Growing in Kansas City
S. M. Wilson Teams Up with Harris Construction Company to Expand Presence
By Craig Workman
The Midwest can be a parochial place, and nobody knows this more than S. M. Wilson’s Kansas City office. Since opening its doors in suburban Lenexa in 2002, S. M. Wilson has been viewed as a newcomer in an established market. This perception has not hurt the company’s business, which grew to approximately $60 million in revenues by 2008 thanks to the availability of projects in the retail, commercial and senior care sectors.
But as the economy and the local construction market slowed down in 2009, Vice President Greg King and his staff saw fewer projects in the market and even fewer invitations to bid lists of those jobs. Most of the business was going to locally-owned contractors with deep ties to the community. It became evident that King and his staff needed stronger and well-established ties to the community.
About the same time, Bo Harris was seeing his Kansas City area construction company’s market changing. Harris Construction Company has a long and proud history of working in the Kansas City construction industry. They are known for their expertise in historic building renovations, life sciences facilities and industrial facilities construction. With strong roots in the local area, Harris Construction has developed a well-respected operational staff and strong relationships with local architects and owners. Bo Harris was seeing less of the traditional construction projects for which his firm was well-known, and instead was getting opportunities for larger commercial renovation jobs requiring more resources and project management expertise than his 38-year-old company possessed.
Bo Harris and Greg King began talking to one another about potential opportunities to grow together. Harris had the local ties, the name recognition and a highly talented local construction staff. King had the corporate infrastructure, project management expertise, financial resources and bonding capacity to tackle the larger jobs. Both companies shared similar corporate cultures and business values. Wilson specializes in education, retail, health care and senior living facilities, while Harris specializes in life sciences, industrial and hospitality industries.
Harris and King realized that they needed one another in order to grow.
“Bo gets his calls answered, and he gets noticed in places where we could not get noticed,” says King. “Bo gets on the bid lists, and has much greater local visibility. His firm also enjoys a reputation for great craftsmanship and quality construction work.” A Successful Joint Venture In early 2009 a joint venture was formed between Harris Construction and S. M. Wilson to build and manage the $16 million renovation of the historic Vitagraph Film Exchange Building in midtown Kansas City, followed shortly by the $8 million renovation of the historic Kirkwood Building in the city’s Crossroads District.
The art deco-style Vitagraph Building is being restored to historic preservation and the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification standards. The four-story building was built in 1930. Warner Brothers originally used it to store and distribute films in an area known as Old Film Row within the Crossroads. The Vitagraph Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, making it eligible for historic preservation tax credits, which the developer plans to use.
Helix Architecture & Design is the project architect, and Sobel Properties LLC is the developer. Shirley Helzberg, managing member of Sobel, owns the building and bought it with plans to house the Kansas City Symphony offices and other tenants. The Kirkwood Building in the East Crossroads District of Kansas City is being renovated and expanded to create the new corporate headquarters for Service Management Group. The 48,000-square-foot, four-story building was built in the 1920s and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building originally served as a luxury car dealership. Helix is also the architect on this project.
Construction plans call for creating three floors of renovated office space above the ground floor of retail space. A new 5,000-square-foot penthouse space will be added atop the existing building. Renovation of the building’s existing exterior facades will include masonry restoration and window replacements to meet state and federal historical requirements. Work will also include interior demolition and renovation services to meet SMG’s new headquarters requirements.
The two companies and their employees worked side-by-side on these projects, and the results were very promising. King and his team managed the projects, and the Harris team provided field operations.
“Our employees really worked well together, and everyone bought into the spirit of partnership that arose,” said Harris. “These historic renovations are complicated projects, and the strengths that each entity brought to the table proved to be a very good match.”
“I was much more familiar with Harris, and S. M. Wilson was unknown to us at the outset of the project,” said Paul Waid, Senior Construction Manager with Copaken White Blitt., owner’s representative for the Kirkwood Building project. (Copaken White Blitt is also the Development Manager for the SMG headquarters project.) “While Harris led the project efforts early on, I quickly realized that the Harris/Wilson team was a very valuable addition to the project. The project is progressing ahead of schedule, which is remarkable given the complexities of this high profile historic renovation job.”
“This project involved historic tax credits, New Market tax credits and other complex financial packages with tough lender requirements,” Waid adds. “With so many details involved, our owner hired two construction consultants to oversee the project. This is in addition to the architects, engineers and MEP contractors involved. Harris/Wilson is looking at all the details and getting the job done.”
The Harris/Wilson Team
With the successful joint venture under their belt, Harris and Wilson formalized their relationship through the creation of Harris/Wilson Construction, a division of S. M. Wilson. Harris Construction closed its office and moved its staff to the S. M. Wilson office. Bo Harris is now a Project Executive at Harris/Wilson Construction.
Harris/Wilson Construction combines the recognized operational strengths of Harris Construction with the construction management expertise and financial stability of S. M. Wilson. The newly named organization creates new competitive advantages and a high level of local awareness for S. M. Wilson’s Kansas City operations.
“Our getting together has aroused curiosity around the local construction market, and is seen as a sign of strength locally,” Harris says. “Together, we can self-perform more and bigger jobs and be more of a full-service contractor. This is making us much more competitive in Kansas City.”
Expansion On the Horizon
As the Kirkwood Building and Vitagraph Building projects are completed, Harris/Wilson Construction is already seeking new business opportunities and making plans for expansion. The team has already been selected to handle pre-construction services for a proposed $20 million mixed-use-hotel-apartment-retail project in the Kansas City area.
“We made a move to strengthen our business during a down economy, and we’re confident this partnership will pay off for us handsomely as we move forward,” says King. “We’re finally getting noticed around here!