The idea of converting a largely vacant retail strip into a modern logistics center seemed fraught with potential pitfalls and unforeseen expenses. But just over a year ago, ARCO Design/Build successfully completed the transformation of the Diamond Point Shopping Center in Dundalk to the Diamond Logistics Center – a 442,000-square-foot, Class A building.
Photos courtesy of ARCO Design/Build.
With direct access to I-695 and just four minutes from I-95, the site was clearly an attractive location for a warehouse development. The ARCO team was confident that their industrial construction experience and distinctive approach to project management could address the development’s challenges.
“People think that knocking down buildings like that is more expensive and more complicated than it is,” said Drew Enstice, Vice President.
Several creative construction techniques help contain expenses, often making the total cost of a conversion comparable to a green-build project.
On the Diamond site, “there was a lot of concrete from concrete walls and a concrete slab. We crushed a lot of that to use as fill underneath the new parking areas,” Enstice said.
That practice saved money by cutting the need to haul away old concrete and purchase new stone.
ARCO also leveraged strong scrap prices to reduce demolition costs.
“In the last few years, scrap prices have gone up for steel, brick, and concrete,” he said. “We had the demolition company handle the scrap and, in return, they gave us a lower price on the demolition work.”
To speed construction and avoid issues with a vacant building, ARCO “got a separate permit to demolish the buildings and knocked them down way before we had our full site approvals,” he said.
The project team still had to navigate challenges, such as arranging for utilities to be quickly cut off after the last tenant vacated to enable work to begin. The project team also had to address unexpectedly wet soils and the presence of some hazardous materials.
ARCO’s approach to industrial construction, including conversions, was geared to address those challenges. The process was also sufficiently robust that it offered the developer, DWS, an at-risk price on the project.
“We can do a back-of-napkin estimate for a vertical building and probably get within 85 or 90 percent certainty,” Entice said. “With a full internal estimate, we can get to the level that we will go to contract with an at-risk price. That helps the developer figure out their costs up front. They can have confidence buying a property and knowing their project is going to pencil out.”
In this article: ARCO Design/Build
Do you have a creative solution for a challenging site in the Baltimore-Washington region that you would like to share? Tell us about it. Contact Linda Strowbridge at lindas@naiopmd.org.