Columbia Construction's Special Project Division rises out of 2010 strong: Horizon is bright for 2011 and beyond

Columbia Construction Company's Special Projects Division (SPD) began 2011 with over $15 million in backlog, which is substantially higher than this time last year. "The first quarter activity in 2011 is a strong indicator that many Owners are now ready to take advantage of what is still a buyer's market," said Shaun Lover, Columbia SPD's newly appointed manager. Lover recently assumed this leadership role when Chris McCarthy, a 27-year veteran and former head of SPD, launched the firm's new division - Columbia Energy. With Columbia Construction for 11 years, Lover came up through the ranks from assistant superintendent to project manager. Lover served as the project manager for the firm's $82 million project at 175-185 Wyman St., in Waltham - a 335,000 s/f, LEED Gold corporate campus for Hobbs Brook Management. Another key indicator of Columbia SPD's healthy portfolio is their hiring activity. Mike Hamill, Rosemary Salvaggio, and Ian Manferdini recently joined SPD as project managers. We're looking to add additional staff to our team in the immediate future. Over the last three months, we have put in place over $2 million worth of tenant fit-out and renovation work within markets as diverse as corporate, academic, hospitality, retail and the life sciences. Here's a snapshot of some of the projects on which Columbia SPD is currently working: one and two international place Since 2003, Columbia SPD has renovated over 400,000 s/f of Class A office space, retail space, and base building common areas at International Place, the premier and world-class office building in Boston's Financial District. Currently, we're doing a 6,000 s/f renovation for CT Partners, on the 32nd floor at One International Place, in addition to a dozen-plus ongoing base building projects throughout the two towers. "Columbia Construction's SPD provides a level of service and commitment that continually exceeds our expectations," said Steve Mitchell, vice president at The Chiofaro Company. "Their staffs' attention to detail, the quality of their work, and their ultimate desire to make sure our tenants are happy at the end of a project, are why we choose to work with Columbia time and time again." dassault systèmes, 175 wyman st., waltham 212,000 s/f build-out for Dassault Systèmes' New Americas Campus. Owned and operated by Hobbs Brook Management, Elkus Manfredi Architects is designing the interior office space at 175 Wyman St. Jones Lang LaSalle is serving as project manager; AHA Consulting Engineers is the MEP Engineer for the interior office space; and Symmes Maini & McKee Associates is providing engineering design services for a data center and computer lab space. arrowstreet capital, boston Renovations and fit-up of the 26th and 30th floors of the John Hancock Building totaling 12,500 s/f. Allegro Interior Architecture is the architect and WB Engineers in the MEP engineer. gibbs college - newbury st., boston 10,000 s/f renovation including classroom and administrative office space. The owner is Career Education Corp. of Illinois; the owner's rep is Colliers International (formerly Colliers Meredith & Grew). Interior Architecture's Chicago office is the interior designer. berklee college of music - mass ave. and boylston st., boston Columbia SPD is performing nearly 10,000 s/f of renovations for Berklee at two locations for a new public safety suite and a new mail center. Spagnolo Gisness & Associates is the architect and RW Sullivan is the MEP engineer. grace chapel - wilmington 15,000 s/f new renovation including a 440-seat sanctuary; a café and kitchen; and two nurseries (1st floor); and administrative offices for religious education (2nd floor). The owner's rep is Church Solutions Group of Illinois; and the designer is Maugel Architects of Harvard, Mass. suffolk university - boston Phase I includes the core/shell construction of a new street-level restaurant for Fajitas & 'Ritas. Project scope includes a new exterior store front, MEP and life/safety upgrades; and new flooring to prep for the incoming restaurant. Symmes Maini & McKee is the architect and engineer. Phase II of the build-out is currently being priced. cfar - one main st., cambridge CB Richard Ellis hired SPD to build-out new space for their tenant, CFAR (Center for Applied Research). DiMella Shaffer is the architect. tremont credit union, boston Build-out of retail, customer service and office space, for TCU's Longwood Medical Area branch, with architect Dyer Brown & Associates. Columbia SPD has a solid presence in Boston's downtown commercial, and surrounding suburban markets. Its project managers, estimators and superintendents are experts in managing fast-track, multi-phased projects in occupied and highly sensitive environments.