PARADIGM 9/14/07 7:58 AM Page 168
PARADIGM CONSTRUCTION CO.
■ Buckingham Village Townhomes –
Located in Arlington, Va., this $23 mil-
lion development will have 69 luxury
town homes; each of them will be four
stories and include a two-car garage.
■ Town Center Plaza – This $11 million
project in Washington, D.C., is a renova-
tion of an existing 128-unit high-rise apart-
ment building constructed in 1960. It will
be rehabilitated to offer 108 modern units
with new roofing, windows, HVAC, plum-
bing and mechanical systems, and archi-
tectural finishes.
■ 2301 Columbia Pike - This $46 million
project in Arlington will have a seven-
story concrete frame, 188 apartment
units, 30,000 square feet of retail space,
14,000 square feet of office space and
three levels of underground parking.
■ Square 673 – Also located in
Washington, D.C., this is a 13-story high-
rise, including 470 apartments and three
levels of underground parking. The con-
tract amount is $110 million.
“We work hard to maintain high stan-
dards of quality in every project we are
involved with,” Foster says. “We have a
strict quality control program in place that
involves a series of checklists.
“Our multiple superintendents onsite
oversee the very detailed quality control
plan and the field workers implement it.
168 ■ CONSTRUCTION TODAY ■ OCTOBER 2007
Team work is very important in our abili-
ty to ensure quality.”
Value-Added Controls
Foster says every Paradigm project en-
sures cost control from day one. He ex-
plains this starts in the conceptual stage
when the construction and development
teams are working together to estimate
costs from the preliminary information.
The company’s goal, Foster says, is to
avoid false starts, costly modifications
and lost opportunities, so it uses concep-
tual estimating to ensure the latest ex-
penditures and commitments are acc-
essible for making timely and acc-
urate cost projections.
Paradigm also ensures a project is cost
effective by being involved early in the
design process. Foster stresses everyone
must work together to create a design
that will produce a budget-friendly, high-
quality project. He notes Paradigm helps
owners and designers by suggesting
alternatives that lower costs, accelerate
the schedule and provide more value.
Another way in which Paradigm
assists owners is through developing
location and site criteria. Foster explains
this requires understanding of topographic
and soil conditions, stormwater manage-
ment techniques and slope management
to optimize the construction program for
a specific site. He says that because site
costs are a significant aspect of a typical
budget, Paradigm’s experience in cut-and-
fill issues, dewatering methods, founda-
tion design and building and parking de-
sign help to reduce premium costs.
Lastly, Foster says the company adds
“measurable value” to its projects through
its experience in choosing the right de-
sign team, including design/build compo-
nents and working with the entire proj-
ect team to secure high-quality design
and reasonable construction costs.
Expertise Equals Growth
Foster says Paradigm’s “working experi-
ence” with a team of expert develop-
ment, design and construction personnel
bring “significant benefits” to its projects.
“Our skills have allowed us to have sig-
nificant growth in the last few years,”
Foster says. “Last year, we had $155 mil-
lion in sales, this year we expect to have
$185 million and next year we are pro-
jecting $220 million.
“We will continue to grow because
work is picking up. As long as we keep
doing what we’re doing, we will con
tinue to grow in a reasonable way,
keep our customers happy and keep
our company profitable.” ■