Case Studies November 2020

When Guy Beasley left the journalism industry to help open a roofing company in Daytona Beach, Florida, in 2003—a year before three hurricanes struck the state—it didn’t take long for him to see the business model’s potential. Fast forward 17 years, and Beasley’s company has reached new heights with the acquisition of the much larger […]

Days on the road hauling a 53-foot trailer get long. Whether it’s passing under pines in New England, through the sky-wide expanse of the prairies, or down a mountain pass with a brake-busting descent, it can take a lot of drive to keep driving. On the roads crisscrossing the country, its common to see Omaha-orange […]

Losing and gaining jobs. Dealing with racial discrimination. Navigating business operations through a pandemic and raising a family. The only thing left for Sheila Mason-Henry to do is earn her Ph.D. as she’s already mastered managing change and breaking the mold. As the daughter of Costa Rican immigrants, Mason-Henry pursued a career in IT that’s […]

If you’ve recently stepped into a chain hotel and marveled at the contemporary look and feel—crisp architectural lines and muted colors, registration areas of faux brick and glass, comfy and spacious common areas with fireplaces and modernistic lighting, grotto-like pools and outdoor patios with firepits—chances are it was designed and built by Alpha Construction and its proven team […]

With its skyline views, proximity to Boston’s downtown Freedom Trail and a spot on the National Register of Historic Places, it was a housing lottery ticket Suffolk University undergraduate students could only dream of: a room at the former luxury Ames Hotel. Approaching the fall semester of 2020, anticipation was building to welcome first-year students […]

Time was when Sears, Roebuck and Co. anchored many a mall, but how shopping trends change. Staggered into bankruptcy court by e-commerce and crushing debt, that erstwhile heavyweight retailer has been vacating hundreds of its stores, leaving behind cavernous spaces that mall operators need to fill. But here may be the next stage of a […]

It’s a monumental undertaking for drywall and finishing company New England Finish Systems and President Ray Houle is wishing that circumstances would allow him to dispatch even more manpower to the company’s newest endeavor. One of 14 specialty subcontracting divisions of Marquis Management, NEFS originally made its mark completing high-end tenant fit outs. However, Houle […]

Though the subject can’t be avoided, Stephen Vedral would rather discuss something other than COVID-19. For months it’s seemed an all-consuming concern for his Northern Arizona University facilities team, giving rise to what he calls the very contagious “COVID fatigue.” He also reminds that when he assumed his responsibilities at this Flagstaff campus in the […]

There’s something about the soil in Wisconsin that can be most unsettling—literally—to a house’s foundation. Most of the state is covered by the Ice Age’s glacial deposits and expansive clays much affected by the extreme seasons of the Upper Midwest.  During dry spells—and this region has known drought—the soil shrinks, which can cause what’s been built atop to settle unevenly and oftentimes crack. But with climate change, summer temperatures could be rising and that might mean increased rainfall and […]

They’ll be back. Vincent Bruzzese can’t predict exactly how or when, but he knows many are returning to their offices and more will, as COVID-19 abates, and a vaccine is developed. As a director on New York-based Brookfield Properties’ construction team, Bruzzese helps guide interior reconstruction projects throughout the city, most notably at the company’s Manhattan headquarters. Change came to office landscapes well before the coronavirus pandemic. Cubicles and paneled conference rooms are […]