The sun is out, are your residents? Make sure your common outdoor areas are ready for prime time leasing season! Stonebridge Builders makes it easy with our recommended grill package starting at $7,650 which includes:
*Assumes BBQ island will be constructed on top of an existing concrete pad.
On May 23rd, Stonebridge Builders was well represented at the Apartment Association of Metro Denver's Annual Trade Show at the Denver Mart. This year's overall theme was "Through the Decades" with each row of booths representing a different decade. While initially our Sales & Marketing team wasn't thrilled with the idea of having to do the 70s (they grew up in the 80s and 90s!) they certainly embraced their chosen theme of "That 70s Show" turning it into "That Stonebridge Show." And their work did not go unnoticed by their peers, attendees, and the AAMD. Stonebridge Builders is proud to announce that we won 2nd Place Overall for the Best Booth!
How did we do it? Lots of collaboration between our sales department and our marketing coordinator (aka the sales team had an idea, and Amy found a way to execute it!). We found a true vintage couch on Facebook Marketplace, a large wooden spool for a table, our Lead Estimator Eric still had a folding lawn chair, a fresh coat of avocado green spray paint on a cube shelf that was going to be trashed anyway, and That 70s Show basement was created!
The rest was all in the details. Amy's computer screen doubled as a "wood paneled" tv (foam board with scrapbook paper and oven knobs) with a homemade coat wire antenna which played a slideshow of our best renovations. The ugly orange and brown blanket is secretly a Cleveland Browns blanket and you can find the gold pillows in the Stonebridge lobby (they actually look good and modern!). Our foam board posters feature some of the ugliest kitchen and bath elements we could find from the 1970s letting attendees know that Stonebridge can transform even the ugliest and most outdated multi-family residences into something modern and beautiful!
Attendees picked up Stonebridge coffee mugs, carabiners, pens, and reusable grocery totes. They also registered to win two tickets to the Journey/Def Leppard concert at Coors Field on July 21st.
Stonebridge Builders was also proud to be a presenting sponsor at the luncheon with keynote speaker John O'Leary. John was an amazing speaker with an inspirational story to tell after being given a 1% chance to live after having 100% of his body burned in a house fire when he was 9 years old. His outlook on life was so positive and moving.
In addition to taking some educational classes, we also had fun networking with colleagues we don't get to see that often. Some of them had some amazing booths! Our favorites included themes with Toy Story (amazing costumes!), pinball games, photo cutouts, Tip-A-Troll game, M*A*S*H, and the Hustle dance floor!
We are already looking forward to next year... we can't wait to see what our Sales and Marketing Team dreams up for the Chili Cookoff in October and the Trade Show in 2019!
Nick Bojanic has been hired as the new Construction Manager for Stonebridge Builders. He brings a wealth of knowledge and over 20 years of renovation experience, most recently managing his own house flips.
In addition to his new title of Construction Manager, Nick just added his favorite title of "Grandpa" by welcoming his first grandson in May. When he's not being Grandpa, Nick enjoys golf, gardening, and spending time with his family and dog, Buddy.
We are very excited that the new clubhouse at The Bluffs at Highlands Ranch is completed! We took the clubhouse from just okay to something fabulous to utilize the space to what best fit their residents, including adding a very popular dog wash!
Other scopes of work including a fresh coat of paint throughout the entire interior and new flooring throughout with tile upstairs, carpet tile in the offices, and LVT flooring downstairs. Their hardwood floors upstairs were still in good condition so we re-stained them to give them some new life. We removed walls to create an open floor concept and added custom light fixtures in the main lobby. Cabinets were added in the kitchenette downstairs and all the countertops were updated. A handicap accessible ramp was added to the main lobby along with storefront windows and doors. A glass partition in the lobby area added a modern look without compromising the open feel. Custom printed murals were also commissioned for the fitness room and downstairs lobby.
On May 8th, Luke, Mike, and Amy were at the Blue Book Vendor Showcase at Mile High Stadium to meet new potential sub-contractors and vendors. If you would like information on becoming a preferred partner of Stonebridge Builders, please fill out our Subcontractor Packet and return to accounting@stonebridgebuilders.net.
On May 4, a team from Stonebridge Builders helped spruce up the Family Homestead property on East 37th Street in Denver through the Apartment Association of Metro Denver's annual Spring Clean.
We removed and replaced mulch, added decorative edging, replaced privacy fencing, and picked up trash. With several former landscapers on our team, we had beautiful beds done quickly and efficiently... just as you've grown to expect from Stonebridge! We had fun as group plus helped out families in transitional housing.
Dave is celebrating his 9th year with Stonebridge Builders, but personally he is celebrating so much more than that. He was hired back in 2009 as a construction manager, but several years ago he had a tragic motorcycle accident that left him paralyzed. After several surgeries, he returned to Stonebridge in a new role in the Estimating department. His extensive construction knowledge makes him an excellent fit for our estimating department.
He has also made great strides with his paralysis and through physical therapy sessions several times a week, he is beginning to walk again without assistance. It gives our employees so much joy when we see him walking from his office to the copier by himself!
Dave’s trademark humor, positive attitude, and great work ethic make him an inspiring super hero to all of us!
After Friday's near snow-out at the Rockies' Home Opener, the weekend turned out beautifully... and it felt like spring was here! It made us want to grill out, enjoy a beverage outside, or just relax while taking in the spectacular views of the city or the Front Range. Does your community have a space that your residents can use for that cookout or to have a drink with their spouse or friends after a long work week? If not, now is the time to act. Stonebridge is currently scheduling outdoor amenity construction or renovation for a late-Spring, early-Summer delivery. We specialize in building pergolas, complete outdoor kitchens, or just simple BBQ for your residents' use. Contact us today at info@stonebridgebuilders.net or call us at 303.425.9999.
With the HGTV show "Fixer Upper" ending this past week, the news has been filled with stories on home renovations. While this was once thought to be a trend in "reality" television, these shows seem to be more popular than ever.
Stonebridge Builders is known for their amazing multi-family unit renovations. We can do anything from simple "surface" renovations to complete renovations from floor to ceiling and wall to wall.
Below are a few of our favorite transformations!
After our Senior Leadership Retreat back in January, Stonebridge Builders made a conscious effort to focus on our culture... we wanted to make sure we were a fun place to work. So we formed a committee to concentrate on the people of Stonebridge. One of this committee's initiatives involved engaging in quarterly team building activities.
Our first quarter team building activity was a Scavenger Hunt. Each small team had 3 required stops: a current project, a vendor, and a first-responders' station and drop off tokens of appreciation for each group. After that, we provided a list of "bonus" points for each team to attempt to win the overall contest. Many ideas were open to interpretation to encourage creativity. They also practiced time management with only 2 hours to meet for lunch. We had employees riding in grocery carts, doing the YMCA, searching for dinosaurs, and spotting "celebrities." If you and your team would like to use our template, contact us and we would be happy to share!
We pre-selected teams so our employees interacted with departments that they normally might not. We met at Woody's in Golden for lunch and our team morale was high and everyone had lots of fun!
Congratulations to our Director of Operations, Luke Edwards, who has been nominated for Denver Business Journal's 40 Under 40.
Luke joined Stonebridge Builders in June after he earned his MBA from Colorado State University with a concentration in Project Management. His responsibilities include managing the operations team to ensure projects are finished on time with high quality and evaluating how Stonebridge can operate even more efficiently.
When he isn't overseeing your project, you can find Luke skiing (he is a former ski school instructor!), working out, or exploring the great outdoors. Originally from Broadalbin, New York, Luke supports the Jets and the Knicks.
We’ve had a pretty mild winter so far in the Front Range of Colorado, but we haven’t been immune to snow and icy surfaces. Stairs and pathways have been heavily salted. While this is great for protecting your residents from falls, rock salt isn’t good for the concrete and can hurt your stair treads in the long run. The most popular de-icer is sodium chloride which releases a high concentration of chloride as it dissolves, damaging both concrete and metal. Calcium chloride is another de-icing salt that can also chemically attack concrete.
With Stonebridge Builders’ new Stair Integrity Program (SIP), we can make stair maintenance one less thing on your mind. By choosing our Annual or Semi-Annual Program, Stonebridge will have our experts analyze each of your stair treads either yearly or twice a year. We will then give you our recommendations for treads that need to be immediately replaced or may need to be replaced soon. As a member of SIP, you are then eligible for quantity discounts on our stair tread products and services.
“Many of the community managers we support are dealing with multiple issues to increase lease rates, and we have found that stair tread maintenance can really be a headache,” states Stonebridge Builders’ President, Chris Tolar. “We have found that providing lifecycle management services, including setting a baseline for a community’s current stair tread inventory, then crafting a stair tread maintenance schedule for each clearly identified tread, can really be a time saver and reduce costs and time for the property.”
To learn more about our Stair Integrity Program, contact Stonebridge Builders today at 303.425.9999 or email us at info@stonebridgebuilders.net
Everyone has their lists recapping 2017, but here at Stonebridge Builders, we are looking forward to 2018. Many times with trends, you read the list and think “Who actually does that?” but our list is coming directly from our sales, estimating, and construction teams… it’s exactly what they are seeing. And it just so happens that it’s right in line with the national trends we’ve been reading about!
1. BBQs- Stonebridge Builders has been consistently providing contract documents for outdoor kitchens and bbqs during the last half of 2017, in preparation for this new amenity to be ready for residents in 2018. This is an easy way to upgrade your overall amenity packages since most multi-family communities have the space within their pool area.
2. Dog Parks- Living in dog friendly Colorado, dog friendly amenities are high on current and future residents’ wish lists. We’ve seen some unique, unused spaces renovated into a simple park. Some communities have also added a dog wash room.
3. Solid Surface Countertops- Quartz countertops in both the kitchen and bath with minimal textures are hot right now.
4. LED Lighting Upgrade- Many units are being updated with LED lights throughout… a great savings for both tenants and management.
5. Matte Finishes- Shiny silver and gold fixtures are out and matte finished hardware throughout the interior of homes is trending.
6. Scandinavian Design- This trend features simple and clean lines giving the minimalist effect.
7. Neutral Palette- This trend is listed on almost every trend list for 2018. Our question is… how is this a trend? We’ve been seeing this for years and years! It’s almost more of a staple!
8. Package Solutions- This isn’t a trend but a necessity at any multi-family community. We’ve seen empty offices renovated into package rooms, we’ve built small buildings to house them and repurposed outdated amenity rooms for them. Amazon boxes installed outdoors can also be a smaller scale solution.
We had a great time at our 2017 Christmas Party held at Fat Cats Bowling in Westminster. After a friendly competition of bowling, the winning team of Chris, Brad, Eric, and Michael earned themselves an extra day of PTO! Honorable mentions for the highest overall scores go to Michael (248) , Luke (243), and Chris (229) for the top individual scores.
Our Business Development Specialist, Kim did a wonderful job organizing the party and White Elephant Gift Exchange. She selected some fun gifts that we all had fun "stealing" including a "Squatty Potty," "The Claw," and a beanie with earbuds.
Stonebridge Builders was proud to participate in the 2017's Silent Auction and Charity Gala at Mile High Station in Downtown Denver. Our donation of a gift certificate to the Denver Performing Arts Center garnered a nice amount towards Family Homestead.
Melvin Eyestone
Stonebridge Builders is pleased to announce that Melvin Eyestone has been promoted from Service Technician to Assistant Construction Manager. While he has been with Stonebridge Builders just a short while, he has already made a big impact while temporarily filling in the Assistant Construction Manager position.
Stonebridge Builders' President, Chris Tolar, praised him further saying, "Stonebridge had a team member take a sabbatical and we decided to give Melvin the roles and responsibilities of the Construction Manager in charge of the project. Melvin stepped in and with very little management oversight performed extrordinarily well on a large scale project that was challenging to say the least. There was an enormous responsibility to perform to Stonebridge's high standards and maintain high customer satisfaction. We were very proud of Melvin's accomplishments.
And it's not just management who has taken notice of Melvin's job quality. A resident from his latest kitchen and bath renovation at Bell Flatirons exclaimed, "I can't say enough GREAT things about the Stonebridge crew. They were efficient, friendly, courteous, and just wonderful to work with! They were always there to answer any questions."
When he is not working, Melvin is a professional disc golfer, travelling around the country for various tournaments. He recently just returned from a trip in Arizona to compete in the Sedona Golf Resort Disc Golf Tournament.
Melvin is also active volunteering for Rocky Mountain Village (Easter Seals), Throw Colorado, and Mile High Disc Golf.
Congratulations to Melvin and his well-deserved promotion!
Michael Anderson
Stonebridge Builders is excited to welcome Michael Anderson to our team! Michael is our new Sales Estimator. He will be focusing on new business development and assisting our estimating team.
A native of Rockford, Illinois, Michael served our country in the U.S. Navy before transitioning into sales. He currently resides in Westminster with his wife, daughter, and two dogs.
An avid golfer and fisherman, he can usually be found with a Mountain Dew in hand. He loves to cheer on the Green Bay Packers and the Colorado Avalanche.
To learn more about what Stonebridge Builders has to offer, contact Michael today at 303.425.9999 or email him at manderson@stonebridgebuilders.net.
Stonebridge Builders had a fun Sunday celebrating the success of our 3rd quarter goals! (If only the Broncos would have the same success!). We began the day with lunch at Homegrown Tap & Dough in Olde Town Arvada followed by taking the RTD buses directly to the Stadium. (If you never done this, we highly recommend it!)
We all had a great time at Mile High Stadium, despite the Broncos bad game. For Melvin, Amy, and her son, it was their first Broncos game ever!
A Recap of the Breakout Session from TechCon 2017
Jen Piccotti of ManagInc
You can have as many Pinterest-worthy resident events that you would like, but when it comes down to it, your resident turnover rate is usually right in line with your employee turnover rate. So are your employees happy? Think about how you operate your business with your residents. Many times there are policies in place to ensure that you respond back to any resident communication within a 1 to 2 hour timeframe. Do you have a policy in place for responding to your employees?
The old school of thought was that the customer is always right. We’ve heard this additive for years and years and years. But do you know the origins of this phrase? It was coined by Harry Gordon Selfridge, the owner of Selfridge Department Store in London, England in 1909! 1909! Think of how many things have evolved in 108 years. The new phrase that we should be focusing on is by another Brit, the very successful Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic, “The way you treat your employees is the way that they will treat your customers.”
Think about customer service in the grand scheme of things. Who comes to mind as to having superior customer service? How about comparing Chick-fil-a to McDonald’s? In my experience, at McDonald’s, I’m lucky to get my order correct and the interaction between myself and the employee is nothing remarkable. But now think of a Chick-fil-a experience. It is always their pleasure to help. The quality of the employees is always very noticeable as well. Better pay, better hours, better training. All this correlates to happier employees.
So if you have noticed a high turnover in residents, take a look at your employee turnover. And think of ways that you can better manage your employees to give them a better working environment. Treat them as if you would a resident or a client, and they in turn will enjoy their work experience, which will then give your residents or clients a better experience with your company.
Stonebridge Builders is the expert in Multi-Family Renovation and Construction
We have a simple vision: to provide the highest quality craftsmanship and exceptional service to each and every client. Every project we undertake is purpose driven with meticulous focus and attention to detail.
Denver-owned and operated since 2006, Stonebridge Builders serves clients across the Front Range, Metro Denver and nationwide. We specialize in all aspects of renovation, remodeling, and rehabilitation of multi-family and residential properties. Stonebridge renovations thrive on complex, quality-driven and time-sensitive ventures. With each apartment complex we have remodeled, Stonebridge Builders has consistently provided superior artistry and extraordinary service delivery, while maintaining our commitment to deadlines and budgets. Our client testimonials speak to our company promise to go above and beyond their expectations.
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