 36 acres adjacent to Algenol’s existing 40,000sf biofuels research and development complex, which GCM also designed and built. The complex also contains Algenol’s 9,500sf Process Development Unit, comprising an aquaculture lab, two large inoculation greenhouses and three acres of outdoor research area.

By year’s end, Algenol’s Alico campus will be the most advanced integrated biofuels research and development complex in the world, with a target production capacity of approximately 100,000 gallons of fuel-grade ethanol per year. As such, it is expected to be a prototype for Algenol’s future full-scale production facilities at the company’s production plants worldwide.

Brown says it dovetails exactly with GCM’s philosophy on design/build industrial construction. “We’ve always shied away from lower-end, industrial buildings and tried to design upscale, high-quality buildings. We think that Alico Business Park has some of the nicest industrial buildings in the area, not just in terms of aesthetics, but in the quality of construction.”

Design/Build Benefits

The challenge is how to provide quality on a budget; something that GCM, a member of the Design Build Institute of America, has been doing for almost 25 years. As a design/build general contractor, GCM manages the construction process from concept to completion, working primarily with outside architects on the design and in-house engineers to draft the plans. According to Brown, this approach is more efficient and less costly than the traditional design/bid/build method, whereby an owner hires an architect who designs the project before pricing it.

“We try to avoid that with value engineering throughout the design process, not at the end,” says Brown. “That way, we decide from the outset how we want to build a project and what’s the fastest and most economical way to work with the subcontractors or other vendors that might be involved.” That information is then given to the architect and engineer.

A key aspect of GCM’s design-build service is to help clients make choices based on priorities, as well as cost. Doing so in the planning stages helps prevent costly mid-project change orders that can disrupt construction and delay delivery. “It’s a transparent budgeting process, which helps everyone involved,” says Brown.

Ed Legere, Algenol’s executive vice president, agrees. “Most of the cost savings is done during the design phase,” says Legere. “(On both projects) they helped us review our options and make the right, cost-effective decisions in terms of the construction materials and processes, as well as the construction management.”

Legere adds that GCM is quick to respond whenever a glitch or issue has arisen during construction. “Things don’t always go (according to) the blueprint, so you have to make decisions on the fly. If there’s a problem, they work to solve it quickly so that we can stay on track and on budget. They keep things moving along, which is important.”

Even more important, says Legere, is the service GCM provides after the project is completed. “Usually when (contractors) get the final check, you don’t hear from them again. The post-construction service we received from GCM was exceptional.”

After the first project was completed, Brown and GCM’s project managers spent considerable time making sure that everything was up and running to Algenol’s satisfaction. “They’re a first-rate company,” says Legere. “They do what they say they’ll do and they’re a great group of people to work with.”

The High-Tech Edge

Keeping up to date on the latest design and management tools and techniques has buoyed GCM’s business during the downturn. “We are always seeking new ways to help streamline the (design/build) process for the benefit of the owner,” says Brown. In that respect, advanced computer technology has been a tremendous asset.

For example, when GCM wanted to show Algenol officials how it could transform an empty warehouse into a world-class research and development facility, it utilized building information modeling (BIM). Through BIM, GCM created a detailed, dimensional and highly realistic rendering of how the building could look after buildout. Based on that model, GCM transformed the vacant shell into state-of-the-art laboratory and office space.

Brown explained that BIM technology is superior to traditional drawings and visual representations because it provides extremely sophisticated, three-dimensional models that automatically adjust to data input. Complex and flexible, BIM ensures consistency and accuracy throughout the design process, even when various team members continually tweak the design. Further, because it automatically checks for spatial conflicts, BIM greatly reduces errors and change orders.

BIM technology is just one tool that helps GCM serve its design/build customers. Web-enabled project management is another. “It allows us to do all of our correspondence and communication with subcontractors online, including pay requests,” says Brown.

To further increase productivity, GCM’s field staff uses smart phones to track their time on site. More efficient and accurate than a time clock, the system prevents workers from clocking in until they’re near the work site. “This keeps them accountable, which saves money,” Brown adds. “Owners don’t like paying for wasted time any more than we do and no one likes paying for something they didn’t receive.”

New Projects & Products

These days, GCM is casting a wide net, although it still provides concrete services to some of its larger clients such as EMJ, the Tennessee-based developer of Gulf Coast Town Center. GCM recently completed a concrete package for the company’s Bordertown Casino and Hotel in Oklahoma.

Closer to home, GCM is also doing a number of concrete projects at Florida marinas, including a design/build dry-stack boat storage project now underway on Boynton Beach. Similar to the Hamilton Harbor Boathouse in Naples, the east coast facility is rated for winds up to 175 mph. Brown says he sees dry-stack construction as an expanding market and expects GCM to grow along with it.

Also, last fall the company completed renovations at a Tampa marina, where general contractor Advance Property hired GCM to replace the boat launch’s crumbling pavers with concrete. Advance President Tom Olsen Brown says the job “went beautifully. We were able to keep the marina open and operating throughout the renovation,” which was completed a day ahead of schedule. He credits the project’s success largely to Brown’s expertise, as well as GCM’s involvement and diligence throughout the construction.

“Concrete work is the nuts and bolts of these projects,” says Olsen. “They went well beyond the scope of (their contract) to make sure everything went well. They’re a great company.”

Olsen says he was so impressed by Brown’s knowledge of the concrete business and the building industry overall that he’s hired GCM to work with him on two similar renovation projects. The first recently got underway at a Naples marina and the other, at a Key West marina, is expected to commence later this year. Also in conjunction with GCM, Advance is bidding on the demolition and new construction for a marina on North Miami Beach.

“Robert is always thinking about ways to help the client. He’s extremely creative,” says Olsen. “He tends to come up with ways to do things that no one else has thought of that will either save money or make a better project or both. He doesn’t sleep!”

That’s unlikely to change in the near future, as Brown says he expects increased demand for GCM’s design/build expertise and concrete innovations. The company recently launched a new product line featuring concrete sound barrier and security walls used around residential communities, golf courses and public parks.

Brown admits that even though many of GCM’s smaller concrete jobs are “not the most exciting part of what we do, it’s not about glamour any more. In many cases, it’s what’s needed. We’re glad to be here to do it.”

Recent Design/Build Projects

Over the last three years, GCM has completed commercial projects of all types and sizes, including smaller buildouts, remodels and renovations. However, the company is best known for its concrete work, particularly its larger, design/build projects, including:

• Croci International (Fort Myers), a 120,000sf manufacturing facility off Metro Parkway for the Italian wholesaler of storm and security shutters. LeeSar, which purchases, manages and distributes medical equipment and supplies, occupies approximately 45,000sf.

• Old Corkscrew Golf Club (Estero). Totaling approximately 15,000sf, the concrete structure houses the club’s pro shop and golf carts. Like GCM’s other tilt-wall projects, it proves that commercial buildings can be attractive as well as functional.

• Hamilton Harbor Boathouse (Naples). The 110,000sf dry-stack boat storage facility off Thomason Drive near Port Royal is the first project of its kind in the world using this type of concrete construction. Besides being able to accommodate boats up to 50 feet and withstand 150mph winds, safety features include large, concrete doors and four-hour firewalls.

Brown says the key to the project was to build a state-of-the-art facility that was low maintenance, built to last and aesthetically pleasing to its residential neighbors. The finished product was well received and garnered a 2008 Summit Award from the Lee Building Industry Association for Best Design/Build Project.

More recently in Fort Myers, GCM completed a 15,000sf, Mediterranean-style, two-story office building for Lykes Insurance on Summerlin Road and converted the former Picture Factory on U.S. 41 South into The Law Offices of Kevin Jursinski. The 17,000sf, two-story warehouse-style structure required extensive remodeling to transform it into corporate offices complete with restrooms, conference rooms, a kitchen and other amenities.

Popularity: 1%