Waterfront Courtyard and Residence Inn slated for summer 2019 completion

Irvine, Calif. – R.D. Olson Construction, an award-winning general contracting firm in California, commenced ground-up construction on a waterfront dual-brand hotel by Marriott in Marina del Rey, California. Located on Via Marina and Tahiti Way near world-famous beaches, seaside dining and waterfront activities, the hotel will include a Courtyard and Residence Inn by Marriott overlooking the harbor. The 2-acre property will feature two podium-type buildings with 288 guest rooms in total and is close to Venice Beach, Redondo Beach Pier, Los Angeles International Airport and major freeways.

“We are honored to continue our partnership with MDR Hotels to develop a dual-brand hotel that delivers on the needs of both business travelers and extended-stay guests visiting Marina del Rey,” said Bill Wilhelm, president of R.D. Olson Construction. “This project marks our second dual-brand hotel in Los Angeles County and reflects our track record of helping hotel owners attract a wide variety of guests at various price points.”

The Courtyard by Marriott, a five-story, 159-room building situated on the south side of the project site, will be designed for business travelers. Features and amenities will include free Wi-Fi, in-room desks and flexible work and meeting spaces.

The 129-room, six-story Residence Inn, situated on the north side of the project site, will cater to extended-stay guests. Hotel offerings will include several room options, including large one-bedroom suites and penthouses. All rooms will feature a spacious living room, in-suite work space, wraparound decks that overlook the marina and a fully equipped kitchen to allow guests to feel comfortable and at home during their stay.

The Courtyard and Residence Inn will share a lobby, waterfront restaurant and bar and a second-level outdoor terrace showcasing an expansive view of the marina with a pool, cabanas and fireplace. The property will also include a separate fitness building, more than 72,000-square-feet of subterranean parking and 28-foot-wide pedestrian promenade along the water with a new public dock service.

The dual-brand Marriott hotel will boast a contemporary, coastal-inspired style designed by Redondo Beach interior design firm, KHI Interior Design. R.D. Olson Construction is also working with Awbrey Cook Rogers & McGill Architects + Interiors, DCI Engineers and Fuscoe Engineering on the project. Completion is anticipated for summer 2019.

The Marriott in Marina del Rey bolsters R.D. Olson Construction’s portfolio of dual-brand projects, which includes several new dual-brand properties that are expected to start construction this year. Most recently, the company completed H Hotel, a dual-brand hotel adjacent to Los Angeles International Airport.

THE NEW $120 MILLION IRVINE SPECTRUM MARRIOTT IS THE FIRST FULL-SERVICE HOTEL TO HIT THE MARKET IN A DECADE, AND DEVELOPER R.D. OLSON SAYS THAT IT FILLS A BIG HOLE IN THE MARKET.

The first full-service hotel in more than a decade has opened in Irvine. R.D. Olson Construction has completed construction of the Irvine Spectrum Marriott, a $120 million 15-story full-service hotel. The project fills a void for high-end product in the market, which is popular for leisure and business travelers. It will specifically target millennial travelers with a host of amenities and food and beverage options.

“Our vision was really to create a hotel that fit in with Irvine Ranch. There is a rich history of Irvine Ranch, which has gone from ranches and farms to universities,” Bob Olson, president of R.D. Olson Development, tells GlobeSt.com. “It has been a great evolution. Our vision was to create a hotel that is reflective of where we are. To be able to reflect that history through the artwork and the design was a lot of fun.”

The absence of full-service hotel development in Irvine says more about economic prosperity than demand, according to Olson. Select-service is more cost effective to build, and as a result, more of that hotel product type has come to market. “To be honest, investors prefer select-service hotels. I though the full-service piece was missing in the market,” explains Olson. “There was not a full service hotel to the extent that it created an opportunity for us. It was really a big hole in the donut, and we stepped up and filled it. We met what the market wanted, and that can be hard to determine. We found that a lot of travelers in this market were not staying in the area because there wasn’t high enough lodging, and that was especially true for business customers.”

The developer felt the demand justified the project. Since, the market has seen healthy growth, especially in the office sector, inflating the need for full-service hotel. “We pulled the trigger on this project three years ago, and at the time, the economy was healthy, but growing at a sluggish pace,” says Olson. “There wasn’t the confidence then that you see today in the hotel market, but we felt confident in the Irvine Spectrum market. We thought that long-term, it was a great place to do business, and today, it really is becoming the business center of Orange County. I think that this will emerge as one of the leading business centers in Southern California.”

While there were some pessimists about the project, Olson says that the positive traction has already proven the success of the hotel. “Our customers love the hotel. Guests are going to run into both locals and travelers on the rooftop bar,” he says. There is a great pulling together and a sense of place.”

The developer plans to hold the property for the long term.

A California-based developer exceeds expectations when it comes to affordable housing

By focusing on forming strong relationships with clients, developers and the communities in which it works, R.D. Olson Construction has achieved success in more ways than one.

With a range of new efforts in the affordable housing space, the firm seeks to make an impact for limited-income residents while cultivating a close-knit company culture.

According to President Bill Wilhelm, the success of R.D. Olson is due largely to its commitment to these relationships.

“We are after growth, but we’re after growth in relationships and partnerships with our existing company base and our new future customer base,” Wilhelm says. “We are not out chasing a number. We know that our financial growth will [increase] with our success with partners and customers.”

Wilhelm has been part of the R.D. Olson team since 1994. Over the years, he has witnessed the company move from a somewhat small general contractor to one of the industry leaders in ground-up and renovation construction.

Pursuing loyalty

R.D. Olson focuses on serving the needs of its existing customer base above all else. Returning business makes up about two-thirds of its current portfolio, and Wilhelm hopes that this figure will continue to grow in the coming years.

“Part of our short- and long-term goal is to increase the repeat business,” Wilhelm says. “About 70 percent of our volume is repeat business, and that tells you what kind of company we have. It’s one that truly is focused on quality over quantity. When you have that kind of approach, success is always right in front of you.”

R.D. Olson has participated in the development of projects ranging from restaurants to hotels. More recently, it has branched out into affordable housing. One of its recent efforts, the Village at Calabasas, added 180 units of housing to a community in southern California. The property was completed in 2016.

Fullerton Family Housing in Orange County is now under construction and, upon its completion in spring of 2018, will offer 55 units of affordable housing. The site itself is compact, requiring some creativity to make the most of the development.

“It’s almost like putting a property on a postage stamp,” Wilhelm says. “We are maxing out this site with open space, including decks, walkways and things of that nature.”

Despite the limited space for construction, development at Fullerton Family Housing is taking place with careful attention to architecture and aesthetics.

“The rooms are very spacious,” Wilhelm says. “Sometimes, you get the wrong impression when you hear the words ‘affordable housing.’ These are nice units. They’re spacious, and the finishes are definitely above the standard in the industry. It’s just a great property.”

R.D. Olson has a time-lapse construction camera accessible through its website, allowing members of the public to see progress in real time.

“Our customer base loves it, our people love it and even our community loves that they can watch their community grow,” Wilhelm says. “We get a lot of feedback about how powerful that webcam is on our job sites.”

As for the community in Fullerton, Wilhelm says that the reception of the new development has been overwhelmingly positive. R.D. Olson’s focus on building relationships within the community has led to a strong reputation for the firm.

“From what I can see, I think that the community has welcomed it with open arms,” Wilhelm says. “[Opposition] is just a part of revitalization, but the city has worked with the design team very closely on the aesthetics of the building and the general appearance so that it will blend in well with the city of Fullerton.”

R.D. Olson’s commitment to delivering exceptional products remains at the forefront of this new affordable housing development.

“If we’re going to do it, let’s do it right,” Wilhelm says. “Let’s beautify it and let’s make it feel like it is a true part of our community.”

Investing in people

Achieving success over the course of nearly four decades has required a level of commitment to clients and employees alike. In the coming years, Wilhelm says R.D. Olson will continue to invest in its employees, giving them opportunities to take on leadership roles within the company.

“We are looking at our next generation of leaders,” Wilhelm says. “The last few years, we have been continuing to build within the ranks. We know sustainability is not just about having backlog, but also having tenured employees.”

Having an engaged workforce gives R.D. Olson an edge over its competitors and demonstrates its commitment to people.

“I can walk into a presentation and talk about our people and the length of time and experience they have, and typically that gives me a little bit of an advantage over a competitor that I might be up against in this industry,” Wilhelm says. “Our people are the greatest assets that our company has.”

With the Hollywood Stadium project and LAX nearby and a wealth of new office projects filling up, El Segundo is starting to attract more hotel developments.

El Segundo may be L.A.’s newest hot hotel market. R.D. Olson Construction has broken ground on AC Hotel by Marriott, a 98,728-square-foot, 180-room hotel in El Segundo, and says that the market is benefitting from tremendous office activity and nearby entertainment projects that bring a dynamic hotel demand to the market. The Lakers training facility is based in El Segundo, the Hollywood Park stadium development in Inglewood and the Los Angeles International airport are all helping to drive activity for more hotel projects in El Segundo.

“El Segundo is a tight-knit business community, almost like a sleeper community but it is very vibrant when you pull back the covers a little bit. They have done an incredible job on the business side, and now you see the hospitality industry meeting El Segundo’s needs,” Bill Wilhelm, president of R.D. Olson Construction, tells GlobeSt.com. “El Segundo is the corporate center of Southwest L.A., and there is a need for hospitality. There are a few hotels, but you haven’t seen new development of hotels like you have in other cities. There are so many great assets that El Segundo can fill needs, and I think that the hospitality market there will continue to grow.”

The growth in the surrounding market incentivized the new Marriott development, and Olson expects that there will be more to come. Not only do the entertainment projects ensure weekend demand, but the office growth in El Segundo will provide weekday demand. “Any primary location for a hotel, you have to look at the theater and the seven-day window,” Wilhelm explains. “We have a number of business users that can fill spaces during the week, and then on the weekend, you are going to have the athletic family that is traveling, whether is college or professional. The positive side to El Segundo is it puts you right where all of the activities are at. It has a tremendous amount of opportunities across many segments.”

While hotel activity is on the rise in El Segundo, the market isn’t without competition. There are plenty of hotel options in surrounding markets, and Olson says that it may be difficult to push rates in 2018. “One of the challenges that El Segundo has is that it neighbors LAX and Redondo Beach, so there is a lot of hospitality projects surrounding the El Segundo market,” says Wilhelm. “It is tough because there have been so many new rooms in the South Bay market. The area has seen so many new keys. You also have so many existing keys where properties have needed to ‘keep-up-with-the-joneses.’ We have been into a number of existing properties and done a number of renovations to keep them current. As a result, rates have capped, and now it is a matter of who has the better product and how you can make adjustments to increase occupancy. Competition is going to be tough for the next year in that area.”

AC Hotel by Marriott has broken ground and will open in 2019.

Job site safety should be the number one priority for any construction company. It’s the right thing to do, it helps improve morale and it keeps construction projects on schedule and under budget.

These four tips can help make your next construction site safer:

Plan ahead

Long before a job starts, extensive planning should be done to identify which tasks will be taking place onsite and how best to plan for potential safety hazards. Project managers and field representatives should put preventative measures in place and communicate them to workers, and provide the appropriate tools and equipment.

Zoning, which involves blocking off areas where certain tasks are taking place, installing catch platforms, nets and other safety measures, is an important part of this planning phase. By allowing only those working on a task within the zoned area past the barrier, it helps to prevent bystander injury. This methodical process also helps ensure that workers within the zoned area have the right protective equipment and tools for that specific job.

One-third of all construction fatalities are a result of falls — from buildings, structural elements and ladders — making them one of the most critical safety issues for which to plan. Appropriate scaffolding needs to be installed, holes in the structure need to be cordoned off or otherwise managed, and other potential fall hazards should be planned for before construction begins.

Transportation incidents are the second most common issue, with vehicle contact/collision accounting for 29% of fatalities.

Manage the risk

Less obvious factors proven to cause safety issues should always be considered when developing and implementing a safety plan. According to a study commissioned by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), most deaths on construction sites occur between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., with fatalities peaking around noon. Almost 75% of fatalities happen on Mondays through Thursdays, with industrial projects reporting more incidents than residential, commercial and other project types. What does this mean for you?

Consider scheduling safety meetings around noon during the beginning of the week, and make sure there is a strong protocol for safety during lunch breaks. If you are working on an industrial site, encourage frequent safety meetings and perhaps more stringent safety protocol that accounts for the dangers unique to industrial building.

The AGC report also shows that small construction companies with one to nine employees account for a much higher fatality rate (26 per 100,000 workers annually) than larger firms. If you are at a smaller company, don’t make safety planning any less of a priority.

There is also a strong correlation between fatalities and the summer months, and deaths are also more common in the South than other areas of the country. This may be due to heat-related illness and exhaustion. Make sure workers have adequate access to water, encourage them to take regular breaks and train them to monitor for heat-related issues.

Scheduling and staffing

Another overlooked but pressing safety issue is worker exhaustion. The industry-wide talent shortage can make it difficult to appropriately staff jobsites, leading some companies to over-schedule workers in order to meet demanding construction schedules. But no matter how many preventative measures and education programs you put in place, it’s all for nothing if workers are too physically or mentally worn out to follow protocol.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reports that accidents and injury rates are 30% greater during night shifts, and working 12 hours per day comes with a 37% increased risk of injury. Safety isn’t just a concern on jobsites, though.

Decreased alertness resulting from fatigue has been cited as a contributing factor in major workplace disasters, such as BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil refinery explosion, the Challenger space shuttle explosion and the nuclear accidents at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. Don’t put your construction site at risk for disaster just to shave a few days or weeks off the construction schedule

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Extended shifts can be correlated with an increased risk of having a car accident on the way home from work by 16.2%. They can also lead to a higher probability of developing health problems due to prolonged exposure to chemical and noise hazards.

Companies can help prevent worker exhaustion, and improve retention, by limiting extended shifts, ensuring employees and subcontractors aren’t working too many hours and taking possible talent shortages into account when creating the project schedule.

Safety as a culture

For a safety program to be successful, safety needs to be integral to a company’s culture. Education is one way to instill this. OSHA’s 30-hour Construction Training Course is one example of a valuable program that ensures every worker has the same comprehensive knowledge that can be built upon during company trainings.

While the OSHA program is geared toward safety directors, foremen and field supervisors, it is ideal if everyone in the company goes through the training to make sure the takeaways are spread across every level of the organization. Trainings shouldn’t be relegated only to management and employees. It’s best if subcontractors and other partners also receive trainings, ensuring their safety standards are in line with a GC’s own.

Regular safety events, onsite and off, that teach workers about the latest regulations and give refreshers about existing ones are also critical to promoting a culture of safety. They can range from brief onsite recaps to fun team-building exercises. Regardless of the format, they typically should be done at least weekly to make safety part of workers’ daily mindsets.

Planning, risk management, staffing and education are all important components of keeping job sites safe. As an industry, we owe it to our workers to prioritize safety and give them all the tools necessary to prevent incidents before they occur.

R.D. Olson breaks ground on the AC Hotel in El Segundo, CA!

R.D. Olson Construction Tops Out at the Citrea Apartments in Fullerton, CA!

The hotel sector in Southern California is booming. Los Angeles County set a record for drawing tourists last year, hosting nearly 50 million visitors in 2017. That was a 2.2% increase over the record 47.3 million tourists in 2016.

To gain a better understanding of trends shaping the industry, Connect Media asked Bill Wilhelm, President of Irvine, CA-based R.D. Olson Construction, to share insights. The company recently completed the dual-brand H Hotel at LAX, which is part of Hilton’s Curio Collection and Homewood Suites in Los Angeles.

Q: Why has adaptive re-use become more prevalent than new construction in the hotel industry?

A: In the past few years, there has been an increase in demand for adaptive re-use projects over ground-up construction in high-density areas with limited space available for new construction. At R.D. Olson Construction, about 60% of our projects are now in adaptive re-use and large-scale renovations, largely because many of our projects are in the high-demand Southern California market.

In an industry of highly commoditized hotel chains, adaptive re-use gives hotel developments a competitive advantage through the unique character and creative use of space that differentiates these types of buildings. Second, adaptive re-use is more cost-efficient, reducing the price of materials and construction equipment. Furthermore, having an existing structure to build upon makes adaptive re-use a speedier process, allowing hotels to go to market much faster.

Q: In the current economic climate, is adaptive re-use a good hedge against a potential downturn?

A: Yes, adaptive re-use is a good hedge because it allows for much shorter timelines, which reduces the risk that a recession or other economic downturn will happen mid-project and allows the hotel to start becoming profitable faster by getting guests in the door sooner. It also allows for more flexibility to adapt to new trends and changes in supply and demand levels. A smaller investment is required for adaptive re-use, which also is appealing in the case of a downturn.

Q: Are there non-economic benefits to adaptive re-use as well?

A: More than economic gain, adaptive re-use offers social and environmental benefits. Adapting old structures for new purposes allows developers to preserve any cultural and historical significance a site has for the surrounding community. In addition, adaptive re-use projects reduce energy consumption typically caused by demolition, additional machinery and the use and transportation of raw materials. Overall, the energy output for adaptive re-use is much less than ground-up construction.

Adaptive re-use is starting to dominate hotel development. In the last year-and-a-half, R.D. Olson Construction says that the majority of its hotel projects have been major redevelopments or adaptive reuse projects. The construction company recently completed an adaptive re-use hotel project near LAX, converting a dilapidated office building into a dual-branded hotel.

“In the last three to five years, there has been a greater need for additional hotel rooms,” Bill Wilhelm, president of R.D. Olson Construction, tells GlobeSt.com. “So, there has been a lot of activity and a lot of hotel renovations. About 60% of our construction volume is in hospitality, and in the last year-and-a-half, we have seen a tremendous swing going from ground-up to adaptive reuse and major renovations. Before, we were running about 55% new, and now we have flipped it to where we are doing about 58% in adaptive reuse and the balance is in new construction.”

It makes sense that adaptive re-use has become popular for hotel projects. They are less expensive than ground-up construction and reserve character. Most importantly, however, they are much faster to build. “When you have an adaptive reuse opportunity, there are a lot of positives,” says Wilhelm. “One is the speed at which you can get a project up and running to where you have heads on beds, as we call it in the hotel industry. Two, when you look at the overall cost of construction for replacement cost, typically, you can find yourself a building that has a lot of character that you can use. It is more economical than doing ground-up construction.”

Adaptive re-use also helps to hedge against a potential downturn. Because the hotel is profitable more quickly, it can be a good tool for developers looking to get off the ground. “A lot of hotel developers and owners understand the demand, and it has become all about speed and how to get heads on beds,” adds Wilhelm. “We are trying to beat the industry when the industry starts to soften up. We are starting to see some of that. For the first time in six years, we have seen a decrease in new hotel starts. We are getting to the supply demand level where you are going to have to be careful with how many rooms you bring into a general area.”

The 12 story, 260,000-square-foot H Hotel adaptive re-use project took approximately 17 months to complete.

R.D. Olson took part in a home build in Placentia, CA today. The team worked on siding and waterproofing the homes for the very deserving families who will ultimately live there. This is the third year that R.D. Olson Construction participates to help this worthy cause and are excited to help out again very soon!

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Affordable housing project bolsters the general contracting firm’s multifamily portfolio.

Irvine, Calif.– R.D. Olson Construction, an award-winning general contracting firm in California, has commenced work on a 55-unit affordable housing project in Fullerton, the company announced today. The multifamily apartment complex is the firm’s fourth affordable housing project, and completion is expected in May 2018. Fifty-four of the units will be affordable, with one manager’s unit on-site.

The five-story, 52,407-square-foot complex will be comprised of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments in two buildings that are connected by a bridge on all floors. There also will be a 24,000-square-foot parking garage on the one-acre site, which is located at 335 East Santa Fe Avenue, in close proximity to Downtown Fullerton and adjacent to the area’s train station. Amenities will include a courtyard, playground, BBQ area, on-site leasing office, laundry facilities and bike storage room.

“With California experiencing a full-fledged housing crisis, we’re proud to be a trusted partner that will help provide much-needed housing to Orange County residents,” said Ian Gardiner, senior vice president of R.D. Olson Construction. “This project is another great addition to R.D. Olson’s existing multifamily portfolio and our team is committed to executing a product that delivers on our mantra – when every detail counts.”

Related California is the developer for the project, with IDS Group serving as the architectural firm. The R.D. Olson Construction project team includes Gary Hoskins, project manager; Jeff Stratton, project superintendent and Mat Epperson, project engineer.

The firm’s other multifamily projects in the area include 27 Seventy Five Apartments in Costa Mesa, Coronado at Newport North in Newport Beach, Marriott Newport Coast Villas Newport Beach and Sea Villas at the St. Regis in Dana Point. The Village at Calabasas, which completed in 2016, marked R.D. Olson Construction’s last affordable housing project.

The number of new hotels that opened in California increased 53 percent in the first half of 2017 and there were 15 percent more hotels in development and 6 percent more under construction vs. the same period in 2016, according to an Atlas Hospitality Group study.

“This is a record number of hotel rooms that have opened in the first six months of the year,” said Alan Reay, president of Irvine-based Atlas.

Twenty-six hotels, with 4,730 rooms, opened in the first half of 2017 vs. 17 hotels in the same period of 2016.

Reay said many hotels are being built now because the price of buying and renovating older hotels is high, that it is more attractive to build a new hotel, construction financing and loans are readily available and there have been six years of revenue increases.
In Orange County three hotels with 461 rooms opened during the first half of the year.

Homewood Suites by Hilton Irvine John Wayne Airport: The 161-room hotel opened this winter. It offers studio, one- and two- bedroom suites. Each has a fully equipped kitchen. The hotel has a fitness room, pool, business center and meeting rooms.

The project was Irvine-based R.D. Olson Construction’s first partnership with hotel management and development company DKN Hotels, also based in Irvine.