SALUTE TO A CUSTOMER
LANCASTER CONSTRUCTION LLC ADDING CIVIL EARTHWORK LETS BATON ROUGE CONTRACTOR TAKE A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO BUILDING RESIDENTIAL SITES and putting together construction plans, he turns the site work over to the civil division to perform stripping, bulk earthwork, finish grading, road building and utility installation for single homes and subdivisions. “That holistic approach is really unique,” explained Lancaster. “There isn’t anyone else in this area that offers a complete package like that, whether it’s a custom home with a pool or an entire subdivision that includes walking paths, community centers and other amenities. Art Lancaster, President
For several years, Art Lancaster toyed with the idea of starting a civil earthwork division for his residential housing development company, Lancaster Construction LLC, so he wouldn’t have to sub out site preparation to excavation companies. “There was a lack of contractors available, and the primary one we used retired about a year ago,” said Lancaster. “The timing was right. I made the decision to stop thinking about it and go all in.” The move allowed Lancaster Construction to tackle practically every aspect of a project, starting from bare ground to final construction. After acquiring land
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“Once the infrastructure is in place, it becomes a matter of going back to our roots, which is building the structures,” added Lancaster. “Adding the civil side has really worked out well for us. We see time savings, plus the ability to capitalize on profit as well. It helped that I was able to hire some experienced guys right away, including a project manager from the contractor that retired. He helped me build some crews and hire an estimator and another project manager.”
market changed, and I thought putting the emphasis back on single-family residences was the best way to go.” When he founded Lancaster Construction in 2003, Lancaster built one home at a time. Eventually, the company transitioned into developing subdivisions when he saw there was a lack of inventory. “Prior to starting Lancaster Construction, I was doing real estate brokerage,” Lancaster recalled. “I was selling land to developers, but I saw myself going in the direction of doing the actual construction. I built one house and grew from that by buying land and developing subdivisions. The site work was contracted out, and we still do some of that, but with our own civil division, we are moving in the direction of doing it all ourselves.”
REDUCING COSTS WITH KOMATSU IMC EQUIPMENT
Based in Baton Rouge, La., Lancaster Construction employs about 25 people and works with approximately 40 subcontractors at any given time. The company’s newly added civil division performs work strictly for the company. Currently, single-family homes are Lancaster Construction’s focus.
When Lancaster found out his primary earthwork contractor was retiring, he tried to buy some of his equipment. “Unfortunately, he had sold most of it. He had been in business for decades and used a lot of Komatsu, so I figured that and the recommendation of some other contractors about Komatsu and H&E made it the right choice. I contacted H&E about renting because I wasn’t sure about jumping right in and buying machinery.”
“That’s been our key driver since 2008,” said Lancaster. “Prior to that, I had also been doing some multifamily buildings, including a large complex in Nashville. The
Lancaster discussed his options with H&E Equipment Services Sales Representative Kevin LeBlanc. After their conversations, Lancaster Construction decided to purchase
EMPHASIS ON SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES
