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The Bay Area Real Estate Journal
Advancing Building Innovation
By Vladimir Bosanac
Most people know that Webcor did an amazing job with the recently-opened California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. What is probably less known is that this was one of the few public projects in recent history in which Webcor engaged, and that in doing so it has helped shape some of the city’s development regulations. Could you give us a sense of that effort?
In the past, we purposely avoided public jobs because the public-sector building process almost always leads to guaranteed failure, guaranteed fight and a guaranteed lawsuit. However, when we were selected to build the California Academy of Sciences we had to confront the fact that part of the funding came from public general obligation bond money, which meant that we would have to follow the Department of Public Works’ public contracting laws. We like to engage key subcontractors while the project is still in the design phase, which allows us to tap their expertise and come up with the best and most cost effective solutions. This is difficult to do in traditional public-sector building, so we worked with the City of San Francisco to craft two new ordinances which gave us and the Department of Public Works the power to pre-qualify sub-contractors. This was the first time in the history of San Francisco that when public funds were used on a project that it didn't lead to litigation. Now we are working with other municipalities to make similar changes to their public-bidding processes.
Innovation in sustainability is a big focus for Webcor, and you have taken that a step further by partnering with Navitas Capital of Berkeley to identify new building materials and advanced technologies focused on green building practices. You will in essence help guide Navitas to invest in innovation and at the same become a customer of those new companies. Can you tell us how this deal came about and what it means for Webcor?
The face-to-face relationship between Navitas and Webcor began in January at the annual Clean-Tech Investor Summit in Palm Springs. Webcor’s Vice President of Sustainability and Technical Systems, Phil Williams, was a guest speaker and Navitas founders, Travis Putnum and Jim Pettit, were in the audience. VC firms know about startups, financing, R&D and cash flow but not necessarily the details of the construction industry. The unique perspective and experience that a general contractor like Webcor can bring to the evaluation of new construction methods, technical systems and sales and distribution models, can be very helpful in vetting the types of companies in which Navitas is interested. Webcor’s 35 years of construction and business experience coupled with our real-time knowledge of the most pressing sustainability issues (and opportunities) creates a broad yet deep basis for our relationship.
The fact that you are in close proximity to Silicon Valley gives you tremendous perspective on technological innovation, as well. Technology is in Webcor’s fabric and applied on every job site. Can you tell us how technology has transformed Webcor’s work and how you see its application expanding in the future, as well?
Webcor has always been an early adopter of technology, but we are also an advancer of technology. We invested in Stanford’s Center for Integrated Facilities Engineering (CIFE), supporting graduate research that has led to innovations for construction, design and engineering. We invest in The Valley, and we are now harvesting the benefits of Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology. BIM allows us to model our projects digitally and solve problems in the virtual realm before we start construction—before problems cost real money to fix.
We have to ask a question around the current state of the economy, but we’ll steer away from the doom and gloom tone. What will be some sure markers of recovery that we will see first? When do you foresee that we’ll start seeing them?
Within every economic downturn there are still opportunities for success. But you have to prepare for these times three years in advance. The current downturn is a necessary adjustment to an overblown economy. Like the purging effect of a forest fire that sets the stage for the germination and growth of future trees, what appears like a disaster is actually setting the stage for future growth. However, it will be a couple of years before we start to see signs of recovery. These early signs will be the germination of new types of companies and industries such as green-technology and stem-cell research. When the recovery begins we will be looking at a brave new world of great opportunity. It is at these points in time where there is the greatest opportunity for new growth and participation in the new industries that will fuel the economic recovery.
Philanthropy is big part of Webcor’s corporate philosophy. Can you give us a sense of how this has driven you as an executive and how much effort the company has put into helping non-profit organizations in the Bay Area?
I believe that it is the fundamental obligation to give back to the community in which you are living and working. Personally and as a company, we are very focused on endeavors that help our youth become productive members of society. I serve as the chairman of the Bay Area Council’s Education Reform Committee, which researches and advocates the adoption of best practices for raising scholastic performance in our schools. I am also a past President and current Executive Board member of the San Francisco Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Webcor employees donate their time and talents to wide variety of non-profit organizations and this year will be our 20th anniversary participating in the annual Rebuilding Together program.
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