Project Spotlight: Cumming City Center
Project Name: Cumming City Center
Location: Cumming, Georgia
Client: City of Cumming
Project Type: New construction
Scope: The City of Cumming selected Cooper & Company to provide the White Box construction for the newest mixed-use development of its City Center. The Cumming City Center houses an amphitheater, restaurants, shopping, miniature golf course, parking deck, sidewalks, trails and more for the community to enjoy. Our team constructed 10 buildings at more than 110,000 square feet for a total of $22 million. Although challenges arose, the project was ultimately completed safely, on time and within budget.
The City of Cumming selected Cooper & Company to provide the White Box construction for the newest mixed-use development of its City Center. Cumming City Center will house an amphitheater, restaurants, shopping, miniature golf course, parking deck, sidewalks, trails and more for the community to enjoy. Cooper & Company constructed 10 buildings, totaling 110,000 square-feet. The cost of the project was $22 million. As a design-bid-build project, many subcontractors were already selected by the City of Cumming. Our team was challenged with managing these trades, accommodating more than 50 owner-requested change orders, weather delays but were still able to complete the project on time and within the City’s budget. Cooper & Company completed the job with zero-time lost for safety, managing at times more than 200 people on one job site, as well as, coming up with innovative ways to overcome long lead items while keeping the critical path on pace. With this project located less than one mile from our company headquarters, we assigned one of our top project managers and superintendents to this job as well as our executive team having a hands-on approach and attending every owner’s meeting to ensure satisfaction. We incorporated new techniques including the sandwich slab rooftop on one of the buildings. Our team was thrilled for the opportunity to work right in our back yard and be part of a such a historic project that will bring our community together to live, work and play is even more exciting. We look forward to seeing what the future brings for the City of Cumming City Center.
Clear communication eases obstacles
When delivering 10 gray-box buildings on one jobsite, challenges are bound to occur. However, our Sr. Project Manager and Superintendent faced them head-on for minimal disruption and owner satisfaction. The first challenge our team overcame was working with our owner’s individual trade contractors which included site work, dry wall, roofing, doors, windows, elevators as well as individual tenants moving in and starting their own buildouts. Utilizing his longtime expertise and management skills, George took charge onsite, working to coordinate all these trades so they could work safely and seamlessly on the jobsite.
Material supply-chain proved to be another issue necessary to overcome in our City Center project. Long-lead times on materials such as brick and steel were tackled by ordering items well in advance or providing suitable substitutions to the owner and architect. The most critical long-lead item with potential to delay the schedule was meter boxes from the utility company. Our team relied on generators for power to keep the critical path moving forward.
Our team also overcame the owner’s roofing subcontractor going out of business during construction. This impacted our team’s ability to keep water and elements out of the buildings. Cooper & Company mitigated this by assembling ice and water shields on the roofs and assisting the owner with alternate roofing contacts.
In addition to methods taken to clear these obstacles, clear communication with our owner and architect proved the most beneficial. The owner and architect appreciated being told about issues up front and feeling included in the decision-making process to overcome and maintain the critical path to completion.
Innovative Building Techniques
Our team constructed 10 gray-box buildings; each building designed with different retail functionality in mind. These buildings had 14 different brick styles and we used more than half-of-a-million (554,965) bricks to construct the entire project. The brick details varied and included intricate designs, insets, outsets, outcroppings arches and cultured stone veneer. Another innovative technique Cooper & Company used was for the construction of a sandwich-slab roof—which includes a process of concrete then waterproofing, then insulation and lightweight concrete on top to create a rooftop to be used for entertainment. This procedure allows for a structurally sound roof in addition to being enjoyed for dining, special events and socializing in the community. We poured 12,195 square feet of sandwich slab for this project.
Other unique and innovative features of the Cumming CityCenter include three buildings with wood trusses shaped as a barn to allow the buildings to be open from floor to deck. These features will be particularly useful for large events to be hosted at the City Center. We also erected 900tons of structural steel, 52 tons of bar joist and 1,518 squares of metal decking steel for 10 buildings on the project site.
Building in our backyard
Cooper & Company always makes client service and customer care a top priority on every job we take on. Given this jobsite is less than one mile from our headquarters and the vitality it will bring to our city drove our motivation even further of ensuring complete client satisfaction. With the stake of our reputation on the line in our hometown, we knew we had toprovide the best client care possible. We maintained these expectations by working with the owner to acknowledge and meet every request made. Our company President and Director of Operations attended every owner’s meeting scheduled. Our Project Manager and Superintendent performed weekly walkthroughs with the owner and property manager so they could see progress in real time. We assisted with preparations of getting the site ready for the ribbon cutting ceremony event, that in addition many other local and state leaders was also attended by Gov.Brian Kemp. Cooper & Company assisted the owner and streamlined the change order approval process so critical path could be maintained. The owner appreciated our upfront, regular,and open communication style. They always felt their concerns were heard, requests met and always included in our decision-making processes. This attention ultimately led to a satisfied client and a successfully completed project.
