Rhode Island-based Gilbane Building Company, one of the nation’s leading providers of Construction Management and related services, announced today plans to acquire W.G. Mills, Inc., a construction management firm with operations based in Florida. The acquisition will dramatically strengthen Gilbane’s position in Florida’s growing market and complement its already established presence in the southeast.
“The Mills firm is a good fit for Gilbane both geographically and strategically,” says Thomas F. Gilbane, Jr., chairman and CEO. “Both companies are completely focused on client satisfaction and many of the markets we serve overlap. This newest addition to the Gilbane family of services makes us stronger and adds depth to our capabilities.”
The merger of W.G. Mills into Gilbane will leverage Gilbane’s national knowledge base, financial depth and employee training to enable the Mills operations to deliver even larger and more sophisticated projects to its broad Florida client base.
W.G. Mills is a major player in the state of Florida with seven offices and enjoys a reputation for exceeding clients’ expectations. With 155 employees and annual revenue of $250 million, the firm is active in a variety of construction sectors, including educational facilities, commercial, retail, health care, hospitality, and recreational facilities. Offering all types of delivery approaches over the past 38 years, W.G Mills has achieved significant growth in the Florida region in large part due to a repeat client-base.
“We began working with Gilbane as a joint venture partner and recognized right away that our companies were a perfect fit. We are both privately owned and both have an intense focus on taking care of our customers,” says Lemuel Sharp III, President of W.G. Mills. “For us, it’s all about people and forming deep client relationships, and Gilbane shares these same values.”
W.G. Mills, Inc. will become an integrated part of Gilbane’s current operations, serving as the company’s Florida region and operating under the name Mills Gilbane. The W.G. Mills management team will remain in place, with Sharp becoming Senior Vice President and Regional Manager of Gilbane’s new Florida regional office. The acquisition is expected to be complete December 1, 2010, subject to satisfactory completion of due diligence currently in progress.
About Gilbane Building Company
Gilbane Building Company provides a full slate of construction and facilities-related services –from sustainable building to the latest in construction technology – for clients across various markets. Founded in 1873 and still a privately held, family-run company, Gilbane has more than 40 office locations across the country and an international presence through its subsidiary, Innovative Technology Solutions, Inc. (ITSI). Acquired by Gilbane in August 2010, ITSI is an international, award-winning, design-build infrastructure and environmental solutions firm focused on Department of Defense and Department of Energy work. For more information, visit http://www.gilbaneco.comhttp://www.gilbaneco.com.
Related Stories
| Jan 7, 2011
How Building Teams Choose Roofing Systems
A roofing survey emailed to a representative sample of BD+C’s subscriber list revealed such key findings as: Respondents named metal (56%) and EPDM (50%) as the roofing systems they (or their firms) employed most in projects. Also, new construction and retrofits were fairly evenly split among respondents’ roofing-related projects over the last couple of years.
| Jan 7, 2011
Total construction to rise 5.1% in 2011
Total U.S. construction spending will increase 5.1% in 2011. The gain from the end of 2010 to the end of 2011 will be 10%. The biggest annual gain in 2011 will be 10% for new residential construction, far above the 2-3% gains in all other construction sectors.
| Jan 7, 2011
Mixed-Use on Steroids
Mixed-use development has been one of the few bright spots in real estate in the last few years. Successful mixed-use projects are almost always located in dense urban or suburban areas, usually close to public transportation. It’s a sign of the times that the residential component tends to be rental rather than for-sale.
| Jan 4, 2011
Product of the Week: Zinc cladding helps border crossing blend in with surroundings
Zinc panels provide natural-looking, durable cladding for an administrative building and toll canopies at the newly expanded Queenstown Plaza U.S.-Canada border crossing at the Niagara Gorge. Toronto’s Moriyama & Teshima Architects chose the zinc alloy panels for their ability to blend with the structures’ scenic surroundings, as well as for their low maintenance and sustainable qualities. The structures incorporate 14,000 sf of Rheinzink’s branded Angled Standing Seam and Reveal Panels in graphite gray.
| Jan 4, 2011
6 green building trends to watch in 2011
According to a report by New York-based JWT Intelligence, there are six key green building trends to watch in 2011, including: 3D printing, biomimicry, and more transparent and accurate green claims.
| Jan 4, 2011
LEED standards under fire in NYC
This year, for the first time, owners of 25,000 commercial properties in New York must report their buildings’ energy use to the city. However, LEED doesn’t measure energy use and costs, something a growing number of engineers, architects, and landlords insist must be done. Their concerns and a general blossoming of environmental awareness have spawned a host of rating systems that could test LEED’s dominance.
| Jan 4, 2011
LEED 2012: 10 changes you should know about
The USGBC is beginning its review and planning for the next version of LEED—LEED 2012. The draft version of LEED 2012 is currently in the first of at least two public comment periods, and it’s important to take a look at proposed changes to see the direction USGBC is taking, the plans they have for LEED, and—most importantly—how they affect you.
| Jan 4, 2011
California buildings: now even more efficient
New buildings in California must now be more sustainable under the state’s Green Building Standards Code, which took effect with the new year. CALGreen, the first statewide green building code in the country, requires new buildings to be more energy efficient, use less water, and emit fewer pollutants, among many other requirements. And they have the potential to affect LEED ratings.
| Jan 4, 2011
New Years resolutions for architects, urban planners, and real estate developers
Roger K. Lewis, an architect and a professor emeritus of architecture at the University of Maryland, writes in the Washington Post about New Years resolutions he proposes for anyone involved in influencing buildings and cities. Among his proposals: recycle and reuse aging or obsolete buildings instead of demolishing them; amend or eliminate out-of-date, obstructive, and overly complex zoning ordinances; and make all city and suburban streets safe for cyclists and pedestrians.
