Surge in Law Firm Construction in San Francisco Bay Area Has Attorneys Looking to DPR for Advice

With the downturn in the economy, the overflow of commercial real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area has created opportunities. Companies with long range growth and business plans, such as law firms, are negotiating new leases and, just as importantly, reconfiguring their space into more efficient and unified floor plans.

DPR’s San Francisco office has earned a reputation for its ability to tackle challenging and fast-paced corporate office projects including more than 500,000 sq. ft. for law firms and legal professional organizations. According to DPR’s Jon Michael Johnson, through projects, such as the 100,000-sq.-ft. tenant improvement for Latham & Watkins, the recently completed 30,000-sq.-ft. buildout of new space for Covington & Burling and 57,000-sq.-ft. construction of Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich’s new San Francisco office, DPR has won some “raving fans” in the law firm community.

“With our collaborative approach, strong relationships with building owners and architects, and extensive law firm construction experience in congested urban centers, we’ve been able to capitalize on this wave of law firm construction in the Bay Area,” said Johnson. “We work with law firm facility planners and their teams as a cohesive unit. We appreciate the hard work and long hours attorneys must devote to their jobs and devise construction schedules to minimize disruptions.”

Farella Braun + Martel

DPR’s latest law firm assignment in the Bay Area is the 135,000-sq.-ft., 15-floor remodel for Farella Braun + Martel. With construction set to begin in June 2002, DPR will be building out four new floors to accommodate the firm’s continued growth and renovating an additional 11 floors. Through careful project scheduling and working in phases, DPR will reduce the number of times attorneys and staff must be relocated during the 18-month construction process. The completed project will consolidate Farella’s workforce into a unified, adjoining space on the top 15 floors of the historic Russ Building in the city’s financial district.

“Our steady expansion over the years has resulted in attorneys being placed on various floors throughout the building. With the signing of our new lease, we are now able to centralize operations, showcase our firm image and plan for future growth,” said William J. Schlinkert, Chair of Farella’s Executive Committee. “We’re looking to DPR to bring the new design to life utilizing its extensive experience in working with law firms to complete the project as quickly and efficiently as possible without disrupting our day-to-day operations.”

Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich

Like Farella’s decision to take additional square footage and remodel its offices, Gray Cary’s decision to move to a new location was motivated by a need for a larger space with room to grow that would also accurately reflect the firm’s image. A Silicon Valley-based law firm that represents emerging growth and high-tech companies, Gray Cary chose two floors in a new building directly across the street from Pacific Bell Park for its new San Francisco office. The building was specifically designed to serve the high-tech industry and, like many of the mission critical facilities built by DPR, features a raised floor to accommodate telecom/data cabling, as well as heating, ventilation and air conditioning ducts. The system allows for the open ceiling/exposed concrete look that has defined the spaces of many technology companies.

“Having built similar space for biotech, telecom, semiconductor and other high-tech customers, we were very familiar with the atmosphere the firm wanted for its finished space,” noted Johnson. “Our previous experience enabled us to provide them with a more accurate estimate and guide them through potential pitfalls of an open ceiling plan.”

With the offices for Gray Cary finished in April 2002, preconstruction already under way at Farella Braun + Martel, and additional construction phases scheduled to begin at Latham & Watkins in 2003, DPR teams are maintaining a constant flow of law firm construction projects and working to increase the number of their “legal” raving fans.

“From well-run meetings to regularly updated schedules and accurate estimating, we always knew where things stood,” said Sheryl Davis, facilities director for Gray Cary. “DPR is very organized and made this one of the most efficient construction projects I have experienced.”