The Pease Place exterior

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According to Banks, construction began on Dec. 31, 2010 and is scheduled for completion in late Jan. or early Feb. 2012.

  “The existing project was started in 2004 and was approximately 60 percent complete in 2006, with numerous design flaws and construction defects,” Banks said.

  “Planned for 16 condominiums and approximately 16,500sf, the project eventually was foreclosed on by its lender and remained dormant for more than three years.

  “Once called the “Eyesore of Enfield” the project was becoming a blight on the prestigious Old West Austin neighborhood.  MadNic and Fortis Realty Services (Fortis) were engaged to redesign and complete the project with the vision of delivering a project that the neighborhood would embrace.

“MadNic and Fortis set a goal of delivering high-performance, green rated condominiums that were compatible with their surrounds.  Construction began with de-construction of existing conditions (framing, mechanicals, plumbing, electrical, etc.) to the core building structure.

Banks says the structure was reviewed, x-rayed and certified by Hunt and Joiner Structural Engineering, with appropriate corrections and repairs made to salvage and use the existing structure.  When completed, he says Pease Place will offer 25 condominiums totaling approximately 21,000sf.

“The redesigned Pease Place is more logically layered out with two primary staircases and an electric elevator to service the buildings and all hallways are appropriated for easy ingress/egress and life-safety considerations,” he said.

  “The current design incorporates several features such as photovoltaic solar power generation for each individual condominium, commercial glass, foam insulation, tankless water heaters, 100 percent LED lighting and native limestone.

  “In addition, following a stringent recycling program, the project has recycled all of the existing concrete structure, in excess of 98 percent of the project steel, and has less than 15 percent of waste materials going to landfills.”  

  Banks says the first significant challenge was the existing design and conditions.  The building needed to be redesigned and new layout created based on the existing conditions, approvals and permits, he said.
       “All existing framing was removed and “temporary perimeter” walls were constructed to field-verify and determine the perimeter of the building,” Banks said. “We didn’t really know what we had to work with until we constructed the temporary perimeter walls and defined the three dimensional boundaries of the building shell.

“We found the floor plates did not align from one level to the next, the voids in the floor plates created tremendous water penetration issues and the general egress of the building was nonsensical, making efficient design and construction very difficult.

“Through this perimeter wall approach, working closely with the architect in the field, we were able to establish building exterior planes that would allow for traditional construction methods to be employed, resulting in a lower cost, a more normal construction timeline and a better looking building.

  “The next major obstacle was the roof conditions, with partially constructed sub deck, five different horizontal planes and overlapping roofing sections that made drying-in and insulating the building impossible.
       “The new building design added parapets to partially hide the roof-top mechanicals and better align the roof planes.  The roof planes were reduced from five to three and a half, with continuous single point of access.  A new TPO roof was applied with a 20-year warranty and complete insulation of the roof area.

  “Most people that looked at this project in its original design configuration and existing conditions considered it a tear down.  Through the support of the Butler Family Interests, MadNic and Fortis were able to turn the “Eyesore of Enfield” into an elegant, high-performance condominium project that is a wonderful addition to the neighborhood and Austin.”

  Banks says the owners, architect and construction team worked very closely as a team to understand the vision of the new project and its potential impact on the neighborhood and allow the latitude to apply creativity to the problem solving process and maintain high quality construction methods and practices.

Founded in 2009 by President Rance Clouse, MadNic has one office in Austin, TX and employs six people.  The company specializes in general contracting, with expertise in multi-family, light commercial and difficult or unusual project conditions, development and design build services, new construction and remodeling.  Projects have included office building remodels, tenant finish outs, multi-family redevelopments, mix-used redevelopments, land planning and redesign and completion of existing projects.  ­ –ab

©2011 Construction News, Ltd.