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27 Aug

Posted at 13:41h in News, Project Milestone

As WCSD settles into the beginnings of the 2021-2022 school year, United Construction and their subcontractors are hard at work making way for more new and remodeled classrooms and buildings at Swope Middle School.

“It is exciting to see the students and staff at Swope begin to use the new-and-improved facilities this school season,” said Casey Gunther, Operations Manager for United Construction. “We are all beginning to see a ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ in terms of the phased construction process, and we look forward to continuing the remodels and moving forward with work on the new building wing.”

The aforementioned building wing will be a new two-story classroom building in the location of the former gymnasium, which has been completely demolished. It will house a new resource center, math and science classrooms, a technology lab, a new teachers’ lounge and workspace, social science and language classrooms, a group room for various activities and a hub space.

In the new gym, the hardwood flooring is complete. On the floor, students can enjoy the revamped basketball hoops, volleyball courts and a scoreboard. The new fitness center will be also be ready to use in the near future.

Band and choir students will soon be able to take advantage of the new music practice rooms, as site workers near completion on the remodels. Additionally, the remodel on the kitchen facilities are now underway.

Up next for the construction team are excavations, followed by the installation of underground utilities directly after excavations are complete.

05 Aug

Posted at 09:03h in News, Project Milestone, United Team

United Construction recently commenced the installation of culvert along Reactor Way at the Hamilton campus. As United and their subcontractor Sierra Nevada Construction were hired to make roadway and infrastructure improvements at Hamilton, they also began realigning the surrounding roadway along Reactor Way this week. The realignment process, which is slated to continue through the end of September, includes demolition, road grading and the use of heavy equipment.

Upon project completion of the Hamilton Reactor Way site, Waldorf School and High Sierra Industries will enjoy additional parking spaces. Hamilton will have new sidewalks, parallel parking, crosswalks and landscaping along Reactor Way.

Culvert installation photos courtesy of Jeff Dow.

02 Aug

Posted at 07:30h in News, Project Milestone

The third and final phase of United Construction’s work at Swope Middle School is in full swing. The start of this phase is marked by the demolition of old facilities and the building of the new, making room for a strong future for the students at the school.

“As we begin our last phase of construction, I reflect on all the hard work we’ve done alongside our talented subcontractors, architect partners and Washoe County School District,” said Casey Gunther, Operations Manager for United Construction. “We are anticipating more incredible changes as we work our way through Phase 3 and finish out the new-and-improved school.”

In mid-July, the former gymnasium was completely demolished, which can be seen captured in the photo to the left. Regarding the demolition, Gunther reports that “all went well, and we are excited to continue bringing the new gym to life.” The bleachers and center court logo have been transferred to the new gym, and the construction team is moving forward with more interior and exterior finishes.

Beyond the gym, the band room has been expanded after the successful demolition of a wall. The team is also gearing up to remove and replace the hallway carpet as well as replace a structural support in the cafeteria this summer.

Students from Swope who opted to attend summer school are doing so at Reno High School. While there, the library is being temporarily moved from its current location that will eventually become the kitchen for the cafeteria. It will be housed in the activity room of the gym until construction of the new library is complete in the two-story building.

01 Aug

Posted at 09:00h in News, Project Milestone

United Construction’s design-build work on the 10,978 sf, two-story expansion at Dassault Falcon on Rock Blvd is complete! The expansion, which sits on the Reno-Tahoe International Airport grounds, features a storage room for parts and equipment, break room, full locker rooms with bathrooms and showers, conference room, avionics work room, new stairways and a quality assurance room overlooking the main aviation work floor.

Dassault is a French based aircraft manufacturer of business and corporate jets. The United Construction design-build team also delivered the existing building used by Dassault. United delivered it in 1996 as an aircraft maintenance hangar for Reno Air.

We credit Superintendent Pete Brunner, Assistant Superintendent Justin Brunner, Project Manager Rob Felstead, Project Administrator Glady Robinette and Operations Manager Casey Gunther for managing this project to success.

 

08 Jun

Posted at 11:15h in News, Project Milestone, United Team

Under the leadership of Superintendent Chuck Brown and Project Manager Chris Silsby, United Construction is underway with pre-construction processes along Reactor Way within the Hamilton Company campus. Hamilton hired United and their roadway subcontractor Sierra Nevada Construction to make road and infrastructure improvements at Hamilton Reactor Way, and United is currently working to finish installation of guardrails over University Drain to connect Reactor Way and provide access to Rock Blvd.

United is excavating the surrounding campus trench this week. During this time, heavy equipment will be loaded onsite. Business neighbors should exercise appropriate cautions and stay aware of lane closures and flaggers.

Upon project completion, Waldorf School and High Sierra Industries will enjoy additional parking spaces, while Hamilton Reactor Way will have new sidewalks, parallel parking, crosswalks and landscaping.

30 Apr

Posted at 11:15h in News, Project Milestone, United Team

Tenancy has begun at 4141 Distribution Circle in North Las Vegas, one of our projects we’ve turned over with Dermody Properties after an aggressive 7-month schedule.

Justin Williams, who was project manager until handing off the project to Dane Horton in March, said it’s been a great project. “Thanks to the father-son team of Kerry and Colton Brock, the job went smoothly. We transformed a 20-year-old portion of the building with new finishes and systems, and we roughly doubled the warehouse space to a total of about 226,000 square feet.”

“Our expansion and renovation greatly increased the function and value of 4141 Distribution Circle, and helped re-position the building to a more modern and desirable warehouse/distribution facility,” said CEO Michael Russell.

The new warehouse is keeping Dermody Property representatives busy talking to interested tenants. In the photo above, you’ll see a shot highlighting the transition from the existing building to the expansion.

21 Apr

Posted at 11:03h in News, United Team

The Northern Nevada Business Weekly spoke with representatives from four contractors in Northern Nevada, including our very own Michael Russell. Michael spoke about the construction industry as it stands today, especially as the pandemic lingers on, and the opportunities that are imminent. Read his Q&A below, pulled directly from the NNBW article:

Question: What is the biggest difference in how your company assesses a job now versus before the pandemic?
Answer: The biggest difference for us is to focus on communicating our policies and procedures for the COVID response with our customers and incorporating language into our contracts, which allows us to react in unnecessary manner. There have been a few COVID delays in some of our projects, nothing major. But we have had a few impacts on a few projects where people showed up to the job site, and maybe had exposures or came up with COVID. So, we’ve had to do all the things that you’d have to do when you get exposed — sometimes stop the work for a few days till we can contract trace and figure out who’s exposed, who’s been exposed, etc. Really, it’s just communicating with all of our stakeholders and making sure our customers are aware of some of the impacts when they occur.

Q: What are the top challenges and opportunities facing your industry in 2021 and beyond?
A: For opportunities, this year — and probably for 2022 — there’s a very high demand for new industrial buildings, which is the bulk of our type of construction. That demand has been driven by the acceleration due to COVID of more goods being bought online and having to be delivered to people’s houses. That’s been driving our market sector property heavily. We’re as busy as we’ve ever been and we have more projects in the pipeline than we’ve ever had in terms of industrial. The main challenges we’re facing nowadays is steel and wood and plastic products have all become in high demand. Manufacturers right now have way more demand than they can actually manufacture and supply, so lead-time to getting materials to job sites is stretching out. In addition, there are cost escalations going on in the marketplace based on the inverted supply-demand ratio right now. And then thirdly, the top challenges and opportunities we have is finding and hiring quality people. Our business here locally is kind of limited because we have a small population. Companies like ours have to kind of sit back and balance our resources, because we can’t take on necessarily everything we get an opportunity to look at, so we have to look at our resources to make sure that we can perform the work without killing our people with overtime. So, that’s a kind of balancing act right now for a lot of companies here.

Q: With the need for masks, social distancing and other measures, how do you address safety in the workplace differently now?
A: We follow the Washoe County Health Department and CDC guidelines. And additional to the traditional safety items, we also ensure the proper use of personal protection equipment, and social distancing, health assessments, proper sanitation facilities, and cleaning protocols. We’re reducing meeting sizes or changing locations to safely support larger groups, as well as additional documentation to record those efforts and support possible contact tracing as necessary. And we’re communicating that with our field staffs on a regular basis. Our field supervision project control teams are well-versed in these requirements; they’re on top of this stuff every day at the job site.

15 Apr

Posted at 10:54h in News, United Team

As we all know, Casey Gunther, Operations Manager for United Construction, was announced as a winner of the 2020 Twenty Under 40 Awards, hosted by the Reno-Tahoe Young Professionals Network. When he was (very deservedly!) selected among the 20 leaders under 40 in the northern Nevada, the Northern Nevada Business Weekly (NNBW) asked him to share his thoughts on the economy and community leadership. Check out his responses below, copied from the NNBW article:

Q: What do you see as the top one or two economic development opportunities in Northern Nevada in 2021 and beyond?
Casey Gunther: We will continue to grow in our role as a major distribution hub for a wide range of goods, including products manufactured and assembled here. The opportunity for tourism is very bright given our vast public lands and the increased desire for outdoor recreation. It would be great to see entrepreneurs further facilitate the … responsible use of our public lands for the outdoor activities like horseback riding, hiking, camping, bird watching and more.

Q: Why is it important for young professionals to have a seat at the table when it comes to the business community in Northern Nevada?
Gunther: It would be great to have more young people at the table who are inclusive and open-minded. Because our political parties have become so polarized, we need new leadership that is respectful of differing points of view and willing to seek compromise.

Q: What under the radar businesses have the biggest opportunity for growth in Northern Nevada?
Gunther: The healthy food processing industry … I think we will continue to see quality food and nutraceutical manufacturers move to Northern Nevada or expand their operations here. We are also seeing recreational equipment startups, and I think that trend will continue in support of outdoor enthusiasts nationwide.

Q: Where do you see the greater Reno-Sparks region in 5 years?
Gunther: We will have greater economic diversity as businesses from California and other states continue to relocate here for our favorable business environment. I have faith our school districts, our regional transportation commission and governing agencies will continue to responsibly respond to this growth.

Q: If you could change one thing for the better about your community, what would it be?
Gunther: I wish we could build homes that are more affordable. Our employees want to live in a community where their children will be able to buy homes and live comfortably in the future. Residential prices are on a trajectory that makes home ownership less likely in the future for young professionals.

Q: Why do you feel this region is better positioned to bounce back from the COVID recession than other parts of the state and country?
Gunther: As a major distribution hub, Reno-Sparks is seeing substantial growth in industrial, e-commerce, food processing and last-mile demand, because people are staying home and ordering online the goods and foods they can have delivered. This online product demand is driving distribution construction and employment. I think the convenience of online shopping will be the norm long past COVID.

12 Apr

Posted at 10:19h in News, Project Milestone, United Team

“As Uline shipped its first package today from its new Reno Fulfillment Center, I want to salute the United Construction team that kept and met our promises. Uline, at nearly a million square feet, is one of the most complex and aggressive projects we’ve ever delivered. Uline required an intense amount of customer service, and our team did an amazing job of responding to Uline’s highly detailed needs and expectations.”

Strong words of positivity from United’s Operations Manager Casey Gunther, as we complete our work at Uline’s new facility in Northern Nevada and employees begin shipping out products.

Uline is the largest shipping supply company in the world. They have 12 buildings in three countries including Canada, Mexico and the USA. This facility is just over 900,000 sf that features three separate tenant improvements. The main office is nearly 16,000 sf while the separate Warehouse Managers Office is a two-story office structure.

Uline has extremely high standards when it comes to their building – those standards which are set by the owner Elizabeth Uihlein as they try to keep each of their facilities set up the same.

For instance, Nick Crawford, the Superintendent on the project, gave a few examples of Uline’s high standards of excellence:

  • “The entire ceiling structure was painted with three coats of paint! While we had originally allotted two coats of paint for each 100,000 sf, we ended up adding an additional coat of oil base paint to the scope. Uline accelerated the painting contractor by paying all the overtime it took. So this meant three coats of paint on the ceiling structure totaling over 3,150,000 sf of paint.”
  • “The facility has a lot of racking, as one would expect for a warehouse, with some of the racking requiring in-rack fire suppression. The facility has a large automated UPS conveyor system In the UPS area. It also has an automated shrink wrap machine for shrink wrapping full size pallets in their bulk shipping area. The facility is equipped with a unique Sackett Battery charging station. This Sackett system is a fully automated battery charging station with 120 battery capacity for warehouse equipment charging needs. Given the facility operates 20 hours a day, the demand for batteries is more then we have seen in the past.”
  • “This project also has a generator that supports full power back up. In case of a power outage the Uline facility can fully operate with no down time. These are the things that made this project unique and challenging for our project team.”

The new Uline center sits at 8800 Military Road in Reno.

03 Mar

Posted at 09:03h in News, United Team

United Construction is in design on a $25,000,000 clean room project, says Paul Laird, our VP of Preconstruction. Hamilton Company, a manufacturer of precision measurement devices, hired us to expand its campus to include a 68,000 sf multi-story, high tech facility. Hamilton is responding to a tremendous demand in their products, including syringes, needles and lab instruments.

While we’ve worked for Hamilton before, United won the project by providing a competitive budget estimate, beating out a national clean room specialty contractor, who has worked for Hamilton. “We are seeing more owners who want multiple contractors to provide competitive budgets. The new facility featured a competition, and we won the work because we had the best number.”

Paul is collaborating with local architects at FormGrey Studio to design the facility. Architect Kay Radzik, who formerly worked at United, is on the FormGrey team.

“It’s a tough, complicated project,” Paul explains. “We have a lot of challenges with the small site and the logistics of fitting in a tremendous amount of equipment in the given space. We will be working closely with the city to scope the project to meet their parking and landscaping expectations within the one-acre site. It will take some finesse to get this through permitting.”

In 2013 at Hamilton, United delivered a 13,200 sf clean room, which is shown in the image above, and a workshop in an existing warehouse. We have done other tenant improvements at the campus, including the total renovation of their parking lot in 2020. Currently, we have an important roadway project in permitting for Hamilton on Reactor Way.