The Concierge Construction Company
From Planning to Development, LoneStar Delivers
There is a uniqueness about LoneStar Construction’s approach that isn’t lost upon its clients. Some companies want to focus only on building. Others may want to provide consulting services during pre-construction, architectural design and engineering, or find the real estate or an existing building that they can either lease or sell to clients. Most are not equipped to also help provide financing.
At LoneStar, they do it all, and they do it extremely well no matter how big the project or client.
“I think the crew at LoneStar is very professional and made us feel like we were their top priority,” says Jonas Vega, Manager of Katy Auto Collision. “Considering the size of their company and the type of projects we were shown that they have done or were doing, that is an impressive task to complete. At no point did it feel like LoneStar did not have time for us.”
Vega knows Katy Auto pales in size in comparison to many clients in LoneStar’s lofty portfolio, but just like the management teams at global companies such as PCM USA Inc. and TMEIC Power Electronics Products Corporation, a joint venture between Toshiba and Mitsubishi Electric, LoneStar built to Katy Auto’s specific needs and provided service with Texas-style hospitality.
“Our mission statement is to build relationships by providing creative solutions,” says John Wilson, Vice President of Lonestar Construction. “We are here to solve their problems even if it goes beyond construction. We can aid a customer in site selection, property due diligence and even financing of their project.”
The list of services LoneStar provides extends well beyond that of the typical general contractor. The company excels in managing projects from inception, design, permitting and construction. Some of the services LoneStar can provide include land development, site selection, constructability reviews, design, engineering, general construction, construction management, renovations and expansions. They have experience performing under various types of contracts, including lump sum turnkey, cost plus, guaranteed maximum price and variations such as reimbursing the client for a portion of the cost savings.
Commitment to Clients
For all the services LoneStar offers, however, clients come away most impressed with the extra care the project managers, superintendents and crews put into each task.
Alex Farrar, PCM’s Industrialization, Facility and Process Engineer, says LoneStar won the bid to expand his company’s global manufacturing footprint with a 32,000-square-foot expansion project in part because of its prompt response time and the answers the team gave.
“They truly left us with the impression that they wanted not just to earn our business, but better educate us on the actual process of what our project would entail,” Farrar says. “They personally worked with us, addressing needs with precision and personal attention that we know we couldn’t get with any of the other vendors we sourced.”
Humble Beginnings to Big Business
Wilson and Ryan Moynihan, LoneStar’s Vice President of Operations, talk about the evolution of LoneStar from its humble start of making high-quality metal buildings into a do-it-all company registering around $30 million in business annually.
“The Houston market is heavy on oil and gas, but we’ve broadened our work beyond that,” Moynihan says. “We’ve built sports complexes and had several other major projects with companies like PCM and TMEIC that had their own challenges. We did work for the University of Houston, a baseball clubhouse, training room and an alumni space located at the baseball stadium so they can come and watch. It’s beautiful.”
Moynihan says he enjoys the challenge of each project—no matter the size—and the earlier they can work with a client the smoother the project will likely go.
“For me it’s like solving a problem for the client,” Moynihan says. “When all is said and done, it’s very rewarding to me. It’s exciting to see the smiles when all the work is complete.”
Some of the work in LoneStar’s portfolio includes structural steel, pre-engineered steel buildings with masonry or stucco façade, and more intricate tilt-wall facilities that have large curtain wall entrances and high-end interior finishes.
LoneStar serves clients in a range of markets, including commercial, hospitality, industrial, manufacturing, oil and gas, public entities, and more recently, sports and recreation. Among its clients are Bayou City Event Center; Burckhardt Compression (US) Inc.; Rolls-Royce Motor Cars; Caterpillar Inc.; Seanic Ocean Systems; Johnson Architectural Metal Company (JAMCo), Dover Corporation, Flowserve Corporation, Orbital Gas Systems, Airgas and Carrier.
Two recent projects that stand out are PCM USA’s 32,000-square-foot expansion and TMEIC Power Electronics Products Corp.’s 45,000-square-foot office and factory that had precise crane requirements, extensive electrical needs, environmental controls and specific office demands.
Farrar says PCM also had unique requirements based on the utility and park association restrictions in place, but what impressed him was LoneStar’s ability to address and solve the issues before problems arose, as well as the overall quality of the work.
“They were able to provide us a facility that has impressed our clients, stakeholders and senior management’s visitors when they enter the premises,” Farrar says.
David Walker, Director of Operations for TMEIC Power Electronics Products Corp., says he was most impressed with LoneStar’s patience as TMEIC’s parent company is in Japan and communicating was challenging at times.
“LoneStar is extremely honest and transparent,” Walker says. “The company provided constant guidance, support and direction with excellent project management. They worked with us and made sure we understood everything involved with our requests and decisions. They were always accessible and patient.
We had a great experience and we enjoyed working with the project management team and the onsite construction crew,” Walker says. “LoneStar delivered everything we signed up for and we are very satisfied with our relationship.”