Blue Rock Delivers for UPS and Sears

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Moving two high-profiled clients into a 362,000-square-foot, multi-tenant warehouse at the same time within 10 weeks could be considered a logistical nightmare by some. But for Blue Rock Construction, Inc., experts at navigating such intricacies, it's called business as usual.

Recently, Blue Rock completed simultaneous tenant fit-out projects for UPS and Sears at the "LogistiCenter at Logan" Industrial Park in Swedesboro, N.J., for developers DP Partners. Blue Rock met the 10-week parallel construction challenge by adopting an aggressive, fast-track schedule while meeting diverse requirements by UPS and Sears.

"When you're doing two tenants at the same time there's always a little trepidation, but in this case, to have Blue Rock and the team they put together made it much easier for us," said James Mascaro, Eastern Region Development Manager for DP Partners. "With Blue Rock, the guys have done a great job, John Byrne (senior general superintendent) especially. Blue Rock has a great relationship with the township and that's key in New Jersey."

Byrne and his team worked closely with the township to expedite inspections and approvals, and also worked with the tenants' vendors for a seamless turnover.

"You need to identify your priorities at the outset," said Byrne. "There's a lot of work that has to be done dependent on each tenant and the portion of the building they take."

In this case, for example, UPS and Sears had very difference power supply requirements. That meant identifying and expediting the fabrication of two high-voltage switchgear packages.

Also, Blue Rock worked with Sears and UPS to remove and reinstall some of their equipment from other facilities. For example, UPS needed to relocate their compactors, bailers and vari-sorters. So while construction was underway, Blue Rock coordinated the installation of two 160-foot sorting machines.

"Our tradesman worked under strict schedule constraints to make the spaces fully operational," said Byrne. "It's all part of certain deadlines that have to be met because the tenants are ready to move in."

Prior to UPS and Sears moving into the multi-tenant warehouse, Brighton Best, a socket screw company, enlisted Blue Rock to fit-out approximately one-third of the space. UPS and Sears moved into the remaining space one year later.

Also, the warehouse earned a LEED silver certification, a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.

"People have a hard time conceiving how you can build a 362,000-square-foot building with the associated tenant fit-outs in such a short timeframe," said Byrne. "That's really amazing."

And that's business as usual for Blue Rock Construction.