"All,
After about a three month delay in permits Sierra once again shaved time with concrete pours pretty much stacked on top of each other pouring out 5,055 CY of concrete from December 23rd to January 28th We turned over the Amazon DPD7 project just one month past the originally planned completion date of 7/3/21, and we received a TCO for the entire building on 8/6/21. Amazon is scheduled to start operation at this van loading facility on 8/11/21.
Along with the permit delays, we had to deal with over 28,000 cy of sandstone to chip and grind out of the site, trenches, and footings. Staying just ahead of extended lead times, we had one major unforeseen issue come up shortly before anticipated TCO date, the invert that powers the emergency lights, over charge and destroy the 40 batteries and fried the control board. Scrambling and working with the fire marshal and building officials, we mobilized in an automatic transfer switch from Denver and provided a backup generator while a whole new inverter was being manufactured and shipped from Pennsylvania. Sierra also had to pitch in and help Amazon startup install nearly 1,200 seismic anchors for the racking due to the Amazon sub not keeping up.
After all this, we were able to get our TCO on 8/6. We are held up from a full C of O by a mid July request from the fire marshal and building inspect during at a pre TCO walk. They requested we add more light to the site and connect the site lights to the inverter so there can be an emergency light path from the building to the street, this was something shown on the plans or caught during permit review. With lead times as they are, these new heads are 20 days out.
Thanks to all the hard work from Matt Fletcher, Derek Wittig, Carrie Bodnar, Mike Cunnington, Austin Huerta, and Kristi Walz for a successful project with a happy owner and tenant."
- Philip LaRouche