As one of the newer direct-to-consumer coffee chains in the market, Black Rock Coffee is already a popular choice for coffee lovers in the West and Southwest. With a variety of building situations, such as stand-alone buildings (drive-thru only, drive-thru/walk-up, and dine-in/drive-thru) and endcap locations in multiple areas and landscapes, the engineering needs for each project can vary. Atwell Project Manager Nicholas Salazar and his team of lead designers and engineers primarily handle the stand-alone buildings, providing a full scope of services that eliminates the need to hire extra subconsultants and subcontractors.
“We know our clients are always looking for ways to complete a project as efficiently and effectively as possible,” Salazar said. “Thanks to the amount of services Atwell offers in multiple regions and the knowledge our team has, we’ve been able to successfully support Black Rock Coffee as they expand and grow.”
Engineering modular building sites vs. brick-and-mortar building sites
Something unique about Black Rock’s stand-alone buildings is that they are all modular. Modular building projects offer a number of advantages, a key one being a faster, more efficient timeline where multiple tasks can be completed as the building is being constructed.
“Black Rock has about five modular building types that can be built while our team simultaneously gets construction documents ready,” Salazar explained. “We do work in California, Arizona, Colorado, and Texas, primarily. Each of those jurisdictions have a set of state-approved plans for each modular building type, which speeds up the approval process and creates a more consistent process we can easily repeat. Since it’s the same buildings each time, our team can quickly anticipate any questions and address concerns ahead of time.”
While the team approaches completion of the construction documents and permitting process, the building is being constructed at the same time, allowing the team to immediately move on to other tasks like mass grading and setting the foundation.
“Modular builds also help lower overages for the project and practice more sustainable transport of materials, using one to three trucks to ship a modular building versus 10 to 15 trucks for brick-and-mortar materials,” Salazar added. “Overall, we can save two to three months of time on a project during the construction alone.”
Despite the advantages of modular designs, challenges can still arise – mostly with how modular buildings are perceived in the communities they are in.
“Some municipalities and jurisdictions are a bit wary to modular,” Salazar said. “They aren’t familiar with them and see them as shipping containers turned into coffee shops. In these situations, our team does our due diligence to educate the community on the quality of materials, the appearance, the finishes, and the purpose and benefit of modular buildings.”
Atwell’s team has already established strong relationships with a number of cities in Arizona that will have Black Rock Coffee shops, such as Phoenix, Mesa, and Chandler. Thanks to the team’s dedication to building relationships, keeping stakeholders informed, and providing information and communication upfront before work begins, these cities are now familiar with modular projects and more receptive to future projects.
A one-stop shop for multiple services
For Black Rock Coffee, Atwell has been able to provide a full scope of services. This includes due diligence: creating timelines, identifying permitting procedures, putting together a submittal package checklist, and identifying any hardships, such as restrictions, easements, or zoning challenges.
Next, the team connects with city leaders and community members to hold preapplication meetings to address how they can navigate any problems that may arise. This culminates into a due diligence report that enables clients to make an educated decision about building on the site.
Once the lease is signed and permitting begins, Salazar’s team goes through entitlements, platting, any rezoning that needs to happen, and preliminary engineering. They also then start reaching out to subconsultants to bid on their various jobs.
Once preliminary engineering and the entitlement processing is done, the team will move forward to the final stage of permitting, engineering, construction, and architectural document submittals and permitting.
The permitting process can take anywhere from six to 18 months, depending on the jurisdiction. This is where Black Rock Coffee leans heavily on Atwell to make this process as smooth as possible and guide them to the finish line. Overall, Atwell’s leaders are strategic about how they structure their teams for successful programmatic work.
“We believe that building a strong relationship with the client is essential to the success of a program,” said Atwell Associate Director Carlos Casas. “By having detailed meetings early in the process, we are able to understand the expectations of the client better, which creates quicker turnarounds for future projects.”
Trusted to handle multiple projects
Atwell’s support and organization have enabled Black Rock Coffee to continue its growth and continue reaching its goals. We currently handle 35 projects for Black Rock Coffee across Arizona, Colorado, Texas and, in the near future, throughout parts of California. That’s an impressive amount of projects for a coffee chain that was founded less than 20 years and already has a presence in eight states. Salazar is proud to have such a longstanding, trusting relationship with Black Rock Coffee.
“I’m always proud of the work we do,” Salazar stated. “There aren’t a lot of firms who are as organized as we are or can manage the number of client needs that we do, like the 35 projects we have with Black Rock Coffee. That has a lot to do with our organization, our team’s work ethic and collaboration, and our dedication to creating a successful program.”
