Centerpoint Builders founder David Gunderson featured in Construction Exec magazine

David Gunderson, AIA, founder and partner of Centerpoint Builders, Ltd. has been featured in the November issue of Construction Digital magazine. The article ascribes Centerpoint's growth to Centerpoint's unique service delivery.

“We are not a typical contractor,” said Gunderson. “We undertake a lot of negotiated and representative business and we’re into the building long-term relationships with our clients. While we do bid against other contractors for selected projects the majority of our work is negotiated directly with clients to help them to get the best value.” But business tends to go out to multiple bidders in order to get what they see is the lowest price. Gunderson maintains that’s not the best approach.

“We add so much value at the front end,” he said. “Rather than rely totally on the architect’s information, we use our own in-house team of architects to value engineer. Centerpoint is about finding faster, cheaper and better ways to build projects.” While that may sound like a great idea, businesses do tend to be wedded to the ‘lowest bid’ approach. Those marriages in haste often end up in not-so-leisurely repentance.

“Between two-thirds and three-quarters of business in Dallas is competitively bid,” he conceded. “That usually ends up in variations and change orders, which elevate project costs way above the original offer. What we can do is go back to the client and show them quantitative savings in areas they didn’t think were possible. For example, most architects understand design but they don’t understand the cost of implementation. We can show that, if you do something this way rather than that, you can achieve exactly what you wanted while saving money.” As the Network Associates experience showed, those savings can add up to a lot of money. And the sooner Centerpoint gets involved, the better.

Centerpoint is experienced in all aspects of construction. As such, it provides three distinct services: design/build; construction management; and general contractor. Each division does pretty much ‘what it says on the can’: design/build takes on responsibility for all aspects of design, budget, and construction, contracting directly with the architect to develop drawings and then building the project for a guaranteed maximum price, providing the client with a single point of contact. As an architect-led design/builder, Centerpoint naturally places heavy emphasis on the design phase, designing-in cost and time savings and sorting out problems before they arise. As a construction manager, the company oversees the whole project on behalf of the owner, from conceptual planning through to completion.

“We’ve been very successful in keeping a good stable of subcontractors available. We treat them fairly, pay on time and do what we say we’ll do. It’s a two-way street: we expect the same consideration in return,” said Gunderson. “I believe our subcontractors like working with us; they know we won’t discard them for the sake of a few dollars. We get dependability, as an important client, and if we need something challenging or urgent done, we know we can rely on them to get the job done.” One of the biggest challenges facing a company that’s growing exponentially, as Centerpoint has been, is control. It’s well in hand.

“The great secret of our success is our people – our staff have been very loyal. Without that stability and loyalty, we couldn’t have grown at the rate we’ve achieved,” he said. “We are tripling our revenues but not the number of projects. What we’re doing is larger and more complex undertakings. We are adding people but one of the keys to our success is that our partners stay very involved with our end product; we don’t have three layers of management between the field and decision-makers.” Going forward, Centerpoint expects to continue to grow and branch out, primarily within its home state.

“We learned before and after 9/11 that we were too dependent on the technology sector and office finish-out and that market disappeared in a heartbeat. We’re now more diversified and undertook more retail work during 2007. In 2008, we will be more involved with multi-family projects,” said Gunderson. “We have undertaken projects outside Texas when our clients have asked us to but our home state is a huge market. There’s plenty of work here; we’re more likely to open an office in Austin than in Boston.”

The article can be found at http://www.constructiondigital.com/Centrepoint-Builders_3912.aspx

Centerpoint Builders offers turn-key design/build and construction for its clients with experience in a wide range of project experience - medical, office, retail, multi-family, and industrial. For more information, please visit the company website at centerpointbuilders.com.