Like any company you’d find in a community, the Conco Companies provide essential products and services to keep the city running smoothly. At the same time, the nature of Conco’s concrete services pushes us to parts of the city that aren't typically seen by the general public. Our corporate yard is one such “hidden” area, located in an unincorporated part of Contra Costa County near Martinez, CA. It is zoned as an industrial property and thus is surrounded by similar businesses, including a refinery, sewage treatment plant, and a dump site.
Most high-rise towers follow a similar design pattern. The most common design is for the structure to have floors that stack over one another with virtually little deviation from one floor to the next. Look at any city skyline and you will see an abundance of buildings that fit this mold. The consistency of the floorplan allows for easier and less expensive engineering and construction due to the design pattern’s repetitive nature.
We can all agree that 2020 was a year like no other. Our personal lives bled into our professional lives, with little distinction between the two. Even though construction was classified as an essential business, that didn’t mean Conco could continue “business as usual”. Far from it.
All businesses have a social responsibility to their workers, contractors, and the general public to operate as safely as possible.
For Conco, responsible operation means making work practices safer for our employees and contractors. Though 6’ social distancing sounds like a simple concept, it runs counter to an industry that is most successful when people work closely to accomplish a common goal. Conco isn’t one to back away from a challenge, and we quickly adapted with minimal disruption to construction schedules.
The pandemic wasn’t the only extreme circumstance Conco overcame in 2020.
The flurry of West Coast wildfires necessitated that work couldn’t be performed when the air quality reached unhealthy levels. Civil protests brought on by national events also required work to cease at times.
For Conco’s work to continue, we needed a plan—or in this case, several plans. We quickly adopted a COVID-19 Hazard Analysis plan along with Risk & PPE Assessments specific to placing concrete.
Part of Conco’s COVID-19 plan included:
Stepping up pre-task planning when maintaining 6’ social distancing becomes necessary.
Daily health screening with medical questionnaires and temperature checks.
Increased supervision to assist crews with work plans and monitor compliance.
Staggering work hours and breaking out crews into smaller groups.
On projects where feasible, implement access restrictions on the jobsite to control movement around a project.
Daily toolbox talks that stress the importance of staying home when not feeling well.
Tools sanitized at the end of each shift, and shared equipment sanitized before and after tasks.
Bathrooms serviced 2-3 times more frequently than in the past.
Daily housekeeping and cleanup.
In addition to our COVID-19 plan, we developed another action plan for when air quality is a concern.
When wildfires ravaged the West Coast, Conco made a significant investment in respiratory equipment and training for proper utilization. Even with new equipment and training, there were times when Conco decided it was best to suspend work duties for the time being.
In spite of the unanticipated challenges, we are proud of our dedicated employees and their ability to find ways to get the job done. As the pandemic continues to impact every aspect of our lives, we’ve adapted to deliver our concrete services on time.
Amidst the pandemic, Conco has topped out the following structures:
Esterra Park Block 3 – Redmond, WA. Contractor: JTM
8-story office building part of a 30-acre master planned community.
Topped out October, 2020
400 University – Seattle, WA. General Contractor: BN Builders
10-story office building in the heart of downtown Seattle.
Topped out November, 2020
24th & Harrison – Oakland, CA. Contractor: Holland Partner Group
20-story residential tower with retail/restaurant space.
Topped out November, 2020
2016 Telegraph – Oakland, CA. Contractor: Holland Partner Group
24-story residential tower.
Topped out January, 2021
The Grand – Los Angeles, CA. Developer: Related Companies
Twin tower (29-story and 46-story) development with a hotel tower, residential tower, and retail on a city block.
Topped out North tower: November, 2020 | South tower: February, 2021
8-story office building designed for research and development.
Topping out: March, 2021
Topping out a structure is the culmination of months of hard work by many different people.
The obstacles overcome during the pandemic have been challenging, but the resilience and dedication of the Conco family brought many projects to their successful conclusion.
Conco is one of the foremost suppliers of concrete services for the Western U.S. We started in 1959 in the Bay Area by offering clients the best value on a broad range of concrete services and products. Since then, we have taken a leading role as top concrete contractors in the region. We have regional offices serving Northern California, Southern California, Oregon, and Washington.
The concrete scope of Esterra Park Block 3 is slated for completion June 2020.
The Conco Companies is providing concrete services for Esterra Park Block 3. Conco services include concrete finishing, pumping, reinforcement, formwork, construction trucking, and shotcrete. The concrete pour for Block 3 began in June 2019 and is expected to be completed June 2020.
Located in Redmond, Washington, The Esterra project is a 30-acre master planned community adjacent to Overlake Light Rail Station and the Microsoft Campus. It’s built on an open-space concept, where occupants can live, work, and socialize year-round. The project will expand roughly 235,000 square feet of additional office space.
The Conco Companies is meeting the challenges of implementing a structure that is designed to maximize lower level parking. We are pouring concrete for three lower levels of parking with seven levels of office space above. Conco recently finished work on adjacent Blocks 5 and 6A. In addition, we are part of the construction team on an upcoming project for Blocks 2A/2B.
The Esterra Park Block 3 project represents a segment of a large-scale plan to develop the area, which will be known as Overlake Village Station.
Conco’s mission is to be the best supplier of commercial concrete services in the Western United States and to bring experience, expertise and quality to each project. We continue to upgrade and expand facilities to better serve the growing market for public works projects, commercial, educational, parking structures, and other construction development. Please contact us to learn more about our high-performance, precision-engineered fabricated rebar in the Seattle area.
The Marriott Hotel is slated to open a new franchise, the Moxy Hotel in Portland, in the Pearl District in summer of 2020. Construction began in June 2019 on the new project and promises to bring a unique, contemporary take on the hotel experience to the lively neighborhood in downtown Portland. Several notable groups have come together to develop and execute the project, including development company Graves Hospitality, DLR Group Architecture, and Portland commercial concrete contractors The Conco Companies.
A Franchise for the Young and Young-at-Heart
As a new franchise from the well-known Marriott Hotel, the Moxy Hotel is looking to attract a new sector of hotel guests. The stylish interiors, contemporary designs, and vibrant urban locations are being offered at an affordable price for leisure travelers and business professionals alike. With the vision of immersing guests in the cityscape around them while providing smart, modern accommodations, the Moxy Hotel boasts several unique features. The 197 guest rooms will offer views of the city and Mt. Hood through floor-to-ceiling glass walls in their corridors, while the hotel’s public spaces will offer a range of sought-after amenities. The Moxy Hotel promises an open and engaging ground floor space that is designed to draw guests out into the surrounding city. The space will feature large operable glass walls, a full-service bar and lounge area, game rooms, and food carts. Additionally, the exterior is designed with deep canopies extending over the sidewalk for food cart goers to enjoy the offerings no matter the weather.
A Challenging Site for The Moxy Hotel
This exciting project is not only unique in its vision, but also in its dimensions. Situated on less than a quarter of a block, the 12-story hotel has a dainty building footprint. Benjamin Graves, the president and CEO of Graves Hospitality said of the project, “We’re creating an amazing addition to this neighborhood by defying the unthinkable and building 71,232 square feet of ground-up construction on an incredibly compact 7,500 square foot site.” In order to overcome this challenge of construction, the Conco Companies was brought on to provide an array of concrete services. Known for their ability to execute complex projects on time and on budget, Conco will provide concrete pumping, concrete reinforcement and rebar, concrete formwork, and shotcrete services for the Moxy Hotel.
The Conco Companies’ mission is to be the best supplier of concrete services in the Western U.S. and to bring expertise and incomparable quality to each project. We continue to upgrade and expand our facilities to better serve the growing market for commercial, educational, parking structures, public works projects, and other development. Contact us to learn more about the services from one of the most trusted concrete contractors in Portland.
