Driver Urban had three things working for it in 2012 when it spun off from a large construction company—it entered the marketplace at the right time, at the right price, and with the right expertise.
“The multifamily, mixed-use market was very hot,” said Brian Chartrand, the Irvine-based company’s president. “I think there was a need for a sophisticated general contractor that could figure out how to be cost competitive. Plus, because we specialize in those markets, our operations people know that product well.”
Driver Urban sped past everyone on the Business Journal’s lists of the fastest-growing private companies (see pages 32, 34 and 40) with a whopping 25,402% two-year growth spurt and $131.3 million in revenue for the 12-month period ending June 30.
The independent company is affiliated with C.W. Driver in Pasadena, a 94-year-old private construction firm that posted $669.9 million in 2013 revenue. The parent, looking to capitalize on the growing multifamily, mixed-use and affordable housing markets, set up Driver Urban to go after those opportunities.
Chartrand was brought on to lead the startup, along with Director of Business Development Dave Pintar and Nathan Deal, the company’s chief estimator.
The trio, supported by another 11 operations folks, was “able to land multiple projects with the same clients,” in the first year, such as Century West Partners in Los Angeles, Denver-based UDR Inc. and Lennar Corp. in Miami, Chartrand said.
“It was easier to continue to grow once we had work to show,” he said. “It’s a relationship business, and that’s why we try to build a business around having an open and honest relationship with our clients.”
The company’s roster expanded to 33 last year and to 54 in June.
“The majority of our staff is operations-based, so we can leverage the resources of the parent company without seriously increasing our overhead,” Chartrand said, adding that Driver Urban shares most back-office functions, such as accounting or scheduling, with C.W. Driver. “We’re managing to stay lean and mean on our side.”
About 90% of the company’s contracts are done with the “construction manager/general contractor” project delivery method, which allows the general contractor to provide preconstruction services during the project’s design phase. Driver Urban’s services, aside from building projects, may include design reviews, budget estimates, constructability reviews, project scheduling, and bidding out smaller portions of projects to subcontractors.
Projects
The company’s recent assignments include two Los Angeles projects: K2LA, a 130-apartment complex in the Koreatown district, and East Village Apartments, a mixed-use property with 14,722 square feet of retail space and 320 apartments. It’s also working on The Current, a 223-unit high-rise in Long Beach.
Locally, Driver Urban “just broke ground” on 2801 Kelvin, a 381-unit apartment community in Irvine designed by Architects Orange, Chartrand said. The duo also is collaborating on the 173-unit Beach Walk Apartments in Huntington Beach.
And there is more work to do.
Driver Urban’s backlog is approaching $500 million for the next three years, he said.
It competes with the likes of Los Angeles-based Bernards and Morley Builders in Santa Monica, both of which have offices in Irvine.
Future Focus
Driver Urban’s future focus is on the limited-service hotel market, along with senior and assisted-living communities.
“We are going to stick to our core sectors, but we see growth in those areas, as well as high-rise residential,” Chartrand said. “We broke ground on a high-rise in Long Beach, and we are chasing another one.”
The company also is looking to expand regionally in the near future.
“We want to mirror all the C.W. Driver offices, in Pasadena, San Mateo and San Diego,” he said. “We already have a project in Northern California—The Goleta Mixed Use Village in Goleta. We hope to have a project in San Diego in the next six months to a year and have our representatives join forces with C.W. Driver there.”
