KCI Global HQ Project

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KCI USA Inc. occupied a leased facility San Antonio Texas.  The lease period was ending and a new, modern, well planned space to locate all global corporate functions under one roof was required.

• 100,000 sqft class A space
• No "tilt wall" construction
• High number of meeting rooms plus flexible event and "Town-hall" space
• Covered parking garage
• New furniture
• Boardroom and C-suite
• Perimeter offices for senior management
• Fitness rooms
• Full kitchen and canteen facility
• A total budget of $35M (land, construction and FF&E)
• Schedule of 14 months to occupation 

VPC worked with the CEO and KCI's senior leadership team to understand their needs, timing and budget.  KCI needed to vacate a leased facility so timing was of the essence.  The first options included a selection of existing buildings that could house the HQ corporate functions.  Negotiations to lease a building were not conclusive and KCI was left with the second option of building to suit.

Since time to occupy was immovable and relatively short, a solution to get a design team and contractor up and running was selected.  Consequently a Design & Build, Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) contract was negotiated with Koontz McCombs Construction.

Schedule constraints and design time were such that it was not possible to reach a GMP figure in time to release the early trades. To navigate around this constriction, VPC devised a two-stage GMP process:

• Stage one would be reached at 80% design which was agreed to be sufficient to start construction.
• Contingencies with owner & contractor rules for releasing the same were placed into contract so the remaining stage two GMP could be contracted.
•  Stage two GMP used an open book basis ensuring that no stage one carry-over cost or omissions were added to stage two.

• The new HQ office building for KCI USA Inc. was delivered three weeks early and $1M under the bard approved budget.

• KCI's HQ achieved a green building certification status with  LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) 

• The project went on to win the San Antonio Business Journal's "Best Office Development" in 2012.