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New Market Rate Apartment Tops Out

Group happy and celebrating with cotton candy at groundbreaking
Brooklyn Park, MD

Woodfall Greens has reached a construction milestone with the topping out of the 230-unit market rate apartment community. The milestone was celebrated on Monday, August 13th with a carnival themed barbeque for subcontractors and other guests.

Harkins Site Manager Shane Carbaugh said, “I would like to thank everyone here today, our owner Enterprise Homes, our architect Grimm + Parker, and last but not least, our subcontractors. This was not an easy project to get under roof, so we appreciate all of your support, hard work, and dedication to this project.”

Along with the delicious Mission BBQ barbecue, the Harkins team also spun cotton candy, popped popcorn, and tried their arm at dunking the project site manager in the dunk tank.

The 276,560 gsf community includes five four-story wood frame buildings offering a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments. When completed, amenity spaces will include leasing and management offices, a large club room, a library and business center, a fully equipped fitness center, an outdoor pool and deck area, and an outdoor courtyard with a fireplace and barbeque station.

The project is targeting substantial completion in December 2018.

Topping Out Photos

Harkins Standardizes with Procore

Crew collaborating on pro core

By Ralph Kreider
Application Software Manager

Driven by our focus on reducing administrative workloads and increasing communication among project team members, Harkins began piloting Procore in 2014. Procore is a cloud-based construction management software that helps firms modernize project communication and documentation. The goal was simple: streamline processes so team members could focus their time on what they do best – building. In addition, we also wanted to find a way to provide better value to our clients.

Over the past few years, Harkins has implemented Procore as the “one-stop shop” for our project teams using features such as document management, project correspondence, RFIs, submittals, photo documentation, change orders, daily logs, and drawings and specifications. Because Harkins’ license includes unlimited users, the entire project team is given access to the software, including architects, engineers, and subcontractors. Procore’s intuitiveness and ease of use helps improve efficiency all the way through the project life cycle from start to finish.

Site Manager Bill Janes mentions the RFP tool in Procore has helped him immensely. He said, “The RFP (request for pricing) tool in Procore’s change events module has been a game changer. It has created an automated way of requesting pricing for changes from subcontractors. This automation has saved us valuable time. Our subcontractors are given a due date, and if they do not respond by that date, there are daily reminders sent via email until the request is satisfied.”

We continue to evaluate additional tools and modules within Procore, such as bidding, inspections, and punch-lists. It is Harkins’ goal to integrate most of our business and technology processes into Procore to enable more seamless and efficient workflows. Our hope is that this will not only simplify our construction processes internally but will also lead to more successful projects for all project team members.

Harkins believes in providing the highest level of professional and technical excellence across every aspect of our clients’ projects.

USO-Metro Celebrates Ribbon Cutting of All-Star Depot

USO Ft. Belvoir Ribbon Cutting group shot
Ft. Belvoir, VA

The Harkins team attended the ribbon cutting of the USO-Metro All-Star Depot in Ft. Belvoir, VA on July 12, 2018.

Throughout this project, a 12,000 square foot logistics facility underwent a complete renovation on the Ft. Belvoir base. The scope of work included installing a new HVAC system, commercial-grade refrigeration units, new floating acoustical panel ceilings, an LED lighting system, an Audio/Visual system, along with grinding and polishing the floors, and adding a custom curtain warehouse divider with the USO, MLB, and Washington Nationals logos.

Photo: (from left to right): Ben Nichols, Gary Garofalo, Washington Sports Announcer Steve Buckhantz, President and CEO of USO-Metro Elaine Rogers, Nationals Principal Owner Mark Lerner, and Mike Drummond.

The facility will be primarily used to receive and store non-perishable goods and program supplies that are delivered weekly to the nine USO-Metro locations in the Washington DC region. This renovation will also increase the types of products and supplies that can be stored at the facility, including the addition of bulk perishable foods to inventory distributed. The facility will serve as an important program and event venue throughout the year. It will enable USO-Metro to expand their reach and provide more programming throughout the year to local service members and their families.

Ribbon Cutting Photos

Affordable Housing Community Breaks Ground in Arlington

Group on site with tractors at Berkley project

The Harkins team attended the groundbreaking of The Berkeley project on Thursday, May 31st in Arlington, VA.

The Berkeley will be a new 256-unit affordable apartment complex for repeat client AHC Inc. Built in the 1960s, it is currently made up of two five-story apartment buildings. These buildings will be demolished in phases, scheduled five months apart with intent to achieve separate occupancies for each individual building by Arlington County. They will be replaced with a two-level subterranean parking garage and two new five-story affordable apartment buildings.

The first building will be comprised of 125 residential units and the second will have 131 additional residential units. The buildings will be constructed to VHDA standards, designed to achieve Earthcraft Gold certification. The exterior of the buildings will have TPO roofs, a veneer mix of brick, cementitious siding, metal panels, and stacked balconies. Additionally, the Four Mile Run trail will be widened and there will be increased access to the waterfront through additional access points. Site amenities will include a community center, fitness room, playground, and outdoor sport court.

Groundbreaking Photos

Heritage Overlook Celebrates Final Phase of Redevelopment

Team celebrating final phase of Heritage Overlook redevelopment

The Harkins team attended the grand opening and ribbon cutting of the Heritage Overlook project on Thursday, May 31, 2018 in Glen Burnie, MD.

Heritage Overlook is the second and final phase of the redevelopment of the former Burwood Gardens public housing project, developed in partnership with The Housing Commission of Anne Arundel County (HCAAC) and Pennrose Properties, LLC. Harkins Builders built Phase 1 which was a 100-unit wood frame independent senior building built in 2014. Phase 2 consisted of 30 townhome units in four buildings and 70 garden apartment units in three buildings. These buildings were all wood frame, clad with brick and cementitious siding to match Phase 1.

Renovations included a 5,000 sf community center with a multipurpose room, fitness room, computer room, mail room, management and leasing offices, and maintenance space. The community center includes a separate space for a new chapter of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Anne Arundel County, which will provide learning and enrichment activities to benefit children in the community.

In a recent survey, Mike Hale of HCAAC said, “The project looks awesome and everyone involved should be very proud. The Harkins construction team assembled on both phases is the best I have ever worked with. We could build any building there is…thank you for all your efforts!”

Ribbon Cutting Photos

Empowering the Next Generation:
Harkins Emerging Leaders

Harkins team is all in - hands in on emerging leaders!

By Mike Ebrahimi
Senior Vice President, Construction Operations

In 2012, Harkins engaged The Center for Leadership and Innovation at UMBC Training Centers to develop and implement a customized, three-year Emerging Leaders program (ELP) to unleash the potential in some of the company’s most promising young leaders. Employees are nominated and carefully selected by the Harkins executive team. Over the course of the program, the Emerging Leaders have grown measurably more skillful in key leadership practices, such as organizational accountability, crucial conversations, building effective relationships, LEAN facilitation, team building activities, and delivering effective feedback and feed-forward to name just a few.

The result of this program has been a total cultural transformation with teamwork, collaboration, and accountability at its foundation. Empowering our emerging leaders has had an extraordinary impact on the way we now do business. By combining their talent, outside-the-box and intuitive thinking, constant challenging of the status quo, and expansive use of technology with our executive team have opened unlimited opportunities at Harkins. Additionally, we’ve found the experience of these leaders creates a domino effect that expands throughout the organization.

This program has engaged nearly 50 leaders in our organization over the past six years, with the third ELP group now underway. Because of this program, we are better poised today to lead this company into the next 50 years.

Mixed Use Community Parc at Princeton Tops Out

Smiling faces and construction hats on site at Community Parc

The Parc at Princeton Village project in West Windsor, NJ is officially under roof. The milestone at our latest project for Toll Brothers Apartment Living was celebrated on Thursday, May 24th with a topping out party for our great subcontractor crews. The Harkins team served up some great barbecue and even had an ice cream truck, which everyone enjoyed. This event marks the building reaching its highest constructed point.

When completed, this community will offer 232 rental units, both residential and corporate suites, in 10 buildings in West Windsor, NJ. Building amenities will include a fitness room, a club house with pool, a café, a lounge, a game room, private dining, a leasing office, a maintenance shed and trash enclosures, and 22,000 sf of retail space. There will also be a public park that all residents will be able to access. Parc at Princeton is on schedule for completion at the end of this year.

Topping Out Photos

 

An Award-Winning Space

Harkins accepting award of Merit for HQ office

Harkins’ Columbia Headquarters

Our goal isn’t to build award-winning buildings and spaces. It just ends up that way. Through the dedication and hard work of our project teams, the Harkins Columbia Headquarters has earned an Excellence in Construction award from the NAIOP Maryland chapter and an Award of Merit from the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Baltimore Metro chapter.

In December 2016, Harkins moved into a new 20,000 square foot open-plan office in downtown Columbia, MD. The office includes a mix of team rooms for offices, private meeting rooms with transparent glass fronts, larger spaces for family-like social connections, including a café and a multipurpose room, and open work stations to encourage collaboration. This space reflects our new market-based corporate structure, and was designed to help us take our 50-year history of comprehensive client service to the next level. “We feel the open space environment encourages collaboration and allows us to make more efficient use of our space,” says Gary Garofalo, president and CEO of Harkins Builders. “We’ve found the new space has improved company morale and has brought our employees together like never before.” The design was so successful that we are replicating the design on an additional 4,500 square feet on the floor below, connected by an open staircase. Additionally, we are also redesigning our regional office in the Northeast.

NAIOP Maryland held their bi-annual Excellence in Construction Awards event on April 19th. This event celebrates and recognizes outstanding commercial real estate projects throughout the region. Although the competition was tough in the Best Interior Tenant Fit-Out category, our space earned top honors. This was our first entry into the NAIOP MD awards program.

ABC Baltimore Metro held their annual Excellence in Construction Awards event on April 24th. The Excellence in Construction Awards celebration honors the state’s most innovative and high-quality construction projects and safety programs. In this prestigious program, Harkins took home an Award of Merit in the Interior Fit-Out Over $1 Million category.

Thank you to The Verve Partnership, specifically project leads Erin Deason and Dani Wirtz, led by Principal Kelly Ennis, on their amazing space planning and design. The fit-out was performed by Harkins’ Commercial Group.

Complete List of Winners from the NAIOP MD Excellence in Construction Awards program

St. James Plaza Celebrates Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting

Ribbon cutting ceremony at St James Plaza

The Harkins team attended the grand opening of the St. James Plaza project on Saturday, April 14, 2018 in Alexandria, VA.

Located in the City of Alexandria’s Beauregard neighborhood, St. James Plaza is Harkins’ latest completed project for repeat client AHC Inc. This project transformed three acres previously owned by the St. James United Methodist Church and the Bi-District Office of the Northern Virginia Methodist Church into 93 new affordable apartments. The affordable rental apartments are a mix of efficiencies, one-, two- and three-bedroom units at rents ranging from 40% to 60% of the Area Median Income. The church and office have both moved to an adjacent property.

The structure is comprised of five stories of wood frame construction above two levels of underground cast-in-place concrete construction. It includes underground parking, a fitness center, and a community room for residents. There is also an onsite preschool operated by The Campagna Center that will provide early childhood services to children living in both the affordable building and the surrounding community.

The apartments include Energy Star-certified kitchen appliances, high-efficiency, individually controlled HVAC systems, carpeted floors, and ceramic tile. The building meets the highest EarthCraft environmental certification.

Grand Opening Photos

Culpepper Garden I Groundbreaking Marks Beginning of Renovations

Harkins and team celebratory ground breaking at the Culpepper project

The Harkins team attended the groundbreaking on the Culpepper Garden I Renovation project on Wednesday, April 11, 2018 in Arlington, VA.

Built in 1975, Culpepper Garden I is an eight-story affordable senior highrise building in Arlington, VA. We are renovating 206 apartments, made up of 74 one-bedroom, seven two-bedroom, and 129 efficiency units, and adding six new apartments. The work inside the units will take place in phases, typically 14 to 16 units at a time, to limit any disruption to the residents. Residents will be relocated to a temporary apartment on site.

The project scope will include replacing all apartment windows, a new roof, repairing the facade with a DOW AllGuard coating for damage and waterproofing, replacing all major systems (heating, cooling, plumbing, and sanitary), substantially upgrading the elevators, installing sprinklers throughout the entire building, and increasing accessibility in units and public spaces. In addition, amenity spaces will be reconfigured to include a multi-purpose and public program space, a wellness suite with a fitness area, a beauty parlor and barber shop, laundry facilities, a commercial kitchen with a bistro and dining area, a trash chute, a mail room, conference rooms, and a management office space.

The apartment renovations will include new flooring, a fresh coat of paint, upgraded plumbing fixtures, new interior finishes, and a full kitchen upgrade with new appliances, cabinets, and countertops.

Harkins also built two other buildings on the Culpepper Garden campus. Culpepper Garden Phase II was built in 1992, and Culpepper Garden Phase III was built in 1999.

Groundbreaking Photos