Foley Products Company is a concrete pipe and precast supplier with locations throughout the Southeast. This particular division was located in Nashville when they approached John Blankenship and the owners of Smyrna’s Seven Oaks Business Park looking to relocate in order to better accommodate their employees and customers who live in Rutherford County.
We were honored that Blankenship turned to us once again to help design a space that would accommodate his prospective tenant’s needs and would include a tenant build-out cost that would support a tight budget. We are sensitive to the fact that if the tenant build-out cost is going to be high, the lease rate will need to be high. If the lease rate is too high, the prospective tenant is going to go somewhere else.
The Dow Smith team completed this 5,000-square-foot interior build-out for Foley Products Company on time and on budget despite several obstacles and unforeseen circumstances.
The design phase for this project began in late September of 2018, while the construction phase started in mid-November. Initially, the tenant was unsure of what they wanted to do for the design and layout of their new office space. To combat this, our team had to fast-track the design for the custom office space while the shell of the new Seven Oaks building was already under construction. This presented a challenge to our team—we were forced to condense the design phase in order to keep the project on track. As soon as the shell of the building was completed, we had to be ready to go inside and get to work on that space.
The open-concept design allows lots of natural light to enter the workspace.
“There are just no surprises with the Dow Smith team. I go straight to them with commercial projects every time because I trust them, and they trust me. In this field, there are commercial construction companies that fly by the seat of their pants and everything they do is substandard. That is the polar opposite of Dow Smith and his team,” notes Blankenship.
Another obstacle we had to overcome was the record setting rainfall in the months of December, January, and February. Unfortunately, this happened right in the heart of our construction phase of the project. Because of this, our team had to always be ready to take advantage of the time when the weather was good in order to keep to our timeline. Not only did we have to be at the job site when the weather permitted, but we also had to focus on performing highly-efficient work while we were able to. Even though this seemed difficult at times, we powered through the rough weather and were able to complete construction on time.
“When they leave my office, I know it is going to be done well and right. Their word is absolute.”
The completed project includes stained concrete floors, custom cabinets, and lots of glass walls and doors to allow natural light to enter the workspace. All of these aspects of the project contribute to a modern, open concept that Foley Products Company currently enjoys.
Tyler Hogue
About the Author:
Tyler is a Junior studying finance at Harbert College of Business at Auburn University. Tyler has been assisting our marketing department and have been seen on quite a few jobsites lately.
