On the Mark

TCU Student Housing Project Will Help Revitalize Fort Worth Corridor

The new GrandMarc at Westberry Place in Fort Worth, built by C.D. Henderson, is meeting the needs of Texas Christian University for new student housing - and beating the university's deadline. The project is an example of how early coordination with the contractor can make projects run more smoothly.

by Lesley Hensell

Designed by Robert AM Stern, the GrandMarc project will offer TCU students high-end housing, while helping to jump start revitalization of the Berry Street Corridor. (Photo courtesy C.D. Henderson.)

With its mixed brick exterior and Spanish tile roof, the GrandMarc at Westberry Place looks like typical collegiate housing. But the 380,900-sq.-ft. multi-use apartment complex represents significantly more to the stakeholders behind its construction.

For officials at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, the GrandMarc means more housing for a student body craving high-end, on-campus living options. For the city of Fort Worth, the GrandMarc serves as the first sign of revitalization along the long-stagnant Berry Street corridor.

And general contractors everywhere can point to the GrandMarc as an example of how smoothly a project can go - if they are brought in early enough.

Developers roll their eyes when they hear this common complaint from their general contractor. The statement, "If only we had been brought onto the project earlier," is used to explain everything from delays to redesigns and materials shortages.

Not at the GrandMarc. General contractor C.D. Henderson Construction Services of Dallas was brought into the project by Fort Worth developer Phoenix Property Co. in January 2004, while the building's design was still in its early stages. The company broke ground in January 2005, and is on schedule for an early July delivery. This despite coordinating the work of two different designers, working with a strictly limited staging area and meeting specific requirements needed to fulfill the terms of a tax abatement.

"There were a lot of potential problems we could have faced that were solved early on in the design phase," said Chris Davis, vice president of operations for C.D. Henderson. "One key was that when HKS laid out the facility, we came up with a design that facilitated the construction process - including the way units were stacked, telephone and electrical rooms were set up and more. Coordination of trades was handled at the design stage.

"In a typical job, the owner, architect and design team have already built the building in their minds long before the general contractor is brought in," Davis added. "That puts the contractor at a disadvantage when construction begins. But if we are brought in early, before the start of construction, all of the issues have already been addressed and worked out. We love doing business this way."

advertisement

Intentionally Two-Faced The GrandMarc comprises three structures: a five-story north tower, a six-story south tower and a parking garage that includes six floors above-ground and 1.5 floors below-ground. In all, the project features 244 apartment units for a total of 562 beds, as well as 581 parking spaces. Retail stores will include the much-beloved campus mainstay Perrotti's Pizza, and the towers' courtyards will house a swimming pool, barbeque grill and other areas for socializing.

Located on the edge of the TCU campus, the building's exterior was intentionally designed to transition into the surrounding community. Exterior architecture was designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects of New York, which has also worked on residence-hall projects for universities such as Georgetown.

"There is a history of Spanish-style architecture along Berry Street and parts of Camp Bowie, along with some Mediterranean elements in the city's architecture as a whole," said Dr. Don Mills, TCU vice chancellor for student affairs. "But on our campus, we mostly have a traditional collegian look. The architects suggested a way to tie the Mediterranean architectural history of the city with the look and feel of TCU. As we develop more along Berry Street, this will be an important transitional block between TCU and the city."

To accomplish this, the building sports the campus buff brick on one tower and stronger Spanish-style elements on the other.

The design team paid tribute to the area’s Spanish-style architecture and blended with the TCU look by using campus buff brick on one tower and stronger Spanish elements (shown) on the other.

The complex was the first significant project on Berry Street to fall under Fort Worth's newly designated neighborhood empowerment zone, which earns special tax breaks for developers. Much of the responsibility for ensuring that these tax abatements would be kept intact fell on the shoulders of C.D. Henderson. Twenty percent of the company's subcontractors had to be located in Fort Worth, while 15 percent had to be Fort Worth certified minority or woman-owned businesses. Thirty percent had to be from Tarrant County.

"When we were still in the design phase in August 2004, it was time to start subcontractor solicitation," Davis said. "We were fortunate that the MWBE manager from the city of Fort Worth helped us make contacts at various minority >> firms. They even let us use a facility to hold pre-bid meetings and generate subcontractor interest in the project."

A Tight Squeeze The GrandMarc spans from property line to property line, leaving the construction team with little staging room. Again, because the C.D. Henderson team was invited to the project early on, there was plenty of time to devise workarounds.

"We spent a considerable amount of time in early 2005 working with TCU and the city of Fort Worth to revise traffic flows, changing two-way streets to one-way streets and getting lane closures," Davis said.

The team also contacted property owners around the site looking for space to store construction materials. After striking out, C.D. Henderson decided to use the towers' interior courtyards as staging areas.

"The trades could store their materials there, and then we would hoist them into the building as soon as possible," Davis said. "We used the parking garage to bring in a considerable amount of materials for the project, such as drywall, metal studs, vanities and cabinets. These were taken up through the garage and carried into the building at each level."

Another seemingly minor detail proved to be a major part of making the building blend into the TCU campus, which is graced by large mature trees.

"There are 13 live oak trees between the curb line and the property line," Davis said. "From day one, it has been a requirement to maintain these trees for the campus atmosphere of the property. We've had a tree surgeon out on a quarterly basis for trimming and deep-root feeding, giving these trees a good chance of survival."