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ROKU AppBuilding Update - June 22, 2018
On Thursday, June 21, we held our latest biweekly meeting with Highland Builders and CBRE. To refresh your memory, Highland is the general contractor for our new office building, and CBRE is providing project management for the construction.
While there have been a few weather delays in the past two weeks, considerable progress has been made on the site. You will see quite a change in the drone footage for this week’s update. Once again, our drone pilot, Kelly Cunningham, has done an excellent job capturing the progression of the building. A lot of concrete has been poured during the past two weeks. The slab has been poured; the underground drainage is complete; the retaining wall has been finished; the bike path is partially complete; and the lime stabilization for the perimeter driveway has been completed. Today (Friday, June 22) we expect the construction of the forms and the steel to be complete for pouring the perimeter driveway. It may not be complete until next week, but we are getting close to another round of concrete pouring.
There is a lot of concrete left to be poured, and because of the excessive heat at this time of year, ice will be added to the concrete to keep it from getting too hot. Once the outside temperature gets above 95 degrees, this becomes a necessity. The temperature here in the McKinney area is predicted to be over 100 degrees for the next several days. Due to the rain we had earlier in the week, we are now approximately three days behind our proposed schedule. This is still within the range of what we can make up. The project is still scheduled to be completed by the end of December or the first week of January. Depending on how much time we can make up, we are hopeful to finish several days prior to this date. By adding in the weather delays, early January is now the contract date for completion.
We have now designed a very nice sign that will sit at the main driveway when you enter the property. Our plans are in the hands of the architect for final specifications. In order to make sure the sign doesn’t begin to tilt over time, we will need a concrete base with piers going down into the ground. The upper surface of the soil in this area is very porous and subject to shifting, but we are blessed with the fact that we don’t have to go too far down to reach a layer of rock. Once we get the final design for the sign, we will share it with everyone.
Next week we have a “water sounding” company coming on-site to do water testing. Given the high cost of water in this area, we are considering drilling our own well, especially to handle the landscape watering that will be required. Once the company provides us with a report on the location and quantity of water underground, we will make a decision as to whether it will be cost-effective for us to drill our own well on the property or simply depend on the city water.
We had one piece of really good news this week. When we made the original plans for the parking lot and driveway, we realized there was more concrete than we were going to need. The city had already approved the original plan, and the pricing from the general contractor was based on that amount of concrete. Since we have scaled that back in more recent plans, we will be getting a rebate on the cost of the concrete. Today the general contractor indicated that this rebate could be as much as $40,000. This will go a long way toward offsetting the several “surprises” we have received in the construction to this point. This is the first substantial item of savings we have seen, so it was indeed welcome.
Take a look at the drone footage and watch the building as it continues to come together. Our next update will be in two weeks and should show a lot more concrete. Thank you for your support! It has been very encouraging to know that everyone is praying for this project and that many have been able to contribute to it financially!
