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Fans of the Atlanta Braves have been thrilled at the baseball team’s ultra-modern SunTrust Park stadium, but it is the integrated, mixed-use community opening around SunTrust Park that sets Atlanta’s sports scene apart.
Atlanta-based Juneau Construction Co. was one of the firms instrumental to building the neighborhood surrounding the park — specifically, a three-building, mixed-use community called The Battery Atlanta. The company views the decision to take on this particular project as an extension and expansion of an already diversifying portfolio, rather than a significant departure from its norm.
Braves baseball is so deeply ingrained in Atlanta that a live-work-play community in the heart of Braves country seemed the natural next step. The key that locked it all together? Meticulously organized channels of communication.
The entire SunTrust project cobbled together the disparate properties of seven general contractors, four of whom operated under a joint venture. Juneau was the seventh; its portion of the project featured more than 1.1M SF of upscale residences, retail and dining. The Braves own various stakes in each project, meaning each firm bore differing levels of responsibility across different parts of the massive development.
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Despite the colossal spread of the 30-month project, which included both SunTrust Park and The Battery, each separate deadline had to come together for Opening Day in April. Each week, the individual companies pooled together for a big-picture meeting, with the sole aim of having every building and part of the stadium finished by the big day, even if at some junctions it did not appear possible. Often, this meant emphasizing the completion of projects that were not Juneau’s own.
"Everyone involved, including Juneau, coordinated and adjusted resources as needed to create the overall experience fans were expecting by Opening Day," Juneau Director of Field Operations Matt Algeo said. "We all agreed to prioritize different work, whether it was ours or somebody else's, in order to meet that ultimate goal."
Key to the success of such intricate planning was not, as one might think, a high-tech construction app or management software. It was, quite simply, highly meticulous and constant communication, with minimal cloud-based files set up for access and point coordination.
“Ultimately, it was the responsibility of each company, that’s why it was such a big feat,” Algeo said. “No man is an island. You can have a major part of this project take place without ever working with people you’re on the same page with, and still succeed if you’re detail-oriented enough.”
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