RJS is working on a large multifamily residential project in San Bruno, Calif., called The Crossings.

Since Ross Edwards and his partners took over RJS & Associates one year ago, the company has seen its revenues grow by nearly 70 percent. Edwards began his career with Webcor Builders, and established the California company’s concrete division. Webcor was purchased by Obayashi Corp. of Tokyo in 2007.

“A few other guys and I decided to leave and start our own venture after the buyout of Webcor by Obayashi,” Edwards says. “We ran into Bob Simmons, the founder of RJS, who also founded ConXtech, and that company had exploded on him. It had raised a bunch of venture capital and was taking all of his time. We were able to make a deal to take over operation of his company. Given our expertise and his years of experience in the concrete industry, it was a unique time for us and him, and we leveraged a buyout of his company.”

The new incarnation of the company will become RJS Structures. “It will continue the RJS legacy with us having control and ownership and Bob Simmons as a minority partner able to still provide his unique expertise to the company,” he says.

RJS now specializes in residential concrete podiums, parking structures and poured-in-place structures. RJS’s core business is concrete podiums, which consist of one- or two-story concrete structures on top of which multifamily residential buildings are constructed. RJS has the distinction of self-performing nearly every aspect of the work, including excavation, waterproofing, shoring, concrete and rebar.

“We’re not subbing out that work,” Edwards emphasizes. “We’re doing it with in-house expertise.”

‘Incredibly Smooth’
RJS is working on a large multifamily residential project in San Bruno, Calif., called The Crossings. The Crossings is a $100 million dollar apartment/condo project near San Francisco International Airport. The project consists of 350 units and 650 parking spaces. The company’s $16 million contract involves the design/build of a concrete podium, including excavation, shoring, concrete, waterproofing and rebar work.

“We’re doing two levels of concrete work,” Edwards says. “Our sister company, ConXtech, will put the structural frame on top of that.”

After working with the client for a couple of years, preparing the designs, the company broke ground on the project in May. It expects to complete its portion of the work by the end of the year. Edwards says the project is progressing smoothly. “We are significantly ahead of schedule,” he says. “We’re two or three months into the job and we’ve only had one request for information (RFI) so far. A job of this size would typically have 50 to 80 RFIs at this point.”

That distinction is thanks to careful planning, communication and the company’s experience.
The company works primarily throughout the greater San Francisco Bay area and surrounding counties, but takes on projects throughout Northern California.

‘Bread and Butter’
Edwards says RJS’s success relies on its in-house expertise. “That’s the company’s bread and butter,” he says.

“We are trying to take our companies expertise and expand our market into the office and healthcare sectors.

“Healthcare has huge growth opportunities in California. A bunch of seismic regulations have passed over the last few years, and every hospital in California has to be rebuilt,” he adds.

He says RJS is shifting resources into the healthcare sector to take advantage of the booming opportunities.

Elevating Expertise
Since taking over RJS, Edwards says he and his partners have worked diligently to put processes and measurements in place throughout the operations.

The company’s goal, he says, is to offer a solution that cannot be found anywhere else. “We are aggressively helping our clients push their projects and helping owners get them over the line with smarter ideas and ways to save money,” he says. “We are working with our partners to find better ways of building. Even in this economy, guys are calling us every day, asking us to find a way to do it for less, to try to get creative and to design their buildings better.”