In this Spring edition, articles include:

Time to Build: Today, owners are getting the best value in a generation.
by Mike Bolen, Chairman & CEO, McCarthy
Many owners are beginning to take advantage of a welcome side-effect of the current recession: an unprecedented drop in the cost of building materials and labor.

Why Building the Community is Just as Important as Building the Project.
by Angeles Garcia, McCarthy Project Manager, Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center
When a construction project is in full swing in a neighborhood, next door to a business, or along a heavily traveled highway, it can be a nuisance. Find out how to turn this project challenge into a win-win for everyone.

See the National Edition now.

Readers can also view region-specific content by selecting from the drop down menu titled View Other Editions. These include Central, Nevada/Utah, Southern California, Northern Pacific, Southwest, Southeast, Texas and MC Industrial.

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., a Texas builder since 1980, was recently awarded a 2010 Distinguished Project Award for its work on the AT&T Performing Arts Center (AT&T PAC) Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre. TEXO selected the Wyly Theatre as the winner in the category of commercial/educational projects totaling $30 to $75 million.

Judges based the selection of winning projects on construction techniques involved, special obstacles, personnel management, scheduling, quality control and safety programs. Each judge individually reviewed each of the 79 projects nominated. McCarthy and other winning firms were honored in April at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

“It is an honor to be selected as a winner among so many incredible projects,” said Mike McWay, president of McCarthy’s Texas Division. “The Wyly Theatre is a new standard for McCarthy’s future construction projects. We are thrilled TEXO recognizes the insistence on quality and dedication to hard work McCarthy contributes to all of its projects.”

Designed by REX/OMA, Joshua Prince-Ramus (partner in charge) and Pritzker Prize-winning architect Rem Koolhaas, the Wyly Theatre is the world’s first and only high-rise theatre and is one of two new venues in the AT&T PAC in the heart of downtown Dallas.  The 12-level, 80,300-square-foot multi-form theatre completely rethinks the traditional arrangement of a theatre’s parts. This vertically-stacked theatre houses unique materials from across the globe and boasts the capability to transform in to three different seating configurations –  thrust, proscenium and flat floor – made possible by a series of lift platforms that raise and lower. The Wyly Theatre officially opened in October 2009.

Winning TEXO’s local Distinguished Project Award now qualifies McCarthy to enter the Wyly Theatre and compete for the national Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Excellence in Construction Awards, the construction industry’s premier annual awards program. Winning projects will be announced February 2011.

McCarthy is currently working on the Dallas City Performance Hall, a 124,000-square-foot multi-phase theatre facility, and its accompanying garage in the Dallas Arts District adjacent to the AT&T PAC. Another striking arts project, the City Performance Hall is on track to be the first LEED Silver rated performing arts facility in Texas under the United States Green Building Council and will provide a new state-of-the-art home for small and medium arts groups, reflecting the diverse communities of the city.

McCarthy’s Texas Division also was recently selected as an Associated General Contractors of America (AGC)/Aon Build America Award 2010 winner in the New Building category for the Wyly Theatre. The division adds these awards to a growing list of other business and industry-based awards the firm has received, including being honored with the number three spot on the 2009 Top 100 Workplaces by The Dallas Morning News and the 2009 Contractor of the Year award from the Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

NOTE: A photo of the completed AT&T Performing Arts Center Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre is available at:
http://www.mccarthy.com/ftp-at-and-t-performing-arts-center

About McCarthy
Celebrating nearly 30 years of building in Texas, McCarthy is the nation’s 10th largest domestic general contractor (Engineering News-Record, May 2010) and one of the nation’s oldest privately held construction firms.  An employee-owned company, McCarthy offers general contracting, construction management and design/build services for the following project types: parking structures, healthcare, educational, office buildings, bridges and highways, laboratory, biotechnology, entertainment, retail, microelectronic, and industrial facilities, tenant interiors, mixed-use and multifamily residential.  In addition to Dallas, McCarthy has offices in Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego and Newport Beach, Calif.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; St. Louis and Atlanta.  For more information please visit www.mccarthy.com.

About TEXO
TEXO is the construction association representing commercial contractors in North and East Texas.  It has a membership of more than 1,900 commercial contractors.  TEXO was formed from the consolidation of the North/East Texas Chapter of the Associated General Contractors (QUOIN) and the Associated Builders and Contractors North Texas (ABCNT).  TEXO is one of the largest organizations affiliated, on the national and state level, with the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) and Associated General Contractors (AGC).

“McCarthy strives to maintain its reputation for being the one of the safest contractors,” said Bruce Fuller, safety director for McCarthy’s Texas Division. “This recognition from MD Anderson proves once again that our partners recognize our continuous efforts in keeping everyone safe and gives us a chance to thank the employees who make safety their priority every day.”

MD Anderson recognizes general contractors who maintain excellent safety records with gold or silver STEP awards. The honors are given out based on criteria requiring safety inspections; review of injury and claims records, both workers’ compensation and general liability; and overall safety management by the general contractor in all aspects of a Rolling Owner Controlled Insurance Program (ROCIP) project.

McCarthy’s Alkek Hospital expansion project has the lowest Total Case Incident Rate (TCIR) of all six ROCIP projects currently in progress at MD Anderson.

The 510,000-square-foot vertical expansion is comprised of a 12-story addition above and a 24-story elevator tower next to the existing and continuously operating 12-level Alkek inpatient tower.  Constructed in three phases, the expansion is scheduled for completion in fall 2010.

McCarthy is one of the most experienced healthcare builders in Texas.  In addition to the MD Anderson Alkek Hospital expansion, McCarthy’s roster of healthcare projects includes work for United Regional Healthcare Systems in Wichita Falls, the Carillon Point Plaza in Lubbock, as well as numerous renovation and expansion projects at the Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco, including: a $25 million hospital tower expansion; a $5.8 million addition of a 28,000-square-foot emergency department; a $5 million conference center; and a $2.2 million 14,000-square-foot outpatient services renovation. 

Extending beyond healthcare projects, McCarthy places safety as a top priority on every project the firm completes. McCarthy’s Texas Division just announced that 2009 was the safest year on record for the company and the Texas Division has completed 400 days on the job site without a recordable injury.

McCarthy’s Texas Division adds the Gold STEP Award to a growing list of other business and industry-based awards the firm has received, including being honored with a 2010 Build America Award from the Associated General Contractors of America for its work on the AT&T Performing Arts Center (AT&T PAC) Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, the 2009 Contractor of the Year award from the Dallas chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in addition to receiving the coveted number three spot on the 2009 Top 100 Workplaces list by The Dallas Morning News.

About McCarthy
Celebrating nearly 30 years of building in Texas, McCarthy is one of the nation’s oldest privately held construction firms.  An employee-owned company, McCarthy offers general contracting, construction management and design/build services for the following project types: parking structures, healthcare, educational, office buildings, bridges and highways, laboratory, biotechnology, entertainment, retail, microelectronic, and industrial facilities, tenant interiors, mixed-use and multifamily residential.  In addition to Dallas, McCarthy has offices in Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego and Newport Beach, Calif.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; St. Louis and Atlanta.

How True Builders Make a Difference
by Derek Glanvill, President and COO
A true builder has an end-to-end view of the entire construction process, from preconstruction through delivery and beyond. That adds value for owners, but there’s one central issue at the heart of the construction industry itself: forgetting how to build.

Is There a Perfect World in Project Delivery?
by Sue Stewart, Senior Vice President
The answer may be that creating the perfect project delivery method starts by implementing no defined project delivery method at all. Find out why.

See the National Edition now.

Readers can also view region-specific content by selecting from the drop down menu titled View Other Editions. These include Central, Nevada/Utah, Southern California, Northern Pacific, Southwest, Southeast, Texas and MC Industrial.

McCarthy was recently honored with the number three spot on the 2009 Top 100 Workplaces by The Dallas Morning News. McCarthy was also selected as the top winner in the category for Best Company Direction. McCarthy was named the emerging leader in this category based on its employees’ confidence in the leadership of the company and the belief that McCarthy operates ethically with strong values during difficult times while continuing to progress in the right direction.

Put on by The Dallas Morning News and its partner, Workplace Dynamics LLC, this is the inaugural year of the Top 100 Workplaces award. Companies eligible for participation included public or private companies, as well as for-profit and nonprofit organizations with more than 50 employees in the DFW metroplex. The award seeks to recognize big and small companies and organizations that excel at creating a dynamic, supportive and inclusive workplace.

Each entry was judged based on an employee opinion survey, rating employers in different categories such as business operations, values, policies and facilities. More than 33,000 employees in the DFW area were surveyed, and based on that 100 companies made the top 100 list.  McCarthy, along with Southwest Airlines and The Richards Group took home the top three coveted spots on this lengthy list of the Top 100 Workplaces.

“We are honored that McCarthy’s Texas Division was recognized as one of the top three workplaces in Dallas by The Dallas Morning News.  It is exciting to be a part of the inaugural award,” said McCarthy Texas Division President, Mike McWay.  “McCarthy is 100 percent employee-owned, so we strive to create the best working environment possible for our family of employees.  It is encouraging that our employees recognize our commitment to excellent business operations and company values.  I’m also proud that our employees agree with and support the direction McCarthy is taking as a company.”

One McCarthy employee surveyed stated McCarthy should be considered a top workplace, “because the company puts it employees first above all else.  Safety, quality and doing a job right.” Another McCarthy employee gave this response in the survey, further reiterating why McCarthy was chosen as the company with the Best Company Direction: “We are continually looking for new and exciting business opportunities to stay positioned to weather any economic storm.  We are employee-owned and personally reap the benefits of our performance.”

McCarthy adds this award to a growing list of other business and industry-based awards the firm has received recently in the region, including the 2009 Contractor of the Year award given by the Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

The 2009 Top 100 Workplaces awards were featured in the Nov. 8 issue of the Dallas Morning News. For the complete list of this year’s winners, go to http://www.dallasnews.com/business/bestplacestowork/.

About McCarthy
Celebrating nearly 30 years of building in Texas, McCarthy is one of the nation’s oldest privately held construction firms.  An employee-owned company, McCarthy offers general contracting, construction management and design/build services for the following project types: healthcare, educational, office buildings, parking structures, bridges and highways, laboratory, biotechnology, entertainment, retail, microelectronic, and industrial facilities, tenant interiors, mixed-use and multifamily residential.  In addition to Dallas, McCarthy has offices in Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego and Newport Beach, Calif.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; St. Louis and Atlanta.

CCIP vs. OCIP: Which Comprehensive Insurance Program is Right for You?
by Bill Sharp, Vice President, Risk Management
With the size and scope of projects becoming larger every day, program sponsors (owners and contractors) are seeking alternative ways to address insurance needs, both from a coverage standpoint and a cost standpoint.

When the Hospital Board Says, “Build it Green!”
by John Kreidich AIA, LEED AP, Manager, Healthcare Services
Building green in the healthcare environment is here to stay. Well-chosen green building investments will yield benefits with either no additional cost or with a return on investment well within a hospital’s internal rate of return over the life of the improvements.

5 Questions to Ask Your Contractor About SAFETY
An Interview with Gary Amsinger, CSP, Corporate Vice President, Safety
In addition to simply keeping workers healthy and productive, strong safety execution reduces exposure for owners. Amsinger suggests that owners should ask, at the very least, these basic five questions of their prospective contractor.

See the National Edition now.

Readers can also view region-specific content by selecting from the drop down menu titled View Other Editions. These include Central, Nevada/Utah, Southern California, Northern Pacific, Southwest, Southeast, Texas and MC Industrial editions.

The Contractor of the Year award is given to the general contractor that has advanced architecture through its achievement of the built environment.  Beginning with the W Dallas Victory Hotel & Residences and continuing to the completion of the AT&T Performing Arts Center, McCarthy was selected for this top honor as a direct result of its team of professionals who consistently deliver dedicated, quality work, constructing many buildings that have been a part of the redevelopment of downtown Dallas.

“We are delighted that AIA Dallas has chosen McCarthy as this year’s Contractor of the Year,” said Mike McWay, president of McCarthy’s Texas Division.  “It is an honor to win this award and to be recognized for all of our hard work that is helping spur the revitalization of downtown Dallas and its ongoing redevelopment initiatives.”

“AIA Dallas is proud to honor McCarthy Construction for the emphasis they place on the value of the architect in their projects,” said Todd Howard, president of AIA Dallas.  “McCarthy has been dedicated to the quality work they do, especially as a part of the urban renaissance of Downtown Dallas in the W Victory Hotel and the AT&T Performing Arts Center.”

McCarthy adds this prestigious award to a growing list of other business and industry-based awards it has received for its creative and value-oriented building solutions.  McCarthy will accept the award at the Celebrate Architecture 2009 Gala, sponsored by AIA Dallas, on Sept. 26 at Union Station in Dallas.  The proceeds from the gala will benefit public program development for the Dallas Center for Architecture.

The mission of AIA Dallas is to encourage, promote, advance and coordinate efforts to uphold the highest standards of the architectural profession in the community.  For more information about AIA Dallas visit www.aiadallas.org.

About AIA Dallas and the Dallas Center for Architecture
Established in 1924, the Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects promotes activities that uphold the highest standards of the architectural profession in the Greater Dallas area.  Since 2008, the Dallas Center for Architecture (DCFA) has been home to the 2,200-member AIA Dallas. DCFA is one of the first such centers in the nation—devoted to uniting architects and allied professionals with citizens concerned about good design, community sustainability and other key living-environment issues for today and tomorrow.

Located at 1909 Woodall Rodgers Freeway, Suite 100—just north of downtown and the Dallas Arts District—the Center delivers public programming on architecture and urban design, art and architecture exhibits, an architectural film series, and other special events for the North Texas community.  For more information, visit DallasCFA.com.

About McCarthy
Celebrating nearly 30 years of building in Texas, McCarthy is one of the nation’s oldest privately held construction firms.  An employee-owned company, McCarthy offers general contracting, construction management and design/build services for the following project types: parking structures, healthcare, educational, office buildings, bridges and highways, laboratory, biotechnology, entertainment, retail, microelectronic, and industrial facilities, tenant interiors, mixed-use and multifamily residential.  In addition to Dallas, McCarthy has offices in Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego and Newport Beach, Calif.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; St. Louis and Atlanta.

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. has introduced its new ‘green’ client newsletter, Insights That Build^SM.  It’s all part of the company’s goal of Leaving Green Footprints^®, a 10-year old program aimed at reducing McCarthy’s carbon footprint.  The first electronic edition includes valuable thought-leading content including:

How to get the best final cost on your next project
by Mike Bolen, Chairman and CEO
‘Conventional wisdom’ says that owners can’t have it all. In fact-by taking the right approach-you can turn an old saying into a smarter strategy: ‘Good, fast and cheap: pick all three.’

Design management – why owners get a better result
by Jim Mynott, Director of Design Management
In this economic climate, execution time from proposal to start of construction can be a deciding factor for project funding. A design management approach can help—and it maximizes other owner advantages.

Five things you should ask your contractor about quality
by Chad Dorgan, Vice President, Quality
There are few words in construction that are more used – or more misused – than the word “quality.”  To understand what it means to YOUR construction project, you and your contractor need to talk.

See the National Edition now.

Readers can also view region-specific content by selecting from the drop down menu titled ‘Other Regional Editions’.  These include Southern California, Northern Pacific, Southwest, Nevada/Utah, Texas, Central, and Southeast editions.

“After nearly 30 years of doing great work in Texas coupled with our sustained growth, McCarthy’s Dallas office was charged to find a new home in a building large enough to accommodate our rapidly growing family of employees,” said Mike McWay, McCarthy Texas Division president. “Our new central location is a functional space that meets all the needs of McCarthy’s workforce. This move would not have been possible without help from our advisors at Jones Lang LaSalle.”

Lance McIlhenny and Josh White, senior vice presidents with Jones Lang LaSalle’s Dallas office, represented McCarthy. Nathan Durham, senior vice president with PM Realty Group, represented the landlord.

“McCarthy builds some of the most recognizable real estate in the country,” said McIlhenny. “We are very pleased to have helped this long-time client find a new Dallas location that not only helps facilitate their growth but will give them great visibility as well as monument signage facing North Central Expressway.”

Upon moving in to its new home, McCarthy’s team can look back and attribute its success to the many prominent projects the firm has worked on in the DFW landscape including the W Dallas Victory Hotel & Residences, the AT&T Performing Arts Center, The Headquarters for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, Dallas County Institute for Forensic Science and the Dallas County Detention Center South Tower, to name a few.

About Jones Lang LaSalle
Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE:JLL) is a financial and professional services firm specializing in real estate. The firm offers integrated services delivered by expert teams worldwide to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying or investing in real estate. With 2008 global revenue of $2.7 billion, Jones Lang LaSalle serves clients in 60 countries from 750 locations worldwide, including 180 corporate offices.  The firm is an industry leader in property and corporate facility management services, with a portfolio of approximately 1.4 billion square feet worldwide. LaSalle Investment Management, the company’s investment management business, is one of the world’s largest and most diverse in real estate with more than $41 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit our Web site, www.joneslanglasalle.com.

About McCarthy
Celebrating nearly 30 years of building in Texas,  McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest privately held construction firms.  The company provides general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for healthcare, education, parking, entertainment, retail, laboratory, biotechnical, microelectronic, and industrial facilities; office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; and bridges and highways.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

“This ceremony marks our progress toward the successful completion of a hospital expansion for a facility that has a rich tradition of continually working to find a cure for cancer,” said McCarthy’s Texas Division President, Mike McWay.  “We are excited to surpass this construction milestone as we top out the Alkek Hospital Expansion, which will have a lasting impact on the area.”

“As the demand for inpatient beds continues to rise, we are seeing occupancies in excess of 100%.  Achieving this milestone resonates with everyone at M. D. Anderson as we seek to meet the needs of our growing patient population,” said M. D. Anderson Cancer Center ‘s Project Director, Janet Sisolak.

The Topping-Out ceremony marked the completion of the highest point of construction on the job site.  Instead of the traditional Topping-Out ceremony of placing an evergreen at the highest point of the structure, M. D. Anderson faculty, staff and patients had the opportunity to sign their names and write messages on three steel beams to be used in the construction.

The 500,000-square-foot vertical expansion will be completed in multiple phases.  The first phase prepared the existing Alkek Hospital for the vertical expansion and included selective demolition, temporary waterproofing activities and the installation of a tower crane and a personnel/material hoist.  The second phase consists of the core and shell construction.  The third phase will include the construction of the first three inpatient floors and is expected to be complete in 2010.  Five additional patient floors will be built as shell space in addition to the construction of a mechanical floor and the renovation of several areas within the existing building, including level 12, which contains special air filtering systems dedicated to patients with compromised immune systems.

McCarthy is one of the most experienced builders of healthcare facilities in Texas.  In addition to the M. D. Anderson Alkek Hospital expansion, McCarthy’s roster of healthcare projects includes work for United Regional Healthcare Systems in Wichita Falls,  the Carillon Point Plaza in Lubbock, as well as numerous renovation and expansion projects at the Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco, including a $25 million hospital tower expansion, a $5.8 million addition of a 28,000-square-foot emergency department, a $5 million conference center and a $2.2 million renovation of 14,000 square feet of outpatient services.

The M. D. Anderson Alkek Hospital expansion began in January 2008 and is scheduled for completion in 2010.  The architect for this design-build project is HKS, Inc. of Dallas.

About The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Celebrating more than six decades of Making Cancer History^®, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center is located in Houston on the sprawling campus of the Texas Medical Center. It is one of the world’s most respected centers devoted exclusively to cancer patient care, research, education and prevention.   M. D. Anderson Cancer Center was created by the Texas Legislature in 1941 as a component of The University of Texas System. The institution is one of the nation’s original three Comprehensive Cancer Centers designated by the National Cancer Act of 1971, and is one of 39 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers today.  In 2009, U.S. News and World Report’s “America’s Best Hospitals” survey ranked M. D. Anderson as the top hospital in the nation for cancer care. M. D. Anderson has achieved the top ranking six times in the past ten years and has ranked as one of the top two hospitals for cancer care for 18 years, since the magazine began its annual survey in 1990.

About McCarthy
Celebrating nearly 30 years of building in Texas, McCarthy is one of the nation’s oldest privately held construction firms.  An employee-owned company, McCarthy offers general contracting, construction management and design/build services for the following project types: parking structures, healthcare, educational, office buildings, bridges and highways, laboratory, biotechnology, entertainment, retail, microelectronic, and industrial facilities, tenant interiors, mixed-use and multifamily residential.  In addition to Dallas, McCarthy has offices in Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego and Newport Beach, Calif.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; St. Louis and Atlanta.