While BSI Constructors is proud to have completed significant projects for big names such as Enterprise Rent-a-Car and Wells Fargo Advisors (previously A.G. Edwards), we are equally proud of our work for many lesser known but highly successful businesses. BSI has performed single projects as large as $150 million. Yet we’ve earned the loyalty of many corporate clients on very small scale, fast track buildouts. Our corporate customers typically expect us to be an extension of their business. They want a teammate that can provide real world, real time information about cost and schedule that facilitates the right physical plant decisions for long term profitability.

As you can see below, our corporate experience includes new office construction, tenant buildout, data centers, parking structures, and hardscape.

Over the past several years, developers have been a growing part of our client base. As a group, developers have a reputation of being very demanding. We don’t mind “demanding.” In fact, we find that the clarity of purpose by our developer clients is very conducive to a no nonsense construction project. There is usually no question of the client’s goals. Their projects are usually driven by economics and schedule. That is not to say that first cost drives every decision. But if developers are going to spend more for an element, they need to clearly see the return on investment. BSI’s value analysis (which necessarily evaluates schedule implications) provides the tools for the developer to make the best decision for the project.

The gallery below offers a sampling of the many different types of work we have performed for developers including hotel, retail, restaurant, apartment, student housing, parking structures, and condominiums. These include both new construction and renovation.

Since our founding in 1972, educational buildings have been a big part of our business. Way back in 1976, our first $1 Million project was a high school building for the Hazelwood School District. Initially, public school work afforded BSI the opportunity to bid projects and build a reputation when getting opportunities from private clients was difficult for a new company. Building on successes in the public market opened doors for us in the private sector, leading to our first $20 million project (McDonnell Hall) for Washington University in 1990. Now we are proud of our long list of successes in both the public and private educational markets. We’ve delivered all types of educational facilities including world class laboratory buildings, academic buildings, libraries, auditoriums, performing arts centers, student housing, and athletic facilities for leading educational institutions.

We’ve performed projects for preschools, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, universities, and graduate research departments. Take some time to browse the examples below.

Those most familiar with our work associate BSI Constructors with institutional construction. Even though this is only one of our primary client focus groups, many of the most recognizable institutional projects in St. Louis in the past twenty five years were constructed by BSI. Whether it is museums, theaters, auditoriums, libraries, religious institutions, public gardens, or universities, BSI has built its reputation in high quality, high profile projects. Click on any of the images below for a better look at what should be some pretty familiar structures.

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Those most familiar with our work associate BSI Constructors with institutional construction. Even though this is only one of our primary client focus groups, many of the most recognizable institutional projects in St. Louis in the past twenty five years were constructed by BSI. Whether it is museums, theaters, auditoriums, libraries, religious institutions, parks, public gardens, or universities, BSI has built its reputation in high quality, high profile projects. Click on any of the images below for a better look at what should be some pretty familiar structures.

Historic Restoration & Adaptive Reuse – Working in a City with an outstanding historic building stock, BSI has become a leader in the restoration and reuse of dozens of building on the U.S. Historic Register. Our understanding of the special challenges of historic buildings has helped us ensure that our clients have maximized their reimbursement through the historic tax credit process. Our ability to anticipate what most contractors don’t expect facilitates credible estimates early in the development process and minimizes the costly surprises usually inherent in this type of work.

Garden & Hardscape – With dozens of projects for the Missouri Botanical Garden, numerous projects for Forest Park Forever, and the recent completion of the nationally recognized Citygarden in downtown St. Louis, exterior landscape/hardscape projects have become an important niche for BSI. Attention to detail and quality is especially critical in projects that must withstand the vagaries of Midwestern winters throughout their useful lives.

Structural & Architectural Concrete – BSI’s roots are as a self-perform concrete company. It is an expertise that we maintain to this day. Whether it’s foundation walls, shear towers, structural decks, or architectural finish concrete, BSI has the experience and knowledge to deliver quality results every time. Our architectural concrete portfolio includes the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, designed by Tadao Ando, which is recognized as one of the world’s finest examples of as cast, smooth finish architectural concrete.

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How Big Are We?

Financial Strength | Job Size | Annual Revenue

Financial Strength

Given the recent stress in the construction markets and economy in general, there has never been a time when the staying power of your contractor is more important.  Since our inception, BSI Constructors has managed its affairs with a level of financial prudence highly uncommon in the industry.  By most industry standards, we are highly over capitalized.  Why would we do that?  Because if we are going to back up our commitments (and we are!), we must maintain sufficient liquidity and capital to do so, even when times are tough.  

One key objective measure of a contractor’s financial strength is the ratio of its bonding capacity to its annual volume.  A general contractor's bonding capacity (the amount of underwriting guarantee available from its surety) is determined by its management capability, track record, and net assets.  BSI’s bonding capacity has averaged twice its annual volume over the last fifteen years.  Because of this, our private clients are often in a position to forego the expense of a surety bond.  But when one is required, we are happy to secure it from the Chubb Insurance Group, one of the most selective sureties in the construction industry, and recipient of A.M. Best's highest rating (A++, Superior).  Chubb has been underwriting us for 30 years and considers BSI one of their premier accounts.

Also of note is that Dun & Bradstreet rates BSI in the 98th percentile of all businesses in terms of least financial risk, compared to a construction industry average of the 38th percentlile. 

 

Job Size

The largest single project we have undertaken was a $150 million project for A.G. Edwards and Sons which was completed in 2002.  The majority of our projects are in the $3 million to $30 million range.  But we have also completed many projects under $1 million and, for ongoing clients, numerous projects under $100,000.  While the natural tendency in the industry is that smaller projects get less attention, we are proud that many of our best references come from our small projects.  If we take on the project, you are going to get our attention.  And if you have a "mega project," you will get to see a true "big company" capability to go along with that "small company" hands on attention.

 

Annual Revenue

What is our annual revenue?  Who cares?  Gross revenue is pretty far down the list of things we worry about at BSI.  It is true that contractors are often ranked by it.  And we have done enough work in past years that we've periodically been listed in the top 400 general contractors in the U.S. or the top several based upon construction performed in our primary St. Louis metro market.  But we would much rather focus on doing a smaller volume of quality projects for really great clients than chasing the type and volume of work that revenue driven contractors are forced to pursue.  Our largest revenue level for any single year has been $180 million, and we handled that with no problem.  But we would consider other years, when we performed significantly less volume just as successful.  While some businesses take justifiable pride in steadily increasing revenue stream, we find that our clients are pretty much interested in the level of focus and attention we bring to their project.  Go figure.