HURRICANE IRMA
What became of the Robb & Stucky
headquarters building under construction in
Ft. Myers after Hurricane Irma blew through.
Hurricane Irma blows
125,000 sq. ft. under-
construction furniture
retailer headquarters
to the ground
Florida Construction News special feature
The cliché: “A picture is worth a
thousand words” seems appropriate
to describe the image of what be-
came of the under-construction
125,000 sq. ft. Robb & Stucky Interna-
tional headquarters in Fort Myers after
Hurricane Irma blew through Florida
earlier in the month.
A local observer associated with
the construction industry took these
images, saying the tilt-up concrete
construction methodology, while eco-
nomical and certainly suitable for
building long-standing hurricane resis-
tant buildings, isn’t going to provide
much storm protection while con-
struction is in progress.
“Ironically the first time the job
went out to bid it was over budget so
they sent it back for redesign,” the
picture taker says in a note. “The re-
design cut the square footage back a
little bit but also delayed the construc-
tion start for a few months.
“Had it not been for that, in my
opinion, the building should have
been along far enough to where it
should have been able to withstand
the storm.”
“Robb & Stucky is a furniture store
that from this storm even more peo-
10 – FALL 2017 — Florida Construction News
ple are going to need furniture and
they’ll need the warehouse space. I
think, in the end the end, to start over,
it will exceed the original bid and plus
not having the warehouse space
sooner will cost them in other ways.”
A representative of local contractor
GATES Construction, which is the
general contractor overseeing the pro-
ject, didn’t respond to emails from
Florida Construction News asking
about the cost of the building/damage
and the rebuilding process. (This lack
of response should not be seen nega-
tively – it is probable that the contrac-
tor’s business leadership has more
pressing hurricane recovery concerns
than to respond to media inquiries.)
“Tilt-up construction is a system
where monolithic panels of concrete
are constructed on the ground and
then lifted or erected to their intended
position by a crane,” wrote James
Baty, technical director for the Tilt Up
Concrete Association.
“The article is correct, that during
construction the erected panels are
vulnerable as they are supported on
temporary braces designed to take a
maximum wind load as defined by
ASCE 7 and the TCA Wind Bracing
Guidelines. Additional braces can be
installed or designed for times of the
A rendering of the Robb & Stucky
headquarters as it was originally conceived
(Image from GATES Construction website)
year when storm exposure is greater,
however. Once completed, the roof di-
aphragm and the panels work in tan-
dem for all lateral and force-resistant
stability. Until then, however, the
structural system as designed by the
engineer of record is not ready for
such extreme forces.”
Before the storm brought the
under-construction building
to ground, Eric Chien, a Robb & Stucky
vice-president and its chief financial
officer, told The Business Observer
that the new building would be com-
pleted in December.
“As we’ve continued to expand,
we’ve found that we need more
space,” Chien told the business publi-
cation. “The first phase of this project
will result in one central warehouse
for all of our Florida stores, even as
we add more stores in the future.
“Fort Myers is the center of our
market,” he said. “The new building is
also close to Interstate 75, so we will
be able to go north or south to reach
stores.” The retailer has stores in Sarasota,
Fort Myers, Coral Gables and Naples,
and has recently opened a showroom
in Boca Raton. It purchased the 16-
acre headquarters site at 16311 Lee
Rd. last year for $2.8 million.
HURRICANE IRMA
DISASTER STRIKES
Now the rebuilding begins
Florida Construction Report staff writer
As Florida digs out from Hurricane
Irma’s devastation, there are stories of
how contractors, architects, engi-
neers, suppliers, and professional ser-
vice providers took immediate action
during the crisis to help their commu-
nities survive – and indications of how
they will help with the longer-term re-
covery. As an example, Advanced Masonry
Systems (AMS) in Sarasota opened its
15,000 sq. ft. office/warehouse to 15
families who needed shelter, housing
more than 60 people.
“All was good until the wind blew
the roof membrane off half of the
building and water started coming in,”
said AMS principal Ron Karp.
“Everyone reacted calmly and
moved to the front of the building to
escape the water,” he said. “At the
end of the day, nobody was hurt and
everyone went home safely.”
“Now that everything has calmed
down, our vendors such as HP Supply
and L&W, are helping us to obtain the
materials we need to make temporary
roof repairs. Work to get things back
to normal is now ongoing – all is
good.” Steve Cona III, president and CEO
of the Associated Builders and Con-
tractors Florida Gulf Coast Chapter,
noted that the storm affected differ-
ent parts of the state with differing
severity. “Polk County and Southwest
Florida were the hardest hit,” he said,
and the Tampa Bay area was largely
spared. (The storm certainly caused
extreme damage in the Florida Keys.)
Cona said the most urgent imme-
diate priorities and needs are “power
and supplies.”
“ABC members always stand ready
to help rebuild communities they
serve,” he said.
The shortage of gas and man-
power is affecting contractors who
weren’t directly hit by the storm. “I
also checked on our project sites, and
although we didn’t have any damage,
the hurricane has cost us and our
clients timely delays and shortage of
gas and manpower,” said Maria
Ehrlich, marketing director at Focus
Development in Tampa.
“Our Naples office had to evacuate
and has been working remotely due to
power outages at home and office,”
said Kalley Willis from insurance spe-
cialist law firm Saxe Doernberger &
Vita, PC.
“As always, our most urgent priori-
ties and needs are service to our
clients and ensuring that deadlines
are not missed due to downtime or
travel delay,” she wrote. “Our team
has already begun the discussion of
rebuilding and how we might offer our
services to assist others. We are in
the process of developing a pro bono
plan that will allow us to advise on the
various insurance coverage issues
that property owners will likely face
due to Hurricane Irma.
Some contractors with multi-
branch locations outside of Florida are
preparing to marshal resources for the
rebuilding process. A news release
from Western Speciality Contractors
says its branches in Florida, Texas and
Georgia serve as staging locations for
Gulf Coast disaster recovery services.
It says the company has been helping
companies recover from natural disas-
ters on the Gulf Coast for more than
50 years.
“Bringing a building or structure
back to life in the case of a natural dis-
aster takes a certain level of experi-
ence and skill,” said Chester Scott,
branch manager of Western’s Atlanta,
GA branch. “Special skills are needed
to properly assess the damage, de-
velop a recovery plan and initiate the
restoration or take steps to mitigate
further loss.”
Florida Construction News wel-
comes your stories about how you ex-
perienced and survived the storm, and
how you are adapting your business
to facilitate the recovery. You can com-
municate your stories and photos to
Mark Buckshon at buckshon@florida-
constructionnews.com. Florida Construction News — FALL 2017 – 11