Client:  Alameda County, CA
Location:   Dublin, CA
Surface Area: 148,031 ft²
Year Completed:  2016
Value:  $147.6 million
Architect:  KMD Architects

Mansour Aliabadi, principal of Cypress CM, was the principal in charge of construction management services for the new LEED Silver Dublin Courthouse, a 5-story courthouse with 13 courtrooms, a 2-story county office building, and 865 parking spaces, all built on 20 acres of land adjacent to the Santa Rita Jail. The new courthouse replaced the leased Gale Schenone Hall of Justice in Pleasanton and the Allen E. Broussard Justice Center in Oakland, which suffered flooding damage in 2007 and had to be vacated. The Dublin Courthouse connects to a 2-story county building containing offices for the District Attorney, Public Defender, and Probation Department.

The two buildings are joined by a common entry, lobby, and elevator atrium. This project was carried out using Design Build procurement.

Client:   Mohanna Development
Location:   Sacramento, CA
BuildingArea:  130,600 sf
Year Completed:   2019
Value:  $29.5 million
Architect:   The HR Group Architects

The owner of the project, Mohanna Development, hired Cypress Construction Management to assist in the management of construction, completion and close-out of the project. Scope of services included review of project documents, facilitation of weekly on-site meetings with contractor, review of project schedules, negotiation of change orders, review of monthly applications for payment, assisting the architect in responding to RFI’s, review of submittals and advising the owner on project related issues.

Cypress was hired after construction was underway as a result of challenges the owner was having with the contractor. Near completion of construction there were a significant number of issues relating to change orders and failure on the part of the general contractor to resolve outstanding change orders with the subcontractors on the project. This resulted in several subcontractors filing liens.

In support of the owner, we worked with the general contractor and subcontractors to negotiate, finalize and arrange terms of payment for outstanding subcontractor change orders. Another challenge was the original structure of the design and construction contracts which was established prior to Cypress participation in the project. The architect and structural engineer were directly contracted with the owner while the mechanical, plumbing and electrical contracts were design-build between the subcontractor and the general contract. This created a challenge in coordination of designs and submittals. Cypress worked with the owner, architect and engineers to facilitate roles and responsibilities where there were no direct contract relationships.

Client:   Sierra College
Location:   Rocklin, CA
Year Completed:   2020
Value:  $4.2 million

The project consisted of complete demolition and reconstruction of the college kitchen, meeting rooms and student support spaces in the Student Union building.

Special challenges on the project included completion of a renovation project in a very aggressive timeframe. Cypress worked collaboratively with the architect and contractor to resolve issues in a timely manner to minimize impact to the contraction schedule. Upon removal of the existing interior concrete slab, it was determined there were unforeseen interior foundations impacting the layout of plumbing fixtures in the kitchen. Cypress coordinated identification of conflicts and worked with the architect, structural engineer and plumbing engineer to modify foundation and relocate under slab plumbing. Another issue involved coordination of redesign for replacement of interior ceiling framing and modifications to structural support of roof penetrations. Cypress again worked with the project team to determine the changes that would be most cost effective and have the least schedule impact.

Client:  Stanislaus County
Location:  Ceres, CA
Building Area:  57,000 sf
Year Completed:  2018
Value:  $45 million
Architect:  LDA Partners / HOK

Cypress principal Doug Evans, while employed by another firm, worked with Stanislaus County to provide management and executive oversight of the REACT Center project.

Doug Evans was asked by Stanislaus County to assist with the development and implementation of a management plan for the project. Mr. Evans worked with County Executives and Project Management to establish an integrated project team of County staff and consultants for administration and management of the design-build effort. Challenges to the project included the accelerated time for completion of the project and alignment of the project design cost with the County Budget. The project team worked collaboratively with the design builder to maintain the schedule through accelerated plan reviews and timely resolution of design and construction issues.

Additionally, the project team worked with the design builder to identify components of the design that were cost effective and in-line with the budget while meeting the requirements of the criteria documents. The project was successful from the perspective cost, time and quality. This was, in part, evidenced by the project being given awards for excellence by the Design Build Association of America and the Construction Management Association of America.