More than two years after setting its sights on big projects in New York City, Boston-based Shawmut is ready to expand into the region.
The contractor has recently appointed several leaders to new roles in the area, including:
- Kasia Mickowska, a 23-year industry veteran, was named project executive.
- Thomas Howard, who has 40 years of experience in the new build and renovation markets, was appointed senior director of MEPs.
- Brian Troast, a high-rise construction specialist, was promoted to senior director of construction operations.
The movements continue Shawmut’s aggressive strategy from 2022 to grow its market share in large-scale projects in the Big Apple. At the time, the Boston-based contractor hired Charlie Avolio, former president and general manager of Suffolk’s New York division, as head of major projects for its New York metro region.
Here, Avolio talks to Construction Dive about the company’s strategy, recent milestones and market trends driving its growth.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
CONSTRUCTION DIVER: How does the expansion of the large projects division align with Shawmut’s broader growth strategy in New York City?
CHARLIE AVOLIO: The large project division is a key element of Shawmut’s strategy to increase market share in large-scale projects. Specifically in New York, we are focused on growing our portfolio in the education, commercial, healthcare and life sciences sectors while increasing the size of our projects in established sectors such as hospitality, sports, cultural and retail spaces.
We have found an effective combination of hiring and developing from within to grow our large talent bank in the projects division, including the recent promotion of Brian Troast and the hiring of Kasia Mickowska and Tom Howard. Another key component of the division is our pre-construction team – we’ve expanded this team significantly since 2022 and invested in technology like 3D reality capture.
Shawmut previously highlighted healthcare and life sciences as target sectors for growth. Have there been significant changes in these or other sectors since then?
We have made progress in growing both our health sciences and life sciences portfolio, including Taconic Partners’ Life Sciences Center at the Hudson Research Center, projects at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and New York-Presbyterian and our most recent completion of $106. millions St. John’s University St. Vincent Health Sciences Center.
Charlie Avolio
Permission granted by Shawmut
In the health sector, we’re seeing a big push in high-end luxury and preventive health and wellness centers, offering offerings ranging from MRIs to cold plunges. Our experience in healthcare, hospitality and retail construction positions Shawmut well for the growing demand for these spaces.
How do they reflect projects like that of the University of St. John’s and your recent renovations at the New York Public Library your growth in large-scale work?
The Health Sciences Center of St. Vincent at the University of St. John is a $106 million, 70,000-square-foot academic building with advanced classrooms, laboratories and patient simulation spaces to train future healthcare professionals.
The facility is all-electric and energy-efficient, heated and cooled by a geothermal field with 66 wells drilled nearly 500 feet deep, only the second of its kind in New York City. In pre-construction, we leveraged 3D logistics plans to improve project planning and efficiency, and the team’s technical skills resulted in the achievement of the completion goal we set with the university at the beginning of the project.
Our work at the Aguilar branch of the New York Public Library reflects the expertise we have established in historic preservation, along with specialized infrastructure work, as the team continues to renovate the landmark 120-year-old building. antiquity
How has building your preconstruction team impacted the delivery of the project to the New York City market?
Projects succeed when stakeholders are aligned and working toward the same goal from the start. Pre-construction drives shared responsibility and accountability, which leads to collaboration and finding solutions at a time when teams can affect change.
Our Director of Preconstruction, Jason Karp, is an early adopter of technology, and this helps us continue to refine our preconstruction process to drive cost and schedule alignment with client goals. Thanks to our extensive pre-construction with the University of St. John, we delivered the Health Sciences Center of St. Vincent, $106 million, on time and on budget.
Any other construction trends you feel are important to mention?
We are anticipating cumulative demand for renovated hotel rooms in New York, as well as new construction in Miami and Los Angeles, to increase in 2025 and 2026.
We are well positioned to meet this demand, having recently acquired First Finish, a full service hotel renovation contractor. The partnership combines each company’s specialties (large and complex hotel projects and fast-paced luxury interiors) to provide an all-in-one solution for clients with our expertise and our extensive network of highly qualified business partners and suppliers. While most large-scale hotel projects require two or more contractors, we offer a team – a unique offering on the market.
