Construction Dive: Adolfson & Peterson eyes Central Texas expansion

Sebastian Obando, Reporter | Construction Dive Q&A | Published June 24, 2024

With ambitious plans for growth in Central Texas, Minneapolis-based Adolfson & Peterson is making strategic moves.

The national construction management firm and contracting company recently announced the promotion of Eric Churchill to vice president of the Central Texas region, according to a news release shared with Construction Dive.

In his new role, Churchill will work with regional leadership to provide direction and drive AP’s Central Texas expansion efforts, where the contractor expects nearly triple revenue growth in 2024.

Here, Churchill talks with Construction Dive about revenue targets, market entry challenges and his vision for AP’s growth in Central Texas.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

ERIC CHURCHILL: During the last two years, I was able to leverage Adolfson & Peterson Construction’s market strengths from prior projects completed in other geographies and align them with strategic clients looking to work with a high-quality general contractor. I have worked with many of these clients prior to coming to AP.

As VP of Central Texas, my focus will be growing our market share in areas like multifamily, especially with the continued population growth, and the mission critical sector, as AI continues to drive demand for data centers. Two additional sectors include healthcare and the education market, as both continue to grow and will always be needed.

Another area we are looking into is life sciences as it is currently in the growth stages in Austin and the buildings will soon follow.

One of the biggest challenges we have faced here in Central Texas is brand awareness as AP is fairly new to the region.

Fortunately, the relationships I have built over my last 20 years in the Austin area have helped overcome this, and our awareness continues to grow. Additionally, we hired a director of preconstruction, Tommy Meserole, who has more than 30 years in the Central Texas market and a tremendous network for us to leverage. We have also published several thought leadership pieces on challenges facing our industry and ways AP is meeting those challenges.

My vision for AP in Central Texas is to be recognized as a high-quality builder that provides innovative solutions to challenging construction projects.

An example of this is a Central Texas behavioral health project where we had to work with the team and client to manage the project site that included an addition and renovation to the existing building in a way that did not impede care or bother the patients. This is what being a partner with our clients is all about. My other goal is to attract smart, humble, disciplined team players to the Central Texas AP family as we grow our business.

There are several projects on the horizon that we are very excited about, including renovations and new builds. Our Central Texas reach includes San Antonio where we are currently working on an office building renovation for Charter Communications.

Additionally, several of our Central Texas projects are moving forward toward completion, including the Sunrise Commerce Center in Round Rock and Cross Creek Hospital in North Austin.

The real estate market has experienced a slowdown in construction projects due to the high interest rates established by the Fed, preventing many projects from meeting their pro forma goals thereby delaying their ability to move forward.  As such, AP has pivoted to more public-sector clients as the private sector patiently waits for inflation to stabilize and interest rates to come back down.