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Hudson Meridian Construction Group:
At the Core of New Building in The Big Apple
New York City’s Hudson Meridian Construction Group has established itself as an award-winning construction services specialist. Written by Kevin Doyle Produced by Stephen Marino
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ince it was founded in 2002, New York City’s Hudson Meridian Construction Group has established itself as an awardwinning construction services specialist with demonstrated expertise in both the public and private sectors.
Under the guidance of CEO and Founder William I. Cote, Hudson Meridian is a highly regarded provider of Construction Management, General Contracting and Program Management services. Though primarily involved in new construction and restoration projects such as public housing, luxury residential high rises and adaptive re-use of industrial space, the company’s vast portfolio also includes health and continued care, marine and educational facilities as well as disaster response and remediation. Located in the heart of the city’s Financial District at 61 Broadway, the company employs 130 and is projected to generate $750m revenue in 2017. It has been responsible for 4.9 million square feet of construction from January 2012 through March 2017 and is committed to shepherding on-time and onbudget projects that align with its clients’ vision through from
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concept to completion. “It’s about having full vision with an understanding of delivery of a product and meeting the clients’ constraints and understanding their intent to ensure what we committed to delivering,” says company Vice President Luciano Bana, an industry veteran of 25 years. One recent survey ranked the company sixth among the Top 20 New York City General Contractors by ground-up
William Cote
Hudson Meridian Construction Group | 5 projects. Bana points to a major edge Hudson Meridian holds over competitors. “We do retain builders within our organization. We have ground up personnel that are able to build, people that you can put in an open environment and who know the processes of framing out a closet or installing a tower crane and doing a tieback,” says Bana. “We have key professionals that understand the overall building process, whether it’s core and
shell, foundation and remediation, or interiors. We have a substantial history with many individuals that carry that knowledge forward,” he adds. Bana says the company is a committed community partner that donates time and services to a variety of charitable organizations.
Operations
Hudson Meridian began as a non-union shop, something of a prescient decision at the time. As Bana notes, “the marketplace has predominantly changed from a union environment to a non-union environment. About 55 percent market share is now non-union. And the projects are getting much larger.” Given the scope of its work, the company works with a multitude of vendors and maintains a comprehensive database of subcontractors, consultants and engineers with oversight provided by its Procurement Department.
Peter Monte
The company has incorporated Subguard® – an insurance product that safeguards projects from delays and additional costs associated with a defaulted subcontractor or supplier – into its process to ensure that subcontractors are able to take on
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Hudson Meridian Construction Group | 6 the financial demands of any given project. “We do have a core group of subs that have helped us in successfully delivering various buildings. We develop references and projects history and we benchmark subs on a quarterly basis. If they seem they may be high risk, then we manage the financial process for them,” Bana points out. “The challenges of having multiple subcontractors on one specific site within a New York City environment lends itself to having to qualify personnel to run it. So the vetting process has
“It’s about having full vision with an understanding of delivery of a product and meeting the clients’ constraints and understanding their intent to ensure what we committed to delivering.”
- Vice President Luciano Bana www.hudsonmeridian.com
become much more stringent and more difficult than it was say five years ago when open shop with abundant qualified individuals wasn’t as needed as much as it is today,” Bana explains. Advances in technology continue to enhance the speed with which problems can be addressed, thereby keeping projects on track. “Look back 20 years and we didn’t have the technology in various cycles of our projects that we have now. Information becomes instant versus having to build on experience or your knowledge of the drawing. We didn’t have these luxuries back then. Now we deliver the same project without having to wait for certain aspects,” says Bana. The company is a member of both the U.S. Green Building Council and the National Association of Home Builders. Bana says approximately 60 percent of the company’s projects are performed to LEED guidelines but adds “energy efficiency is now the new requirement.”
Premier Projects
The $200m Pier House project in the heart of Brooklyn Bridge Park consists of two mid-rise condos and a 10-story hotel and was executed for Toll Brothers City
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Living and Starwood Capital Group and is expected to earn LEED Silver certification. The 580,000sf development includes 194 hotel guest rooms and 106 condominiums and features green roofs with deciduous and conifer trees. When completed, the hotel will include restaurants/bars, a health spa, conference/meeting rooms and a banquet facility. A full size cellar beneath the structures will house a below grade parking lot. Construction requires a continuous dewatering operation due to the proximity of the East
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River, as the water table is roughly six feet below grade. Additionally: • Facade elements and materials are carefully designed to blend into the surrounding Brooklyn Bridge Park. The facades will feature limestone, glass, reclaimed wood and metal panels. • Special acoustical design and construction practices will insure a quiet environment for hotel guests and homeowners.
• Glass curtain walls and
Hudson Meridian Construction Group | 9 with 440 rental units in the Fort Greene Park neighborhood. Highlights include a gym, common party room, lounge area, children’s playroom and a roof deck. More than 10,000sf of shops will be housed on the ground floor.
Safety Measures
The company stresses safety 24/7 via dedicated job site oversight and its participation in a city-wide program focused on high-rise safety.
window walls are used throughout the buildings to maximize the extraordinary views. • Deep foundations of more than 850 piles driven into bedrock nearly 100 feet below the surface support the reinforced concrete superstructure. One residential building spans the Cranberry Street MTA subway tunnel, approximately 30 feet below the building. The recently completed 86 Fleet Place in Brooklyn, a $140m venture for Red Apple Real Estate, is a 33-story mixed-use tower
“Our corporate safety directors audit each and every one of our jobs on a weekly basis to maintain safety standards above what the requirements are,” says Bana. “Hudson has the availability to join the high rise program in New York City that’s basically an open invitation for inspectors to come in and examine our safety guidelines. We encourage that for all of our projects.”
Employees and Training
Team building and organic growth is key to maintaining continuity within the company. “And we do recognize the availability of outside talent helping us to grow. So we take both practices and fuse them together,” says Bana.
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““Our corporate safety directors audit each and every one of our jobs on a weekly basis to maintain safety standards above what the requirements are.”
- Vice President Luciano Bana www.hudsonmeridian.com
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Hudson Meridian Construction Group |12 Benchmarking measures help to identify those individuals ready to take their next career step. “If we have a rising star that has the drive and wherewithal, we coach them and bring them into the fold as far as teaching them the various independencies from being a Superintendent, to being and Assistant Project Manager and onto being a Project Manager, a Senior Project Manager and an Executive Vice President. We coach them every
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step of the way in understanding the processes and teaching them the ins and outs of the business,” says Bana. In the final analysis, Bana views Hudson Meridian a “a business with multiple businesses in itself having the vision to put something together and finding the personalities to bring it all together.” “It’s evolved for the better,” he concludes.
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COMPANY INFORMATION Company Name: Hudson Meridian Construction Group Country: U.S. Industry: Construction Est: 2002 Revenue: $750m Premiere Service: Construction Management;General Contracting, Program Management Founder/CEO: William I. Cote Website: https://www.hudsonmeridian.com/
www.hudsonmeridian.com
61 Broadway, 7th Floor New York, NY 10006 P: (212) 608-6600