An Alternative Route
By David Brown

Schumacher European Mercedes-Benz, the longtime Scottsdale dealership, is leaving the city for a short ride west and it chose an alternative project delivery method to get there.

After 19 years at the Scottsdale Airpark, the luxury-car dealer is doubling its size in joining other dealerships next to the Chauncey Auto Boutique - about a mile south of Loop 101 on Scottsdale Road. "At the Airpark, we were constrained by space," said Kevin Steele, general manager at Schumacher. "Much of our inventory was simply not viewable by the general public."

Begun in November, the 93,400-sq.-ft. facility will consolidate showroom, sales and service on nine acres and will feature amenities such as a cyber café, computers with Internet access, an auto boutique, and upscale interior decorating. The building is the first of a four-phase project to complete the campus, Steele said.

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According to McGraw-Hill's Dodge analytics group, the project is estimated at more than $5 million.

The building was delivered through the construction manager at-risk method, which gave CORE Construction, the Phoenix-based general contractor/construction manager, an opportunity to advise owner Schumacher European Ltd. prior to construction on design, scheduling, budgeting and constructability. The method saved time and money.

Time was the essence of this project, which made the traditional low-bid method that requires design completion prior to bid considerably less desirable.

By using construction manager at risk, Steele was able to plan a December opening - not only the dealership's traditionally best sales month but the scheduled arrival of new cars. "It's a pivotal year for Mercedes-Benz," he said. "We have a group of 12 new models for 2005."

Schumacher is showcasing the retailored Benz line in a sales area built of structural steel with glazed aluminum walls and three cantilever canopies out front. The finish on the face of the building as well as the exterior columns and canopies will feature EIFS, stone, and alucobond aluminum composite panels.

A parking garage will top the service area, built with concrete tilt walls and precast concrete double tees for its roof. The garage has been designed with the capability of being expanded to three floors, said Gabe Gavrilidis, project manager for CORE. He added that space for a workout facility for employees above the showroom is also being built, although it will not be completed in the first phase.

The owner is the prime beneficiary with construction manager at-risk said Ken Hill, an architect who owns the Dallas-based National Automobile Dealership Consultants, which specializes in designing car dealerships nationwide.

Hill's company provided the overall design, including structural, mechanical and engineering input.

Dennis Montague, vice president of construction services for CORE, formerly Target General, agreed that for the past quarter century construction manager at risk has greatly benefited owners such as Schumacher who must make time without sacrificing quality.

"It creates a nonadversarial agenda between the facility owner, the design team and the contractor," he said. "It improves speed of delivery by involving the contractor in the design phase and it involves the key subcontractors at the design phase."

Essential to the success of the construction manager at-risk method is the team-building between the owner, the design architect/engineer and the contractor/construction manager. The team also included Mercedes Benz consultants from the company headquarters in Germany.

"It was an international effort, and everyone was working toward the goal of keeping the client happy and delivering on time," Gavrilidis said.

Montague added that CORE has used construction manager at risk in a variety of other Valley projects, including the Dodge Theatre, the Lower Buckeye Jail, and work for the Tolleson School District.

At the 60- percent drawings phase, CORE provided Schumacher with a guaranteed maximum price for the construction of the facility. The GMP included competitive bids from all subcontractors and suppliers as well as a contingency amount, which decreased as the completion percentage of the construction documents increased.

The subcontractors were selected early in this process, rather than later as in traditional design-bid-build, which allowed the team to meet early and thoroughly discuss the project.

"We obtained a high level of involvement with the subcontractors," Steele said. "We were able to sit down together and ask them questions, especially with respect to timing."

As an example of the value of teamwork during the design process, designer Hill offered two alternatives for the parking garage - concrete or steel. CORE, in turn, bid the job to concrete contractors and steel erectors.

Because of the high price of steel at bid time, the team decided that for the one-story first phase, precast would be best for the parking garage and steel for the showroom.

The team left the expansion open-ended: When the other three floors are built, the foundation can handle either precast or concrete, whichever is deemed better at the time.

In addition to proceeding with the project while still in design, construction manager at risk allowed construction to begin before complete permitting.

"The whole process of getting county approval would have delayed this project six or seven months," Steele said. "But we were able to start the project before having the final permit."

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>An Alternative Route
>A Landmark of Their Own