Riley acts fast for TCF Bank

A Riley construction crew works on the glass-enclosed vestibule entrance for TCF Bank's Oak Creek branch. Photos courtesy of Riley Construction Co. Inc.

The grand-opening date never changed.

TCF Bank had Jan. 1 in mind when Riley Construction Co. Inc. took the job to build the bank’s Oak Creek branch. It remained Jan. 1 even after Riley watched the first two months of its schedule evaporate in a cloud of contaminated soil.

“All the plans were turned over, we had the permits, and we were ready to rock ‘n’ roll on July 1,” said Ben Kossow, Riley’s project manager.

Riley, which negotiated for the job after completing a similar project for TCF in West Milwaukee, might have been ready, but the property wasn’t. TCF bought the Oak Creek land from a developer with an agreement that the devel-oper would set up a retaining wall to separate the construction site from a retention pond, Kossow said.

But the developer found contaminated soil when it started its work, and it took two months to get the property ready for Riley, Kossow said.

“But the bank, per their quotas or goals, asked the ever-so-famous question, ‘Can you still get it done by the end of the year?’” he said. “And, like all contractors, we said, ‘Why yes, we can get it done by the end of the year.’”

A Riley mason puts the finishing touches on TCF Bank's drive-through window in Oak Creek. Photos courtesy of Riley Construction Co. Inc.

So when Riley finally got on the site in the first week of September, it still faced building a 4,580-square-foot, one-story bank with an atrium, offices, teller stations and a drive-through. But the contractor had two less months to do it.

It hasn’t been a problem because, Kossow said, the project team used those two down months to prepare rather than panic.

“In July and August, we were preordering steel, millwork, doors and ceramic tile, so when they said go, we could go,” he said. “With everything we learned on the last bank, we used it to our advantage.”

And in the time since Riley got on the site, the contractor did more than just catch up. In October, the team was running two weeks ahead of schedule and planning to reach the finishing stages by the end of November.

Kossow, meanwhile, said he’s happy with the progress and doing everything he can not to jinx such a smooth project.

“I was at a meeting, and I said that things couldn’t be going any better, and before I could finish, they told me to stop,” he said. “Everybody is ecstatic about how it’s going. I was nervous, but I knew in my heart we could get it done.”

— Chris Thompson