W.E.O’Neil hosted the Global Leaders at the 201 W. Lexington multi-housing project in Glendale, CA. Project Manager Scott Mosier and Assistant Project Manager Matt Runyan walked us through the history of W.E. O’Neil in California. The California branch started in 1989, headed by UIUC alumnus, Rich Erickson, with a handful of employees. The branch has now grown to over 170 people, making it the largest W.E. O’Neil office in the country.

201 Lexington broke ground one year ago in the spring of 2016. The project is broken up into four phases, the first being two of the four eventual six story apartment buildings. The fourth phase involves the demolition of a Citi Bank on the west side of the lot and the construction of the fourth six story building in its place.

Due to the unique circumstances of the project, phase one is being carried out with the bank still operational. However, as the project progresses the old building will be phased out and the bank will move into a new space within the new development.

W.E. O’Neil is very intentional about classifying personality types of project members. We experienced this first hand with a game called the “Pineapple Game” meant to facilitate healthy interaction with each person on the project team and establish a common vision within the game. This was a very memorable aspect of the visit!

The project was viewed remotely from a parking garage across the street due to the rainy conditions.

Due to the uncharacteristic amount of rain California has received this winter W.E. O’Neil has had to and will continue to have to introduce new innovations to recover lost time in the schedule. Phase 1 of the project is projected to be complete in July of 2018 with the final phase (phase 4) scheduled to complete in February of 2019. All four buildings will boast a three story sub-grade parking garage, 494 apartments, a 120,000 SF courtyard and 12,000 SF of amenity space. Global Leaders is very thankful for the project team at W.E. O’Neil taking time to discuss the project with us!

Blog by Nathaniel Khachaturian