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.