DPR Completes Warm Shell on High-Profile Physicians Medical Center MOB Project, Working within Strict Confines of Site Surrounded by Hospital, Existing MOB and Busy Highway

When DPR undertook construction of the Physicians Medical Center medical office building (MOB) in San Diego, the project team knew they faced some major challenges just given the site logistics alone.

The new ground-up, four-story, 150,000-sq.-ft. building and parking structure were being constructed directly across the street—a mere 40 feet—from Sharp Memorial Hospital’s emergency room (ER), one of San Diego County’s busiest facilities. To further complicate matters, the hospital was in the midst of its own major eight-story addition and renovation project, and the street separating the two sites had to be kept free of obstructions at all times to ensure a clear path for the ambulance traffic entering the ER.

Customer Quote
“We knew that this development would be quite a challenge for any contractor to safely construct while dealing with all of the site issues on this property, as well ...
as the surrounding properties. DPR’s project team met each challenge presented with an attitude of confidence, creativity and cooperation that solved each challenge completely, timely and safely while avoiding or minimizing any inconveniences to the existing medical businesses on site and on the surrounding properties. Cambridge is very pleased and proud of the job that the team provided on this development and the way in which they did it!”

Francis Sapienza
Chief Developmental Officer
Cambridge Holdings Inc.

On another side of the site stood an existing MOB with ob/gyn, pediatric and kidney transplant patients—all of whom would have to pass in front of DPR’s construction site. Also passing by were a variety of physicians and other personnel who worked in the existing MOB and were prospective tenants for the facility being constructed by DPR. “There was a lot of foot traffic around the site and interaction with the general public,“said Elizabeth Barrie of DPR. “Our job was to ensure the safety of everyone passing by, while minimizing the impact of this major construction project on a very small site. In addition to site constraints, coordinating major construction activities with our neighbors across the street was critical to make sure both of us weren’t doing a large concrete pour or having large deliveries on the same day.”

Finally, a third side of the triangular-shaped building’s site bordered a major frontage road for busy Highway 163, making the project a high-profile one in the area.

Barrie likened the job to fitting “a very large building on a postage stamp.”

And, the challenges did not stop with sizeable logistical obstacles. The project’s parking garage with one level below grade needed to tie in at the subterranean level with an existing adjacent parking garage. When DPR’s team came in they discovered that the concrete deck for the existing garage differed from its specified elevation. Navigating those existing issues, as well as building the new project for the developer/owner, Cambridge Holdings of Dallas, TX, fell to DPR.

In addition, shortly after construction began the owner requested a major change that increased the scope of work by approximately a third. The change added the construction of what had been planned and designed by shell architect Perkins+Will as a future Phase 3 of the project, comprising 50,000 more square feet, into DPR’s current scope of work. The deadline for the original scope was June 18, 2006, about 12 months after start of construction, while the deadline for the added scope was set for just two months later in August.

The MOB and garage were completed as scheduled, with major portions of the work, including concrete and drywall, self-performed by DPR. “The team really put their hearts into the project, and ultimately got the job done despite all the obstacles,“said Barrie. “The team’s commitment in conjunction with the client’s solid understanding of issues and factors at hand allowed the process to be truly collaborative.”

Currently, DPR is completing many of the tenant improvements for the project on a separate contract that is expected to be substantially completed by February of this year.