The Conco Companies began construction on the Mt. San Antonio College (SAC) Student Center on December 10, 2020. The original center opened in 1953 on a much smaller campus and needs to be expanded and updated for Mt. SAC’s current needs. Conco is providing a multitude of concrete services including but not limited to formwork, shoring, pumping, and rebar fabrication. Working alongside Conco are the general contractor Tilden-Coil (CM), HPI Architecture, and MHP Structural Engineers.
Saturday, August 24th was not your typical day for Conco. While many projects are shutdown for the weekend, this Saturday was one of the busiest Saturdays in Conco’s 60-year history.
The activity began Friday evening in Southern California. Starting at 9:30 PM, Conco began to pump, place, and finish 10,400 cubic yards in downtown Los Angeles on a project known as The Grand. The Grand is a mixed-use project with retail, residential and a hotel across the street from the Disney Concert Hall. The developers for The Grand are The Related Cos. and CORE USA for this Frank Gehry designed structure.
The Grand Concrete Pour
The Grand 10,400 concrete pour was the second of three foundation pours for the structure. Eight concrete pumps were positioned around the foundation to receive concrete at the scheduled delivery rate of 750 cubic yards per hour. In order to supply concrete at this rate, Calportland, with the assistance of Associated Concrete, utilized five batch plants and over 120 concrete mixer trucks.
In addition to the work performed on The Grand, Conco had another large concrete pour on this day in downtown Oakland, CA. Working for the Holland Partner Group, the project located at 24th & Harrison, site of the old Acura dealership, will comprise of luxury apartments with retail and other amenities.
Before placing the concrete, Conco was responsible for fabricating and installing all the rebar. Comprised of mainly #11 bar, more than 4.1 million pounds were needed for the entire mat foundation.
24th & Harrison Concrete Pour
The 24th & Harrison project by the Holland Group was the second of two foundation pours at the site, requiring 7,300 cubic yards of concrete supplied by Central Concrete out of five concrete batch plants. Prior to pouring the concrete, Conco provided the fabricated rebar and installation. The challenging site necessitated that six concrete pumps (five were active at any given time) be used with a scheduled delivery rate of 600 cubic yards per hour being delivered by 120 concrete mixer trucks. The concrete pour began at 1:00 AM.
950 Market Street Concrete Pour
Furthermore, in addition to the Los Angeles and Oakland pours, a mat foundation pour also took place simultaneously in San Francisco, CA. The project at 950 Market Street will be a mixed-use development consisting of housing, a hotel, retail, and a dedicated non-profit space. This project is being developed by Group i, a San Francisco-based real estate development company. Working for the general contractor, Pankow Builders, Conco also fabricated and installed the rebar for the foundation. More than 1.7 million pounds were needed to be put in place prior to concrete placement for the entire foundation.
The mat pour for the 950 Market Street project was the first of two for the site and was supplied by CEMEX out of three concrete plants. A total of 3,195 yards of concrete was pumped, placed and finished by Conco through three concrete pumps that were supplied at a scheduled rate of 300 cubic yards per hour.
For the activity in three separate markets to transpire, multiple internal and external meetings were held to discuss every facet of activity associated with making each concrete pour a success. For Conco, success comes from developing the proper plan and executing that plan. Items such as safety, concrete mix designs, pump placement, street closures, individual company responsibilities, and contingencies are just a few of the details that must seamlessly be ironed out.
The resources that were used and vital statistics for Saturday, August 24, 2019 were:
The Grand
Los Angeles
24 & Harrison
Oakland
950 Market
San Francisco
Total
Concrete Placed
10,400
7,300
3,195
20,895
Concrete YPH Placed
750
600
300
1,650
Square Feet Finished
41,000
44,800
18,000
103,800
Mixer Trucks Used
120
140
60
220
With the combined effort of Conco, our customers and suppliers, all three projects finished on time with only 5 extra yards of concrete for all three projects combined. More importantly, all were completed without so much as a first aid claim.
Large mat foundation pours require extensive planning and collaboration with customers, suppliers, public agencies and various other third parties. Conco’s success is dependent on everyone doing their part and we at Conco are thankful to work with great customers and suppliers day in and day out, who give us the opportunity to succeed.
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.
The Conco Companies are providing concrete services for a new office building in downtown San Francisco located at 350 Bush Street. The new 20-story high-rise will have 18 floors of office space, one lobby level, and a roof terrace as well as a two-level subgrade parking structure. In addition as the office tower will incorporate the San Francisco Mining Exchange, a historic landmark, as its primary entrance, the project also includes the “Historic Renovation of San Francisco Mining Exchange Building.”
The client on the project is the Lincoln Property Company and Hathaway Dinwiddie is serving as the general contractor. The project was designed by the architectural firm of Heller Manus Architects and integrates the terra cotta façade and the columns of the landmark building with the office tower. The plan calls for a grand lobby in the historic exchange hall as well as a galleria at the street level. Once complete, the project will include 469,000 square feet of new and renovated space and will be a balance of antique and modern. The building is seeking LEED Platinum certification and will feature a number of environmentally advanced technologies.
The Mining Exchange building was constructed in 1923 and for a short time was used as the Stock Exchange. It was designed by Miller & Pflueger, an architectural firm that designed a number of significant S.F. buildings of the time and closely resembles the New York Stock Exchange that had been constructed twenty years earlier.
Through the years, the building was used for the San Francisco Curb Exchange from 1928-1938, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce from 1938-1967, and finally the Western Title Insurance from 1967-1979. It has sat empty since 1979.
Conco’s mission is to be the best supplier of 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.
The reality is that tight construction schedules demand coordination between building trades if a project is to be successful. With the recent uptick in building activity, this task has become increasingly more difficult for both the developer and the general contractor.
In order to alleviate such scheduling difficulties, a simple solution that The Conco Companies provides is to be a single source alternative to our customers. When working with Conco, a GC can make one call and get high-quality, formwork, rebar, place and finish, shotcrete and pumping services all in one place.
The advantages of this approach are clear. As business improves, companies are stretched thin as subcontractors must move their crews between several different projects. A single day delay by one subcontractor can delay the work of others by a week or more as each subcontractor has committed crews and resources to other projects. With Conco’s approach of working as a coordinated team, it allows us to anticipate and respond to any problems with formwork, shotcrete or rebar by shuffling crews to accommodate our customers.
Nowhere is the need as critical as with concrete and rebar. Concrete cannot be poured until rebar is complete and demanding schedules mandate minimal delay between rebar inspection and pouring concrete. When one company controls both aspects, the chances of success are greatly increased. Some key benefits of a combined solution include:
Joint management of rebar and concrete generates a holistic approach where decisions are made based on the best end result
Ability to manage crane time between concrete and rebar tasks
Coordination of trades to keep projects on schedule
Joint collaboration between concrete and rebar that identifies opportunities for improvement in design
Reduction of equipment on projects as forklifts, hydro cranes, and power tools are shared between concrete and rebar
Eliminate disputes over scope issues between concrete and rebar and the management time necessary to settle those disputes
Reduce unnecessary paperwork and charges between trades that add no value to a project
The Conco Companies, through Conco Reinforcement and Conco’s Concrete Division, is structured to meet all the concrete needs of a project. We bring decades of experience to provide unsurpassed services to our customers.
