JRM likes working on eye-catching projects, such as the $3.5 million renovation of Dylan’s Candy Bar in New York.

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As boutique stores continue to take over Manhattan, the need to create a store that will stand apart among the competition is important. Enter JRM Construction Management , a firm that specializes in commercial and corporate interior construction, whose goal is to “help luxury retailers and high-profile corporations and organizations create outstanding flagship venues and headquarters,” it says.

Founded a little over a year ago, JRM Construction has attracted many high-end commercial and corporate clients in The Big Apple. Within three months of start-up, JRM completed more than 23,000 square feet of projects and had another 50,000 square feet under contract. From then, it quickly established a reputation of being the go-to company for luxury brand construction services, completing stylish projects for Gucci and candy store Dylan’s Candy Bar.

Prior to JRM, principals David McWilliams and Joseph Romano worked at one of New York’s largest construction firms.         

The duo discovered their dream to run their own firm, and when they saw the chance, they took the opportunity to start JRM. Today, McWilliams, Romano and James Connolly own the company.

Collection of Experience
What makes JRM stand out from the competition is its knowledge of the industry. “We probably say the same thing that other companies say, but I really believe that we have the best collection of construction experience,” McWilliams stresses.

“Between the three owners, we have 76 years of collective experience. Our forte is thoroughly understanding our clients’ projects, logistics, schedules and pricings long before the job starts, so we minimize surprises.”

The company’s core values, McWilliams adds, are experience, expertise and excellence.

“On each of our projects, our clients have a JRM principal who tracks the projects and is intimately involved with all major project decisions,” he states.

“It is this basic cornerstone on which JRM is founded and has realized such astounding growth. It’s about providing our clients with the highest-quality services, while working within their time line and budget.

“We are committed to the highest level of ethical business standards and set rigorous requirements for accountability and safety.”

Eye-Catching Project
JRM completed Gucci’s flagship store in Manhattan last February, just in time for Fashion Week. The $43 million project consisted of a complete gut and fit-out of the 42,000-square-foot store.    

There were many firsts for JRM with this project. For example, it was the company’s first time using glass for all the display fixtures throughout the entire project.

To ensure quality, the firm hired two structural glass engineers to oversee glass creations. “There were lots of things [in this project] that we’ve never done before,” McWilliams says.

Opening the store on time was a challenge, however. “The utmost issue for them was being able to open on Fashion Week,” McWilliams explains. “There were some problems in Germany where they were fabricating [Gucci’s] $7 million storefront. There was a delay for more than two months, but we were still able to meet our deadline.”

JRM built a temporary inflated enclosure in the store while waiting for the storefront to be completed.

“When the storefront arrived, we closed the interior,” McWilliams says. With six floors, the Manhattan location is Gucci’s largest store in the world.

‘Visually Iconic’
JRM also renovated Dylan’s Candy Bar, “the trendy, visually-iconic hot spot for the socialite sugar-fix,” the company describes. JRM performed the project in phases, allowing the client to remain open during the construction process.

The development involved a $3.5 million renovation of the store’s three floors.

Other than high-end retail, the company has also completed projects for law firms, such as Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, and a $27 million infrastructure job for Barclays Bank.

A Different Approach
JRM does more than manage and design its clients’ projects. The company developed a process called project lifecycle approach, which incorporates:

• Pre-construction – The company explains it establishes and documents the scope of everyday jobs of the construction manager – as well as the other members of the project team – in consultation with the client, architect and appropriate consultants.
• Design review – The company provides ongoing advice and consultation about the design and its impact on schedule, budget and quality.
• Value-engineering evaluation – The concept, according to the company, is that “every element in the project and every system should present value in return for its cost.
• Cost estimating – JRM’s in-house estimators provide construction costs in every discipline, such as civil, mechanical, electrical, architectural and structural.
• Project budgeting analysis – JRM says it conducts this phase to establish “the validity of the project budget and monitoring compliance with this budget using in-house estimators and proven cost-reduction technology.

“A series of voluntary alternatives are presented, which may reduce a project component cost or shorten the project duration,” it says. 

The next step includes:

• Project scheduling – “Scheduling is not a static, one-time event, but rather a discipline grounded by JRM’s reputation for delivering projects on-time,” the company explains.
• Construction procurement strategy – This includes developing a contracting plan, putting together bid packages and soliciting pre-qualified subcontractors with an invitation to bid.

   According to the company, the construction phase is the final step, with JRM:

• Maintaining a full-time on-site preparation area;
• Establishing the lines of authority;
• Ensuring that permits and approvals are received;
• Resolving conflicts;
• Providing advanced notice on project elements;
• Communicating continually with subcontractors and various parties;
• Managing the schedule and establishing critical path flow;
• Conducting weekly meetings and providing progress reports;
• Inspecting work to ensure compliance with objectives;
• Establishing safety and risk management standards;
• Managing administrative elements; and
• Arranging for site security and preventing theft or vandalism of materials.

The steps described are very complex, according to JRM, and each step requires detail orientation to provide the highest quality of construction services.

“Throughout the entire project lifecycle, JRM implements numerous quality control procedures to monitor the work in the field and conduct several different types of inspections,” JRM states.

“And the oversight continues throughout the job, managing and minimizing change orders and maintaining the shop drawing submittal schedule.”

Continued Support
“The project lifecycle approach provides centralized leadership on each project, so every element of the project is accounted for,” McWilliams says. “JRM acts as the team leader.”

JRM’s commitment to its clients does not end there, however. “Once the work has been completed and [clients] have moved in, we remain involved with our clients,” Connolly explains. “JRM is a full-service facilities maintenance provider and we provide cost-effective maintenance and repair. In the mean time, our clients recommend our services to their business associates.”

Romano adds that JRM encourages communication in every project. “Construction managers should be conscientious and take the time to understand their clients’s industries in relation to their specific requirements and broader corporate objectives,” he explains. “That is exactly what our entire team does, day in and day out, on every project.”

Keep on Building
With the company’s detailed approach, JRM’s portfolio consists of some of New York City’s top companies. It is not about the projects, however – it is about long-term relationships.

In the future, McWilliams says, JRM intends to keep on building its partnerships with clients. “We want to be a national company by following our clients where they are,” he says, noting that the principals have completed several Gucci stores in Puerto Rico, Maryland, Florida and San Diego. “We don’t want to open offices just to solicit clients. We want to open offices where our current clients are doing business.”

Repeat Business
“The key to our success is really our base of repeat clientele,” Romano says. “While we are consistently working to attract new owners and architects, the completion of successive projects for the same client establishes JRM as more than just one hit wonder.

“A lot of companies out there put everything into their first few projects and then lose steam once the business is established. We don’t take our success for granted and know the importance of building each job like it is the first time and avoiding complacency. I think that our clients continue to work with us mainly because they know that we strive to outperform both ourselves and the competition on a daily basis.”

JRM’s employees are also the key to its success. “They are our most important assets,” McWilliams says. “We want to make them feel happy, fulfilled and gratified for what they do.”