PRINT THIS STORY:

CHANGE TEXT SIZE:

KEEPING THE MALL OPEN AND THE WORK MOVING

A day in the life of a retail reconstruction project

By Kristina Mercier

During the renovation of Willow Grove Park, IMC Construction faced myriad challenges, from meeting the owner’s deadlines to keeping tenants happy.

Editor’s note: In November, IMC Construction, a national construction management/general contracting firm located in Malvern, Pa., completed the renovation of Willow Grove Park, a super-regional mall located in Abington Township, Pa. Kristina Mercier, the firm’s marketing/PR manager, shadowed the management team during the 10-month project to provide this on-the-ground account of some of the challenges contractors face during a typical day on the job.

Keep the doors open, the tenants happy and the work moving; this is the mantra for mall renovations. Yet, on the surface, it would seem to be a hopelessly impossible goal: How on earth can anyone expect to have 10 to 15 subcontractors demolishing, digging, drilling and building without obstructing the hundreds of tenants and thousands of shoppers around them?

Then there are all the conflicting interests and agenda: The owner wants the renovation completed ahead of schedule and under budget; subcontractors want to get in, get out and get paid; the architect wants his design to be realized; tenants don’t want the mess; shoppers want to shop unmolested; and the construction manager wants to keep on schedule and make a reasonable profit. And just when you think you’ve got all those agenda satisfied, the mall can spring some surprises of its own — what with its hidden, aging pipes and old wiring, complicated by quick-fix repairs performed over the last 10 years.

In the construction of a new mall, the process is relatively straightforward: An owner hires an architect, the architect draws up the plans, a general contractor/construction manager hires and coordinates the subcontractors and suppliers, and the building rises out of the ground.

But mall renovations are an entirely different animal. Before anyone so much as lifts a jackhammer, they require intense planning and a rigorous schedule, with no room for error. This is not simply a construction site but a living mall, after all. On top of lining up subcontractors, arranging supply deliveries and coordinating the fabrication of materials, there are tenants to befriend, a mall manager to assist, meetings to attend and safety concerns at every step.

These are the challenges IMC faced during the extensive renovation and expansion of Willow Grove Park, in Abington Township, Pa., which saw the addition of a Victorian-style pavilion to house a carousel, the replacement of flooring on all three levels and a total decorative redesign throughout. The mall is owned by Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT).

What makes a construction management team good is the attention of its field staff and their organization skills. But it’s also their ability to turn on a dime and respond to ever-changing problems and conditions, while dealing with various people involved in the project. It’s a combination of experience, unstoppable energy and an understanding of the goals and objectives of all parties involved.

Paul Stotsenburg, a seasoned IMC site supervisor, spends the first day of the renovation introducing himself to each mall tenant and addressing their concerns about the coming disruption. He knows it’s tough for them. There will be high-reach lifts in the center court, bright orange snow fencing diverting mall patrons around construction areas and workmen roaming the halls. No matter what you do, the dust will get on the Snowbabies display in the Hallmark Store, Stotsenburg admits. That’s why it is imperative he meets all the tenants.

“A simple hello and this is what’s coming” knocks out 50 percent of their annoyance, he explains.

Although plenty of work goes on during the day, three-fourths of the demolition and construction takes place at night. After the mall closes each night, the entire center is transformed, with storefronts shrouded in plastic tarps. From 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., seven days a week for 300 days, drills and pneumatic tile scrapers roar from one end to the other. When dawn breaks, the tarps are rolled up, the halls are cleared and cleaned, and mall life resumes.

“It’s about coordination. And then, after that, it’s about coordination. And then, after that, it’s all about coordination,” says Scott Gracely, an IMC project manager responsible for the schedule, budget and work quality. The schedule is like the roll of a drum, and Gracely’s job is to ensure it doesn’t miss a beat.

And so it goes, month after month, as Willow Grove is slowly, but steadily renewed. Besides giving it a new floor, contractors are constructing a Victorian-style addition that will house a turn-of-the-century carousel. There are also new rest rooms, chandelier and lamppost lighting fixtures, and a host of other improvements.

Six months later, and with four more to go before the inviolate Nov. 4, 2001, grand opening deadline, Stotsenburg is standing in the food court on the third floor. A man calls from the second-floor balcony, and Stotsenburg detours to the escalator and rides down one floor. It is the lead electrician, and his reddened face indicates there is a problem. A broken electrical connection to the exterior lighting lies buried in a large cement planter under a tree outside the first-floor entrance by the parking deck. These lights need to be on by 6 p.m., and Stotsenburg assures him he’ll have the soil dug out within the hour. He makes a call asking someone to send a laborer to meet him at the parking deck entrance, then goes off to Sears to buy some tools for this unanticipated job.

On his way he makes an unrelated call to a vendor and asks if he would bring corner guards with him tomorrow to protect a wall that he notices is being chipped by passersby. He checks it off his list.

Safety also demands his vigilance as he makes his rounds, his eyes darting left and right. Even details such as the color and size of warning signs can be crucial. During one renovation, mall management put out “slip-and-fall” warning signs that were blue and white to match the mall’s décor. Consequently, they didn’t stand out, and a man window-shopping collided with one, breaking his glasses. “There is a reason why construction uses bright orange,” Stotsenburg observes.

Twenty minutes later he is headed to the carousel entrance to resolve a discrepancy between the design and the construction teams, but is stopped en route. PREIT’s representative is handling a dispute over who is responsible for demolition that will make way for an entrance from the mall to a new Macy’s store. Stotsenburg knows the owner wants to keep the tenant happy, but he also wants to avoid incurring additional costs for IMC.

An afternoon meeting is scheduled with the Macy’s contractor, but Stotsenburg confides that he prefers to resolve the issue without tying up his afternoon. Meetings take time, taking his eyes away from the work in progress, and he’ll try and resolve it directly with the anchor’s contractor later on.

At the carousel entrance the steel framework is in place, and contractors are setting metal decking in place. The rotunda roof is taking shape, and it looks great, but something has gone awry. Stotsenburg joins a huddle over drawings to resolve a discrepancy between the metal decking and the plans. Refabrication of the steelwork will mean a lengthy delay, one a fast-track mall renovation cannot afford. Design input is needed from the project architect (New York City-based Create) and engineers, but Stotsenburg already knows, after a conversation with Gracely, the project manager, that it will take another day or two to fix the problem.

As Stotsenburg moves on, he yells to several men laying a concrete sidewalk next to the entrance. “Hey guys, get your shirts back on. This isn’t the beach!” Construction worker behavior, language and dress — or lack thereof — can be off-putting to shoppers, and their contract has provisions that address those issues. The subcontractors know that their failure to abide by the rules can terminate the contract, and they quickly put on their shirts.

Every week an owner’s meeting is held to address problems, the schedule, and upcoming issues and events. It is attended by the owners, the owner’s representative, the mall manager and other staff, the architect, and the IMC team. On the wall is a printed calendar with tear-off sheets. Today the top one reads “Renovation Countdown — 16 weeks to go.”

Gracely leads the meeting, and his demeanor leaves everyone assured that everything is under control, a good trait in a project manager. But there is a mystery: More than 75 10-inch-square, newly laid tiles have been pushed out of alignment on the first floor. No one knows how it happened, who did it or why, but this means the new tile must be ripped up and replaced. The labor and materials will need to be charged to someone, but who?

The conversation at the owner’s end of the table turns to possession of the mall. It’s coming to the time when a group consisting of IMC, the architect, the owner and the mall manager will begin walking the completed portions of the mall creating a punch list of issues to be addressed before possession is taken. This is a crucial period for a construction manager because, as the deadline nears, there is less time to fix glitches without threatening the schedule.

The architect raises a concern about the darkness of the stain on the wood atrium balcony railing on each floor. After some discussion of refinishing the railing, it is concluded that the wood has aged, and there is no guarantee what another coat of stain will achieve.

The meeting moves on to invoicing, change orders and upcoming scheduling; then Stotsenburg is off to the IMC office on the first floor to meet the supervisor of the Macy’s project. It goes well; with both motivated to keep on schedule and to avoid a time-consuming meeting, they quickly reach a compromise.

Stotsenburg settles into his chair, and takes a moment to review his day’s list, make a few calls to vendors, and review plans and the schedule for the remaining work.

Four Italian-made tile murals depicting the amusement park that once occupied the mall’s site are coming into the country this week. Stotsenburg needs to alert the tile subcontractor and coordinate with the mall manager and maintenance manager about where the murals will be placed.

Then it’s back out to check with the electrician at the parking deck entrance. He has located the trouble and is fixing the problem. As dusk approaches, there will be lights. All things considered, Stotsenburg reflects, it’s been an easy day.

Kristina Mercier is the marketing/PR manager for IMC Construction, an award-winning, national construction management/general contracting firm located in Malvern, Pa., a Philadelphia suburb.

 

© 2008 ICSC. All rights reserved. | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Contact ICSC | ICSC Home |