The last day of GLCM’s domestic trip consisted of a Mortenson office visit located on Church St & 4th Ave N in Nashville, Tennessee. Mortenson is a top 20 general contractor in the United States that builds projects in a variety of market sectors such as data centers, hospitality, healthcare, stadiums/arenas, solar, wind, and many more. The Global Leaders in Construction Management met with Will Traylor, a Project Executive who is currently working in the Nashville office. Will was excited to meet with the Global Leaders to discuss Mortenson’s up and coming presence in Nashville, a smaller city that is continuously developing and growing in size. Three of the current Global Leaders (Alfredo, Teresa, and Michaela) have all signed on full-time for Mortenson, so it was great to network with an experienced individual like Will. Alfredo has signed on for the Chicago office, while Teresa and Michaela have signed on to the Sports & Entertainment group. Will took us up to the 22nd floor of the office building, where we were able to see a beautiful view of the city.

The most relevant project Mortenson has delivered in Nashville is Geodis Park, home to Nashville SC, a relatively new team in Major League Soccer. Nashville SC’s inaugural MLS match was on February 29, 2020. Geodis Park broke ground on July 22nd of 2022 and opened on May 1st of 2022, finishing seven weeks ahead of schedule and multiple millions of dollars under budget, showing Mortenson’s high quality and effective work. Geodis Park has a capacity of 30,000 seats and consists of high quality Bermuda grass, unlike many other MLS stadiums which are turf or hybrid grass. Geodis Park also has a 360-degree canopy and a 65 foot wide concourse. The delivery of Geodis Park was a massive achievement for soccer in the United States, since it is the largest soccer specific stadium in the United States and Canada. The next project Will discussed with the Global Leaders is the up and coming “Motto” by Hilton hotel. Mortenson is serving as both the design-builder and developer of this hotel. The design team consists of ESa Architects and Wild Muse Interior Design firm. The hotel is three blocks south of Broadway and is within walking distance of several attractions. The Global Leaders and Will walked over to the project from the office, which was only about five blocks away. The hotel will be sandwiched between an existing Hyatt Place hotel and the Drury Plaza hotel, with about 1 foot of space between the two buildings. This is a challenging aspect for the project because material deliveries will need to be coordinated in an effective way, which is something Will discussed thoroughly. The 13-story Hilton hotel will be very unique, since it will consist of “micro rooms”, where each unit will consist of all essential necessities in a 165 square foot room. The building will consist of 260 rooms and 3,000 square feet of retail space. The project is expected to be completed in late 2025. Mortenson is currently doing some demolition work since the project has just begun. The Global Leaders in Construction Management would like to thank Adriana Campa for helping coordinate the office visit. We would also like to thank Will Traylor and the rest of the Nashville team for the warm welcome and the great insight they gave us!

Following the site visit, the group went to their respective vehicles to prepare for the drive home. We were in two cars, one heading directly to Champaign and the other all the way to Chicago. Each car stopped for lunch individually before completing the remainder of the drive. The first car reached Champaign around 5:30PM and dropped off all of the passengers. The rest of the group saw via Snapchat that the final drop-offs in Chicago occurred around 9PM. We had all reached our final destinations, and were ready to come home after a busy and successful trip.

Blog by Alfredo Guzman with final paragraph by Michaela Patton