It’s often said that a construction project takes on a “personality” from the very beginning. Nurturing that personality can be a major factor in how the project turns out.
Unlike new construction, rehab projects bring with them an individual personality for every unit…that of the resident. Each resident has an impact on the overall “tone” of the project by virtue of his or her attitude and level of cooperation.
The thought of major rehab of an occupied apartment complex often strikes fear into even the most seasoned owners, site managers, and project managers.
Successful completion of such a project requires a high degree of organization and cooperation on the part of the complex managers and the contractor, accompanied by a healthy dose of empathy for the residents being inconvenienced during the process.
It’s important for management and the contractor to be sensitive to the fact that each resident is entrusting you to care for their possessions left in their home during reconstruction.
And it’s important not to lose sight of the fact that regardless of the perceived value of those possessions, whether furniture, electronics, clothing, or other belongings, they often comprise the major assets owned by the residents.
It’s critical that the contractor and property manager develop a level of trust with the residents to maximize cooperation and maintain the project schedule. In such projects you soon realize that the residents are your partner, and without their buy-in and cooperation your project can suffer delays and the related additional cost.
Although Sun Country Builders has primarily gained its reputation for the thousands of new apartment units it has constructed, SCB actually entered the rehabilitation market ten years ago with a successful major rehabilitation of a troubled 145 unit affordable housing project in San Diego. “It was an exciting project.
Aside from tenting, gutting and replacing the interiors, and moving the residents out and back in within a week, we were dealing with a relatively high crime area. We also replaced roofs, and completed exterior building and landscaping improvements in just six months.” said Daryl McFarland, who managed the project.
Sun Country enjoys a major benefit in the form of an increased level of control through its in-house labor, carpentry, concrete and masonry crews. “Having scheduling control over a large portion of the overall workforce is a big advantage in such tight-timeline projects”, according to McFarland.
For an example of an even more extensive rehabilitation project see the story on Orange Place Apartments in this issue.
