A tall order, but not an impossible one as proven by our team at REX.听In the midst of听the pandemic building momentum and civil unrest at the front door of their job-site, the folks at REX, led by听Sr.听Project听Executive听Dan听Palencia, pitched, won and successfully completed a complex electrical job for high-profile client on-time and under budget.听
In April 2020, as lockdowns were beginning across the country and there was more unknown than known about COVID-19, the team at REX had the opportunity to pursue an electrical, technology听and fire alarm installment in the historical听Old听Post Office Building in the heart of Chicago. The space would听be听a听new 175,000 sq. ft.听office housing the headquarters for听three separate and unique听brands as well as听the parent company鈥檚听North America Central Division. Completing the pitch via phone, REX won the job and began work in May 2020.听听
There were many challenges with the project. For one, the project was not a typical office building where the full space replicated itself throughout. Rather, there were unique brand spaces on a single floor transitioning听in听approximately 30,000 sq. ft. phases, each with its own unique design. This not only presented a technical complexity and challenge, but also presented a challenge for social distancing and conducting safe听COVID-19听behaviors while听completing the job听efficiently for the 150-200 tradespeople working听every day.听听
Further, COVID-19听precautions presented challenges at every corner. 40-person freight elevators limited capacity to 6 people per trip. Tradespeople hauled materials,听tools听and their lunch up and down four flights of stairs on a daily basis to compensate. Additionally, if one person听tested听positive for COVID-19, the jobsite would be shut听down for a minimum of 2 days to allow a specialized cleaning crew to come in. This not only represented possible delays in the project, but also lost pay for nearly 200 people. Everyone needed to do their part to stay safe and healthy for the good of the project and their fellow employees.听Thanks to the daily on-site leadership of REX Foreman, Joe Meyers, the project only had to be shut down for cleaning three times during the 7-month project.听听
Dan听Palencia听recalls, 鈥淓verything centered around COVID. For us, electrical, light fixtures are always the thing we battle to get on time. Lead times and shipping delays played a major role in this project. COVID was the center of everything. It still got built in its timeline which is amazing. It was a slower start overall on the project, but things started to pick up, we learned as we went.鈥�听
While the technical complexity and COVID-19 precautions offered more than their fair share of adverse environment for a successful job completion, a few weeks into the project extreme civil unrest landed at the doorstep of the听job-site. Dan shared, 鈥淭he civil unrest was almost more nerve-wracking than COVID. COVID we could control, I can wear a mask all听day, I can hand sanitize and wash my hands all day, I can control that. The civil unrest, you just didn鈥檛 know鈥μ齌here was a morning last July, I was watching the news, and they showed the Starbucks right next to the office鈥hey were shooting towards cops right outside of where we were, so that was nerve-wracking because you just didn鈥檛 know what was going to happen.鈥�听
He continued,听鈥淭hey听[tradespeople employees]听have families, I know them. I know they have young kids, know they have wives, and so I tried to pay better attention to what is going on in the world.听If听I thought that there may be an issue with them getting in or out of the city, I鈥檇 have to work with that. There was a time when the city was shut down, the bridges were听up听and听the听job and all the other jobs of the world were shut down.鈥澨�听
Despite听the constant changes听and challenges presented throughout the course of the project, the REX team proceeded in a way unwavering from听the Chugach core听behaviors, particularly听building community听and听leaving things better than we found them.听As a result of holding to these core behaviors along with sheer grit and determination, the REX team was an integral piece on a truly showcase project that was not only听completed听on-time and under budget, but the client听was thrilled with the outcome.听
Learn more about .