Perspective: A look at an early covid project
Summer 2023
The impacts of Covid on Bay Area Commercial Real Estate industry have been long-lasting. The early days of shelter in place required the significant adaptability to achieve our client’s goals in a totally new construction landscape with schedule challenges, health concerns, the rising cost of materials, and major supply chain disruptions.
In this article, we look back at a project that was completed for Stanford Medical Partners at 5568 Gibraltar in Pleasanton, one of Stanford’s first Design Build projects.
Project Details and Challenges
Stanford Gibraltar was an adaptive re-use project, converting an office building into a fully operational medical clinic, complete with 39 exam/treatment rooms, general radiology, ultrasound, phlebotomy, and lab areas.
As with most projects, the goal was budget and schedule. Peacock Construction worked closely with the clients, to maximize efficiency and deliver the highest value for design and construction while maintaining Stanford's material and quality standards and completing the project as quickly as possible. The timing of this project was just a few months into Shelter in Place, which posed new challenges on how to communicate, design and resolve issues remotely for critical users, including architectural, engineering, and trade partners.
Supply chain problems created sourcing challenges for procuring items such as electrical gear and panels, fire alarm devices, lighting, controls, lumber, and multiple finish materials. New Covid job site protocols were also created and put into place to ensure the health and safety of all team members. Despite these challenges, Peacock was able to work with the time to achieve a 5-month Design Schedule and 8-month construction phase, from permit issuance to occupancy, meeting the target schedule.
Choosing the Right Team was critical to our success:
When competitively bidding on this project, Peacock made a point of identifying trusted trade partners and consultants, who live and work in the surrounding community and have a vested interest to ensure this project was built to the highest quality standards.
Addressing the Change in Use (Validation)
Determining whether or not the change of use would even be possible was the first challenge and required extensive validation prior to starting the project. The evaluation of the existing mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and structural systems to determine which upgrades would be required to meet the needs of the new healthcare facility. A three-week validation period during the bidding phase was created to conduct detailed inspections and as-built documentation to inform the current design.
Maintaining a Target Budget
The Design-Build Target Budget was competitively bid to Stanford based on a preliminary program provided at bid time. In conjunction with all design consultants, Peacock developed a preliminary Schematic Design from an amalgamation of previous Stanford and other healthcare projects with a few non-standard elements, a more efficient schedule, and a cost-effective pricing structure. User groups were given options that met Stanford standards as well as non-standard options to achieve significant cost savings.
In addition to a detailed Value Engineering effort, our cost model was continuously updated in real time, throughout the project which resulted in successfully maintaining our target budget.
It Comes Down to Relationships
One of the most significant contributors to the success of the project was Peacock’s ability to provide Stanford with an experienced and thoughtful Construction team. We carefully selected partners who shared our vision for success. We developed an environment of accountability and trust through open and clear communication from the start of the project, which resulted in a project that exceeded client expectations in an uncertain time.
Click below to access a virtual walkthrough of the Gibraltar Medical Office building:
Employee Spotlight - Dani Robinson
Dani recently joined the Peacock team, bringing over 10 years of Commercial Real Estate Project Management experience with her from positions with JLL and Gensler, and a BA in English from California State University, East Bay.
Her experience with large capital projects makes Dani an asset across a wide breadth of project types. Her passion for development enhances her eye for detail and is evident in every project she touches.
Favorite Peacock Memory:
Attending the Christmas party my first week in and seeing all the retired Peacock employees who returned to celebrate. I knew then that this really was a family and a great place to work.
Favorite Pastime:
I ride motorcycles....a lot. and garden.
Fun Fact:
I am in an all-female motorcycle club, called The Xtreme Vixens, which is a non-profit group that raises money for local community charities.
Construction Hall of Fame Podcast
Check out this episode of the Construction Hall of Fame podcast, featuring the career of Peacock Construction’s newly promoted VP of Healthcare & Life Sciences, Rey Altamirano.
Rey’s recent promotion is a testament to his leadership and contributions to the Bay Area's healthcare and life science construction. In true Peacock form, Rey has forged collaborative relationships with clients, users, architects, engineers, and other stakeholders, leading to successful partnerships and projects that consistently exceed client expectations.
Congratulations, Rey; we appreciate all you have done for our company.
To listen click HERE.
