California Dreaming
Tech City Builder helps make clients’ dreams a reality
Corky Silva is a self-professed coastal guy.
Born in San Francisco and raised along the beaches of a small town called Pacifica, he grew up the California way: riding skateboards, playing sports and eating day-old doughnuts.
But while surf and sand were in his hair, building was always in his heart.
When he wasn’t on the beach, Corky was at Silva’s Auto Supply, which his grandparents owned and where his father and uncles worked. That family business exposed him to the concept of entrepreneurism—but there was one notable exception between Corky and his family.
“I grew up around a machine shop, and all my family members were very into cars, but I’ve always been into building,” he says. “We had great shop classes at my high school so I had a thing for welding and fabrication. Our teachers really helped transform me into who I am.” Fast-forward to today, and Corky is the proud owner of Tech City Builder, a San Jose-based company established in March 2019.
Corky specializes in commercial and residential construction oversight, consulting and management. With 15 years of construction experience and the completion of over $500 million worth of projects under his belt, he says he’s capable of tackling everything from residential high-rises to senior living facilities for clients across industries that range from retail to hospitality.
When asked what sets Tech City Builder apart from other companies, Corky doesn’t hesitate.
“Me—they don’t have me,” he says. “The leadership I offer. The abilities I provide to a job site. The respect I have with the subcontractor base, clients and developers. There’s a level of integrity that I’ve lived my entire life and career, and now it’s paying off through this company.”
‘You Can Build This’
While Corky always knew he loved to build, he didn’t discover his true niche until the day he arrived at San Jose State University. At that point, he was already a veteran of the U.S. Navy and had returned to the Bay Area to pursue a career in welding.
After working in the field, however, Corky realized the ceiling for that career was too low for him, so he enrolled in San Jose State University as a computer science major. While walking along a campus tour during an open house, Corky recalls noticing something in the civil engineering department that caught his eye…a poster on the wall that said: “You Can Build This.”
“It was a picture of a high-rise, but deconstructed from the top down,” Corky reflects. “The top showed just the framing, and as your eye traveled down, it showed more and more detail. I looked over at a man next to me and said, ‘How do I do this?’ He said, ‘I’m the dean of civil engineering. Come on in and sign up.’ ”
And so it was that Corky made a last-minute switch that would alter the course of his life.
Corky graduated with a bachelor’s in Civil Engineering in 2004 and got a job at San Jose-based general contracting company, SWENSON. He says that Barry Swenson was “one of the best mentors and most amazing men I’ve ever met in my life.”
Corky ultimately moved on to Johnstone Moyer, Inc., where he was the executive in charge of teams that built roughly $100 million worth of hotels and other high-rises in the area.
He then went to work as an executive with C.W. Driver Companies to manage the Southern California-based company’s Northern California region. There he helped complete the Hillsdale Shopping Center in San Mateo, before C.W. Driver decided to end work in Northern California in April of last year.
Corky’s last day was on April Fools’, which he decided was an appropriate day to give up on a career in corporate construction. “In that world, you can find yourself in these really tough situations that basically take your life away,” he says. “I always knew in the back of my head that at some point, I’m going to do this for myself.”
Thus, the motto “You Can Build This” took on a new meaning as Corky embarked on the task of building a new life for himself, one in which he was in charge.
“I started out thinking I’d be a general contractor, but what’s transpired is I’ve become a construction manager and have basically switched to the owners’ side of the world,” he says. “I’m now working with owners and developers by helping them manage the construction of their projects. And there’s nothing I can’t build.”
The Two Sides of Construction
While Corky can oversee virtually any project—from gym expansions to medical buildings to high-end custom homes—his favorite ones tend to be projects that truly help the companies that need his specific expertise, and he’s not afraid to take on small clients when it’s a good fit.
The goal of his company is to focus on a client’s growth and success before profits.
One such project is the San Pedro Square Market in downtown San Jose that required molding two very historic buildings—the only adobe building left in San Jose and the historic Thomas Fallon House of 1854.
“When he did the San Pedro Square Market it was unique,” says Tom McEnery, a partner of the market and the former Mayor of San Jose. “He was fabulous at taking care of issues; and with this kind of project, it’s like building a 100-story new building, but even more complicated.”
Corky completed the historic renovation when he was working for Swenson Builders. Now, with Tech City Builder, he continues to consult for its ownership group, helping to assemble subcontractor teams at the best prices and managing the construction process for ongoing remodel projects.
“Corky is exceptional,” Tom says. “We’re really enthused that he’s on his own and helping us with other projects. And I know a half a dozen people that are doing major projects that are also pretty thrilled he’s out on his own.”
Another project Corky is managing via Tech City Builder is the 26,000-square-foot commercial remodel of Radian Thermal Products, Inc.’s headquarters office and manufacturing buildings in Santa Clara. The scope of work involves significant renovations, such as new roofing, electrical upgrades, updating the HVAC system and completing interior finishing work.
Corky’s job is to help Radian Thermal Products, Inc. manage the undertaking and ensure everything is in place with both paperwork and selection of the right contractors to get the job done.
According to Ryan McCrary, Owner of McCrary Real Estate, Inc. and son of Radian Thermal Products, Inc.’s owners, preliminary pricing originally came back significantly higher than what they wanted to spend.
That’s where Corky came in.
“Corky was able to get the project on budget,” he says. “It’s been fantastic. He’s constantly looking for ways to achieve an objective at a lower cost, so he’s creative in that regard. He’s also well connected, has a great personality and is a really nice guy. The entire team enjoys working with him.”
According to Corky, helping people at companies like Radian Thermal Products, Inc. matters.
“These are people who don’t do a lot of construction and are looking for good people who will be honest and not take advantage of them,” Corky says. “There are two sides to me:
I love working with corporate entities on large projects because I love the large projects. But there’s also the side of me that’s like, ‘I can help these onesie-twosie type companies who are just looking for someone they can trust to help them build a project.’ And that’s really fun, too.”
Riding the Success Wave
A year into escaping the corporate construction world and branching out on his own with Tech City Builder, Corky couldn’t be happier. With five sons, including twin newborns, Corky says the flexibility of owning a company allows him to live a fuller life and make time for the things that really matter.
“I want to do more than just go to work every day and work until I fall down and collect a check,” he says. “That’s not what my life’s going to be about.”
No matter what, he’s going to take that passion for building and ride the wave of success like the true Californian he is.
“I love the challenge that construction brings—every day there is something to solve and a puzzle to figure out,” he says. “It’s a great business, and it’s inspiring. I was up at 3 a.m. feeding babies and now I’m getting ready to walk into a meeting with all the foremen of a project to put everyone on notice that I’m here and we’re going to finish this job.
“That’s the kind of thing that gets me up in the morning,” he adds. “This business can be fun and wonderful when it’s done right.” Brittany Kühn is a journalist and award-winning communications professional specializing in topics ranging from aerospace to innovative technologies.