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CONSTRUCTION
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The Industry’s Newspaper King William District by Leavitt2me Photography
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(210) 308-5800
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Volume 18
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Number 9
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SEPTEMBER 2016
Taking Central to market
No limits on the future
L-R: Mark Ehrlich, Dora Clary, (standing) Bryan Ehrlich, (sitting) Carl Ehrlich and Matt Ehrlich are the family leadership at Central Builders Inc. Photo by Requena Photography
Michael Thompson (center left) and Jesse Lang (center right), Limitless Construction, with two of their mentors, Rudy and Julissa Carielo, Tejas Premier Building Contractor
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n 1989, Carl D. Ehrlich started Central Builders Inc. (CBI) to fill a niche doing commercial contracting in the supermarket industry. Today, the company he established working by himself as a carpenter has grown into a family business employing around 80 people. As president, Carl runs operations in the Dallas and Lordsburg, NM offices, where they do work for Albertson’s, one of their long-time clients, and other customers. His son, Bryan Ehrlich, vice president, oversees all of the work done out of the San Antonio office. Currently, local projects include renovations for Northside ISD. Bryan’s older brother, Chris Ehrlich is a foreman at CBI while his younger
brother, Mark Ehrlich, is a project engineer. Mark’s twin brother, Matt Ehrlich, is a staff accountant in the office. Their aunt, Dora Clary, is the company’s special projects coordinator, who also runs the office. Bryan adds that their chief estimator, Greg Lawson, is pretty much family, too. Having started at CBI in the field, Bryan points out that his brothers have done the same. He says they didn’t move up within the company until they knew and understood the ins and outs of everyday construction and what their crewmembers were doing. He adds that they were taught to do things the way their dad was doing them, continued on Page 24
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s a two-year-old minority business enterprise contractor who grew up intent on forging a positive future for himself, Jesse Lang is extremely grateful for all of the help he has received from mentors and fellow contractors in growing his new company, Limitless Construction Services. The support he has received has meant so much that it has inspired a goal to be able to do the same for others. One day, he hopes to start a nonprofit program to help other young entrepreneurs start on a positive path to growing their own businesses. The “Limitless family” has grown and learned under several mentors, including Tejas Premier Building Contractor
through the Maestro Center, and Eugene Walker, EJ Smith Construction, on business and Elsa Brown, Copeland Contracting, on finances through the city’s mentor-protégé program. With experience in the oil field as an equipment operator, Lang attended St. Philip’s College and Northwest Vista College to earn his associate’s degree in nursing, while working toward a minor in mechanical engineering. He moved to Corpus Christi to pursue a four-year degree in nursing and complete his minor in mechanical engineering at Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Lang explains that he studied nursing to take care of his parents, both of continued on Page 24
Banking on a new headquarters
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ocally-based commercial general contractor Metropolitan Contracting Company was thrilled to be selected to build the Bank of San Antonio’s headquarters at 1900 NW Loop 410. Tim Swan, CEO of Metropolitan, notes, “The bank, in some ways, reminds me of our construction company in our early, successful rapid growth, and just to be part of the excitement, seeing the bank employees as they anticipate moving into this new facility, has been really pleasing.” The $10.5 million project took 13 months to complete, and the Bank of San Antonio team was able to move into their new three-story, 57,000-sf building in late July. Swan points out that this was the third building in San Antonio that Metropolitan has built employing its patented tilt wall system, called the ClearView Composite Wall System. “ClearView allows the building to take advantage of the economy and
Metropolitan Contracting Company recently completed the corporate headquarters for the Bank of San Antonio on 410. Photo by Bob Wickley
speed of tilt wall without having the traditional punched window opening,” explains Swan. “It allows for clear bands of glass without the interruption of concrete every five or six feet.” John Franklin, project manager, says that the erection process of standing up the 50-plus-foot ClearView tilt wall panels on the end of steel columns required a lot of care and meticulous adjustments. Also, the tower was extended during construction to increase the visibility of the Bank of San Antonio signage, requiring the team to order more steel during construction. The shell was ClearView construction and glass curtain walls tied together with large cut stone and aluminum cladded panels. The interior included glass walls extending up into glass rails, and features cork-mitered custom stonework. The interior also features marble tiles and wood finishes. continued on Page 24