United Retail Properties hired Fulcrum staff to complete two new Eckerd stores one in McDonough, Ga., and, the other in Crawfordville, Fla. Each project presented unique challenges.

In Crawfordville, achieving a quality project was goal number one. Through the personal involvement of Mike Arasin and Darren Austin, principals of Fulcrum Construction, all issues uncovered in the course of the project were addressed and resolved. On one job site visit, Austin was not satisfied with the finish coat of stucco on the rear of the building. An entire new finish coat was applied to achieve the proper look. When Arasin made a follow-up trip, he saw that some of the new stucco detail work was not up to their high standard. Arasin arranged a meeting with the stucco company owner on site to review the issues in order to achieve a quality project. All quality issues were resolved and a quality project was achieved.

“Mike and Darrin made no excuses about the poor quality of the stucco and no attempt to try to get me to accept it,” said Greg Ferrell, Eckerd Drug Store’s Regional Construction Manager: “I thought for sure the only solution would be to re-stucco the entire building. After the repairs were done under Mike’s supervision, I made another visit to the project and was pleasantly surprised to find that he had ‘turned things around’ and given us the finish product that we expect on all of our stores.”

In McDonough, the major challenge to overcome was a record wet spring and summer. The project start was delayed by almost six weeks. After the delayed start, Fulcrum staff, Eckerd Construction Rep John Goss and United Retail’s VP of Construction Scott Lindstrom came up with a game plan. All site work, including concrete paving, curbs, asphalt paving, site utilities and landscaping, were to be completed prior to the building construction. This approach would minimize the impact of future wet weather.

The site work was quickly completed. Footings were finally poured on July 22. The store was completed and ready for millwork installation on October 6—just 65 workdays! “Fast track coordination of subcontractors was the key in achieving this quick construction time frame,” Arasin said.

“We appreciate Mike and Darrin’s can-do attitude,” said Goss. “They know how to overcome any obstacle and produce a quality product.”