A Credit Union’s New Building Sends a Message to Its Members

Just six years after completing its headquarters in Meridian, http://www.capedfcu.org/ Capital Educators Federal Credit Union needed to expand its presence in Nampa. The company had merged with Canyon Teachers Credit Union, and CEO Brad Hill wanted to better serve the needs of his organization’s membership in a rapidly expanding sector of the Treasure Valley.

We had an existing facility in Nampa, but we needed more space and a more accessible location, he explains.If you’re hard to find, how can you serve your members The credit union was fortunate enough to locate a parcel of land just off I-84 in the Treasure Valley Marketplace; a site with tremendous exposure.   That exposure however, came with a price tag three times that of the four acres the company had purchased just six years earlier for its Meridian headquarters.

The immediate challenge facing Capital Educators Federal Credit Union was to construct a building that would justify the cost of the lot.   In Hill’s mind, this challenge boiled down to a simple premise: “You can’t put a $100,000 building on a million dollar lot.”   Doing so, Hill reflected, would send the wrong statement to its members.   Instead, the credit union wanted a “signature” building that, in Hill’s words, “would maximize the value of its location.”

A Signature Building

When Brad Hill talks about the people his organization serves throughout 15 counties in southwest Idaho, he speaks of “members” rather than “customers”.   “When we talk about a  Ëœsignature building”, we think of it from the standpoint of our membership and their needs,” he explains.   “Even though we operate in an environment where hundreds of thousands of transactions are made online or through a drive-up window, our membership still requires a high level of touch.   We want to provide this through a place where they feel comfortable and cared for.”

To create this environment in its new Nampa facility, Capital Educators Federal Credit Union engaged the design services of ZGA Architects  €“ a firm they had used for their previous three buildings.   Hill gathered together an advisory team comprised of the credit union’s vice presidents.   ZGA’s first concept, Hill candidly recalls, “pretty much got me laughed out of the board room.   It was definitely unique!”   With further input, however, consensus coalesced around the design of a 4,200 square foot that made use of high ceilings and lots of glass to create an open feeling, as well as a large lobby area for members to relax in while conducting their transactions.

For Hill, the choice of a construction company centered around finding a partner that could work seamlessly with ZGA to provide options that would honor the design vision, but reduce costs wherever possible.   As Hill wryly points out, “An architect may want to use gold and platinum as their base materials, but a good construction partner will identify options that will achieve the same effect using stucco!”   To keep maintenance costs at a minimum, Capital Educators Federal Credit Union insisted on tile floors and a metal roof.   “The metal roof represented a $40,000 incremental cost increase,” Hill notes, “but long after I’ve retired, future CEOs won’t have to worry about replacing it.”   As part of its signature look, Hill also insisted on a “massive” roofline to make the new building stand out.

With final drawings in hand, Capital Educators Federal Credit Union selected Kreizenbeck Constructors to manage the construction process , “ a decision based on Hill’s past experience with one of Kreizenbeck’s principals.   “We operate in an industry that values trust, and that value extends to our choice of construction partners,” Hill notes.   In the case of its newest building, trust would be a critical factor: the project was on an accelerated 180-day build schedule timed to coincide with the ending of the credit union’s lease on its current Nampa location.

Due to delays in the permit process, the project began two weeks behind schedule.   In spite of this, the Capital Educators Federal Credit Union’s new Nampa building opened its doors on February 19: two weeks ahead of schedule!   Hill credits this accomplishment with Kreizenbeck’s and ZGA’s ability to work together seamlessly.   “Given the conventional wisdom about the stress that an owner goes through during the construction process, I’m almost embarrassed by how painless it all was,” Hill confides. “We knew the architect was working minute-by-minute with the construction manager, and we only needed to meet once a month to review the status of the build.   During previous projects, we used to meet weekly.”

Looking back, Hill also credits Kreizenbeck for treating his organization in the same manner that Capital Educators Federal Credit Union treats its members.   “We don’t discriminate on the basis of how much business an individual member does with us.   We treat our smallest accounts with the same respect as our largest.   I know that Kreizenbeck builds much larger projects than ours, but we always felt we were the most important project they were working on.   Looking back, I continue to be amazed at what was accomplished.”   Now it’s the credit union’s members’ turn to be amazed.

Managing Change During the Building Process:
Behind the Construction of the Talus Professional Plaza

Managing the complexities of any large commercial building project can challenge the most robust of construction management methodologies.   It’s another challenge altogether to make the construction process run concurrently with not only a building’s design, but also with the evolving business model underlying the design.   This, however, was precisely the situation that Kreizenbeck Constructors faced in the creation of the Talus Professional Plaza.

The Talus building was the vision of a Boise-based neurologist, Dr. Stephen Asher.   Having outgrown the downtown medical office that his physician group had occupied since 1981, Dr. Asher wanted to expand and modernize his facilities.   He knew, however, that the size of his existing practice would not support the cost of a facility that would deliver the level of patient care and convenience he envisioned.   His solution was simple but unprecedented: gather together complimentary physician practices and make them real estate partners who would subsequently share ownership in the building they would also help design.

In fall 2005, Dr. Asher had assembled his partner team and was ready to secure land and engage an architect and construction partner.   The physician partnership, which adopted the name Talus, purchased a six-acre parcel off of Overland Road near the intersection with Eagle Road and selected Doug Houston of Houston – Bugatsch to design their building and Kreizenbeck Constructors to build it.

Paramount in the Talus partners’ criteria for selecting their design and building team was a thorough understanding of medical construction and a highly collaborative working relationship.   As it turned out, Dave Maloney of Kreizenbeck had worked with architect Doug Houston on other medical projects.    “Construction of a medical facility involves a lot of specialties and a level of knowledge of sophisticated systems, products and equipment”,  Maloney points out.    “Fortunately, Kreizenbeck has been involved in nearly every one of St. Alphonsus’ projects for the last 25 years, and Talus’ concept of creating an out patient facility in combination with a medical office building was very familiar to us based on that experience.”

Also familiar to Kreizenbeck were other key project requirements: the ability to handle a complicated, fast track construction process and sensitivity to maintaining a clean worksite within an existing facility.    “Physicians are too busy to provide a lot of direction, but they have a high level of expectation when it comes to maintaining the operational integrity of their work environment. ”

One of the things that became clear at the inception of the Talus project was the need for concurrency in design and construction.   While Dr. Asher and his partners wanted to occupy their new facilities as quickly as possible, the partnership and its ultimate requirements were still in flux.   The number of partners alone grew from nine to thirteen from the beginning of the project.

The evolving needs of the Talus partners made the translation of these needs into design and construction decisions a moving target.    ”At the point that we began construction, the Talus partners had only acquired a portion of their property, ” Maloney recalls.    ”We were five months into construction before final drawings and estimates were completed.   This meant that our initial estimates had to be very flexible.   Even more important, we needed a highly cohesive team and a high level of trust in figuring out what the final objective would be. ”

Another challenge faced by Kreizenbeck was the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the availability and cost of building materials.   Combined with labor shortages resulting from the Treasure Valley construction boom, these factors introduced an additional level of volatility to the project.

Fortunately, the Talus construction project was firmly anchored in the visions of Dr. Asher and Dr. Kyle Palmer.   This vision was of a building that would deliver a new standard of choice, continuity of care and convenience to the Treasure Valley.   Aesthetically, they envisioned a look and feel that Dr. Asher describes as  ”Tuscan. ” Functionally, the Talus physician partners wanted a professional working space organized around an MRI imaging center.   But even here there was an element of uncertainty: during the construction process, legislation was pending affecting the placement of MRI equipment in facilities outside of the hospital.

Working closely with Doug Houston, Kreizenbeck dealt with these uncertainties by locking in the shell and core of the building.    ”We essentially started with a shell without any knowledge of what would go into it, ” says Maloney.    ”Since the MRI space required special design consideration, these drove other considerations.   Doug set gridline dimensions that allowed for flexibility as the rest of the building design evolved. ”

Amazingly, given the above challenges, the Talus Professional Plaza went from ground breaking in July 2006 to completion in June 2007, not withstanding the fact that the construction permit was not finalized until November 2006!   While Dave Maloney cites Kreizenbeck’s and Doug Houston’s experience in the design and build of medical facilities, the ability to manage a complex construction project concurrently with the evolution of a client’s business model and needs was the single most important component of success in building the Talus Professional Plaza.

“My experience with doctors, ” says Maloney,  ”is that they aren’t interested in the lowest cost, just the best value that meets their vision.   They also have a high regard for expertise and professionalism.   Your ability to work collaboratively and flexibly, and to communicate only what is most important to their decision making process, is the quickest way to earn their respect. ”