At Greenfire, we know when it is time to work and when it is time to play. We also know our success is a direct result of the hard work and dedication of our team. In recognition of our team, both of our offices celebrated their efforts by hosting Employee Appreciation parties.

The Milwaukee headquarters office celebrated with a happy hour with appetizers and a raffle. The team also played some games including pool and bag toss. The Northern Operations office in Wausau took to the lanes and went for a night of bowling. The team fared well with drinks and appetizers as well… but we’ll spare the details on their scorecard!

Thank you to all of our employees for their willingness to go above and beyond that makes Greenfire a leader in construction services.

February arrived then disappeared.

We volunteered to collect warm winter gear during the coldest month of the year. We attended university fairs to present Greenfire for those taking the next step in their collegiate career. And we’re excited to see significant progress appear at a high-profile project in the Lake Country frontier.

Read more here in the February 2022 edition of The Spark.

The Locklyn Apartments is a multi-building apartment community that resides within the new Olympia Fields site in Oconomowoc, WI.

In an on-going effort to revitalize the once vivacious stretch along Summit Avenue, Wangard Partners is redeveloping the former Olympia Resort and big-box retail center to include residential living, retail, hospitality, and office uses. The land also holds strong cultural and ancestral ties to the Potawatomi heritage. Derived from the Scottish term ‘loch’, The Locklyn is the first of multiple phases which make up the Olympia Fields development.

From the layout of the site, which traces the edge of an existing pond to the design aesthetic of the buildings, The Locklyn reflects the natural landscape and freshwater environment characteristic of the surrounding Lake Country area. It includes construction of seven Class-A apartment buildings, a clubhouse, and in-ground pool. This phase also includes construction of a retaining wall along the northern edge of the pond to level the site and allow for building construction closer to the body of water.

In preparation for phase one construction, the City of Oconomowoc razed the former Olympia Resort and two existing roads last Summer. The City then contracted construction of Kari Court – a cul de sac which The Locklyn centers around. A groundbreaking in October marked the start of construction with mass site grading completed in November. Before the winter frost set in, the team was able to pour and set slab-on-grade foundations for five of the seven buildings.

Ground up construction for each building is roughly nine weeks to complete, with turnover for every subsequent building approximately six weeks after. Currently on site, Building 1 is water tight and is the first of the seven buildings in the construction sequence. Rough MEP installation is complete with drywall installation ongoing. Painting and casework are scheduled to follow with expected turnover beginning of April. Building 4 is nearing completion of framing and roofing followed by rough MEP installation. Turnover is expected mid-May. Building 7 is next in the sequence with framing set to begin mid-March. Construction for Building 5 is schedule to begin mid-April with Building 6 starting end of May. Foundations for Buildings 2 and 3 are primed to pour once weather conditions allow. The clubhouse sits at the south end of the site along the pond in between Buildings 1 and 4. It includes the in-ground pool, a workout room, and several event/meeting spaces. Construction occurs simultaneous to the progress of the apartment buildings. Turnover for the last building is slated for February 2023.

Similar to Tivoli Green, Olympia Fields is a great illustration of Wangard’s shared vision to build for the community by redeveloping large parcels of land to supply quality housing and commercial opportunity. And as the CM with ties to the land, we are humbled by the chance to honor our past by building a legacy for future generations and ensure a quality development. The Greenfire project team includes Mike Smith, Sr. Project Manager, Eric Anderson, Superintendent, and Rob Norris, Project Engineer. Kahler Slater is the architect and raSmith is the civil engineer.

Marquette University and UW-Platteville hosted career fairs this month and Greenfire exhibited at both. The career fairs are a great way to get our company in front of young talent who are majoring in engineering and construction majors and showcase Greenfire as a viable option for a career in construction. In addition to attending these events, we work directly with the select universities to host project tours for students as a way to further their education and interest in construction. Thank you to our young professionals, who met with faculty and students to showcase Greenfire. Ryan Hermes, Project Engineer, and Evan Gornick, Estimator attended Marquette University’s fair and Project Engineers, Mitch Berti and Kevin Stockinger, attended UW-Platteville’s fair.

It was another successful result for our annual Winter Warmth Drives!

The Milwaukee office collected winter warmth items and raised fund for the Milwaukee Christian Center, a partner of ours for over five years. The Wausau office collected winter warmth items for The Open Door of Marathon County.

Collectively, we donated: $50 in donations, 20 jackets, 22 pairs of socks, 18 pairs of gloves, 23 hats, 12 scarves, 2 earmuffs, 9 sweatshirts/sweaters, 2 sets of long underwear, and 21 hand, body, foot warmers. In addition, Greenfire donated $600.00 to the MCC Senior Meal Program which will provide two days of lunches to their guests.

We would like to thank the Wgema Campus and Wausau region for their assistance and support in giving back to our community. Together we are making a difference!

The Wisconsin Association of School Boards (WASB) held their 101^st State Education Convention at the Wisconsin Center. The two-day annual event brings together education professionals from around Wisconsin to attend industry breakout sessions and network with vendors at the tradeshow.

Greenfire hosted a booth on the tradeshow floor for the fifth consecutive year. Pepi Randolph, VP of Business Development, Mike Murphy, Director of Northern Operations, Simmi Urbanek, Director of Marketing, Maureen Carlson, Regional Business Development Manager, Kyle Widenski, Marketing Manager, and Michael Moe, Business Development Coordinator connected with visitors to extend our brand as a resource for education construction. We also hosted a reception after the first night to further connect with various school districts and design partners.

From this event, we established and maintained valuable relationships with members of district boards and administrations who play key roles in construction contracts for schools throughout the state. As we continually pursue and grow our capabilities in this sector, we are pleased with the groundwork our team accomplished at this event.

The Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) hosted their annual Civil, Architectural, Engineering and Construction Management Career Night and for the fifth consecutive year Greenfire was an exhibitor.  The Career Night is a great way to get our company in front of young talent and showcase Greenfire as a viable option for a career in construction.  In addition to this event, we work directly with the University to host project tours for students as a way to further their education and interest in construction. Thank you to our MSOE Alumni, Joe Kolavo, Project Development Manager, and Austin Stueck, Project Engineer, who met with faculty and students to showcase Greenfire.

Royal Capital, Alderman Russell Stamper II and Greenfire hosted a construction job fair for the Phillis Wheatley School Redevelopment. This was the second job fair the team hosted for the project and more than 20 individuals were in attendance. The job fair was hosted at the Social Development Commission in Milwaukee with the goal aimed at pairing local residents with employment opportunities for the project and with partnered subcontractors. Eleven project subcontractors were in attendance in addition to several certifying agencies including Milwaukee’s Resident Preference Program, Youth Build and Section 3 Job Training agencies.

We’re proud to take an active role in employing local residents and engaging businesses and organizations to deliver quality projects to our immediate communities.

Gateway Lofts is a new housing development in Kenosha, WI. The project consists of an adaptive reuse of a former medical office building into residential housing and new construction of four townhome-style buildings. The site is adjacent to Gateway Technical College on 30^th Avenue and provides affordable and accessible housing for students, faculty, and Kenosha-area residents.

A groundbreaking in July 2021 marked the beginning of construction with interior demolition of the existing office building completed shortly after. The building sits at the southeast corner of the site bounded by residential single-family homes directly to the east and operational businesses to the west. The project team is converting the two-story office building into 42 units ranging from one to two-bedroom units. Amenities include community laundry rooms on each floor with a fitness room on the lower floor and community space and manager/leasing office on the first floor. The lower-floor houses six units with the first and second floor housing eighteen units each. Currently, the team is completing drywall and taping on the second floor with cabinetry and interior finishes ongoing throughout the building. Flooring installation is ongoing for the lower floor as the team progresses upward throughout January.

The four two-story townhomes sit at the north end of the site totaling 28 additional units. New construction includes two eight-unit buildings (B and C), two six-unit buildings (D and E) and four detached garages housing 31 parking stalls. Building B is the furthest along as it is fully framed with the roof and brick veneer installation complete. Siding is scheduled to begin first week of January. All MEFP installation is complete with drywall installation beginning the last week of December. Interior finishes and cabinetry installation follows shortly after drywall is complete. Building C is the other eight-unit townhome with framing and roof truss installation ongoing. Build-out for the rest of the building follows that of Building B, beginning with rough MEP installation. Concrete slab on grade for Buildings D and E is complete with framing beginning once Building C is complete. Each building is turned over individually with the entire project scheduled for Summer 2022 completion.

As with every build, there are unique challenges and situations to overcome; however, one that stays consistent throughout is navigating and coordinating delays and environmental concerns due to COVID. Despite this, the project team maintains the original schedule and keeps all vested parties informed. Some other unique situations are as follows:

• The owner contracted demolition of the existing building independently which required the project team to work closely with the owner to transfer management of contracts upon completion of demolition.
• The project sits on a tight and compact site with minimal staging area. With the limited availability of space, the project team consistently manages a changing logistics plan to accommodate and progress site, exterior, and interior work simultaneously.
• Due to weather conditions and operations of concrete and asphalt suppliers, the project team had a limited window to lay asphalt and concrete sitework. This required detailed coordination and communication between all on-site subcontractors to navigate a congested site and complete sitework while pushing framing ahead to achieve occupancy date.
• Conditions of the site includes operational businesses to the west and single-family homes to the east all while construction occurs along a high-traffic main city road with a single construction entrance. In order to minimize disruption to all concerning factors, the team designed a detailed site logistics plan to mitigate risk, coordinate communications, and maintain a safe and efficient build.

Overall, we are very pleased with the progress of Gateway Lofts to this point and would like to thank Land Quest for selecting Greenfire as the construction manager. The Greenfire project team includes Mike Smith, Project Manager, Dave Kwiatkowski, Superintendent, and Mitch Berti, Project Engineer. We are incredibly proud of our team’s drive, vigor, and innovation to manage this project effectively and look forward to seeing the final product.