Every business has an origin story that establishes its values and identity and it's no different with Keystone. Looking back, our work on the Shaw Office Building set the stage for everything we do today finding creative, cost-effective solutions for every client.
Rocky road to start
The year was 1988, and Keystone had been asked to submit a bid to build a pre-designed office building. Excited by the prospect of our first project, we entered a meeting with the owning partnership and proudly presented our bid of $1,470,000. The reaction, however, wasn't what we expected. Confused and disappointed, one of the partners explained that our number was double their budget. Having already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars over nearly a year to purchase the ground and hire architects and engineers, the partners were at a dead end.
They couldn't move forward with the project, and our first experience wasn't exactly shaping up as we had hoped. However, determined to find a solution, we promised the partners that given a little time, we could find a way to meet their goals and budget.
Creative solutions led to success
During those weeks we explored multiple options for the building including a more traditional skin of brick with glass with aluminum frames. A variety of interior finish suggestions including new flooring products and ceiling systems as well as changes the electric, HVAC and plumbing systems were included. Even the site and utilities were targets for creative changes. None of these reduced the quality but made a dramatic improvement to the budget. We came back to the partners with a new proposal of $750,000. Needless to say, they were elated, and soon we were underway building our first structure.
What our first project taught us was that we have the ability to solve any construction challenge, even if it means going back and overhauling carefully crafted plans. The at-time awkward, intensive and time-consuming process we had with Shaw helped us shape who we are today. It was a catalyst that fueled our desire to help clients meet their goals the first time around by working together as a team with the client from the start.
And from that point on, 30 years later, we are still helping clients meet their goals without all the added steps, frustration and lost time. The Shaw project made Keystone the company it is today: One committed to delivering clients value and control of the construction process.