Aerial Assets – New Hangar Facility - Canton, Michigan
D.J. Maltese Construction Corporation
Posted: July 12, 2023 | Projects
In 2021 D.J. Maltese Construction Corporation met with the Aerial Assets owners to discuss the development and construction of a new helicopter hangar and corporate offices. They had been working with another builder and, after about a year of design and engineering, the project came in around one-and-a-half million over budget.
Photograph courtesy of D.J. Maltese Construction Corporation
After reviewing the owners’ requirements, D.J. Maltese offered to complete the project closer to their budget as a Design-Build using a pre-engineered building in lieu of their current conventional design. With their approval D.J. Maltese proceeded to redesign the facility, keeping the same size and features. It took six months to complete the construction documents, bid out the work, and start construction, which was to be completed in eleven months. This was delayed due to city and county construction issues that evolved after the engineering and permits were approved.
The first was the fire suppression system. Once the building was up Maltese submitted the final engineering for the fire suppression system, per their original outline. The city decided, after reviewing the code further, that a wet fire suppression system would not be allowed and that a foam system would be required — which would add over $600,000. However, the foam system has a high rate of failure, which causes the system to go off. The foam system would cause major damage to the helicopters and costs over $100,000 for each clean up after going off. This was not acceptable to the owners, especially since the fire code is changing in a few years to not require foam systems. After months of fighting with the city to no avail, the city allowed the owners to reduce the size of the hangar and to fire coat the structural steel columns. Once the code changes they can remove the wall.
The second construction issue was the approach to the property. Once the engineering was approved Maltese started the concrete approach — only to be stopped by the county. They decided (after the plan was approved) that the approach should be wider and a deceleration lane needed to be added. Widening the approach required two power poles to be moved to allow for it to fit. With the moving of the poles, the wider approach and the deceleration lane added a cost of over $250,000.
The third issue was with the city. Keeping the project on schedule, Maltese installed hydro-seed for the lawn area in the fall of 2022. With the project complete in February, they requested a final Certificate of Occupancy, only to be told by the city that the hydro-seed was not acceptable and it needed to be replaced with sod. Even though the seed had rooted the City required it to be changed.
All these delays added about five months to the schedule and thousands of dollars to the owner’s cost. Even with this Maltese was still about $800,000 under the owner’s prior builder’s cost.
One of the highlights of the project is the 110'×20' sectional power sliding hangar door with 8'×4' windows in each panel. The offices have polished concrete floors in the restrooms, lobbies, and hallways, with carpet tile in the offices. The hangar is heated with a direct-fired blow-thru space heater. The exterior walls of the building are 8'-high masonry using 4"-high color block; above that is vertical metal siding.
Construction Manager
D.J. Maltese Construction Corporation
412 N. Main Street, Plymouth, MI 48170
www.djmaltese.com
Architect
Amy Baker Architect
1012 Owens Avenue, Royal Oak, MI 48067
Structural Engineer
Pinnacle Consulting Engineers, Inc.
6400 Lake Shore Street, Bloomfield, MI 48323
Mechanical & Electrical Engineer
D.J. Maltese Construction Corporation
412 N. Main Street, Plymouth, MI 48170
Cost Estimator
D.J. Maltese Construction Corporation
412 N. Main Street
Plymouth, MI 48170
Civil Engineer
Mason Brown Associates LLC
2708 Bridle Road
Bloomfield, MI 48304
Landscape Architect
Vert Verde Landscape Architecture
44960 Albert Drive, Plymouth, MI 48170
Location: Canton, Michigan
Date Bid: Jan 2021
Construction Period: Jul 2021 to Feb 2023
Site: 1.82 acres.
Total Square Feet: 19,752
Building Sizes: First floor, 18,608; loft, 1,144; total, 19,752 square feet.
Building Height: First floor, 28'8"; total, 28'8".
Number of Buildings: One.
Basic Construction Type: Pre-engineered.
Foundation: Cast-in-place, slab-on-grade.
Exterior Walls: CMU, steel.
Roof: Metal.
Floors: Concrete.
Interior Walls: Metal stud drywall.
Click here to view the full cost details for this project in the July/August 2023 issue of DCD