KBS takes it in halves for Metropolitan Place

KBS Construction got it right the first time.

The eastern half of the Metropolitan Place Condominiums project towers over the third floor of the western half. Photos courtesy of KBS Construction Inc.

And that is the most likely reason the general contractor won the award for the second phase of the Metropolitan Place Condominiums project in Madison.

“I guess it’s always a good feeling knowing we were awarded the second phase of the project because it shows you met and exceeded the owner’s expectations,” said John Schneider, vice president of KBS’ Madison office.

KBS completed the project’s first phase — a 174-unit, 16-story condo building with an attached, five-story parking garage — in 2003. The contractor won the second phase in early 2005, and is in the midst of building a 310,000-square-foot, 13-story, 164-unit condo building along with a five-story parking structure that connects to the first garage.

But despite KBS’ experience on the first phase, it didn’t take long for the challenges to start piling up. The first big problem, Schneider said, was figuring out the best way to build the second phase.

“The new parking structure is sandwiched between the first building and the second phase, so we had to erect the second half of the parking garage structure before we started the western half of phase two,” he said.

With construction of the new building split in two, part of the KBS team started on the eastern half of the condo building, while another part of the team finished up the parking garage. The western half of the condos followed close behind.

The fourth-floor columns are ready for installation on the western half of the Metropolitan Place Condominiums project. Photos courtesy of KBS Construction Inc.

But good construction coordination won’t go far with bad soil conditions. And that’s exactly what KBS found when it dug in for the foundations.

“The excavation work was pretty extensive,” Schneider said. “It’s been a challenge to recoup the lost time, and we’re in the process of bringing it back to the original schedule.”

Balancing a tighter-than-expected schedule with the individual requests of the new condo owners hasn’t been easy, but, Schneider said, the construction team is getting close to the original time line. As the project enters June, the eastern half of the condo building should have a roof, and the western half should be up about seven stories.

And while this condo project presented the full range of obstacles, Schneider said it still plays to his company’s strengths.

“We’ve done a lot of condo projects, and it’s a good niche for us,” he said. “It really fits in with what we generally feel we’re good at.”

- Chris Thompson