General contractor Clune Construction just scooped up JLL’s entire NorCal construction unit in S.F. in an attempt to jump into the local market. We checked in with Clune’s western region prez Bob Dahlstrom about the new office, which opens April 1.
Planting an office in S.F. has been a long time coming, Bob says, snapped here at his LA office. The Chicago-based, 250-person company tacked on New York and DC offices in the past few years, so S.F. was the next natural fit. Bob has run the western region for 20 years, and despite being a Minnesota native, his 38 years in SoCal makes him a “Californian through and through.” (He even knows how to dine like a true San Franciscan, frequenting Tadich Grill almost every visit.)
Clune, which has known the local JLL team for years, isn't buying their unit but rather transferring the eight-person practice over. They’ll operate out of JLL’s 1 Front office initially and find a new space over the next few months; he’s eyeing Financial District or SoMa. If it's anything like their LA office, above, expect an exposed ceiling look and pool tables. (Clune's culture is fun and fresh, he notes. To be entirely honest, we'd never get work done if we had the opportunity to work on trick shot billiards.) Absorbing the JLL team gives them local S.F. boots on the ground--a much more effective plan than transferring a bunch of existing employees from LA or Chicago.
Work has already picked up in the Bay Area over the last 12 months, and Bob expects to score more local jobs due to its new physical presence. (In the past, firms with HQs in one of Clune’s existing markets would request the same work for their S.F. office, but they'd have to turn down the job due to lack of local resources.) One of Clune's biggest jobs at the moment is building out a new "well-detailed" two-floor office for law firm Winston and Strawn at 101 Cal, which will deliver this spring.
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