How City Constuctors Plans to Make Its Mark on Downtown

With adaptive reuse all the buzz in Downtown LA, Bisnow caught up with City Constructors CEO Bryson Reaume, who is working on a couple of the more interesting projects in the booming market.

Bryson (here with wife Monica and 2-year-old son Lane) tells Bisnow he had been working with Downtown Properties, doing mostly small TI work when the developer picked up an asset in Downtown that was one of the first significant adaptive reuse projects in the area. "We just sort of jumped on it, and have seen great opportunities in Downtown since." But the construction firm has evolved, and is now developing as well. Bryson says he sees great opportunity in areas of Downtown historically considered fringe, such as Chinatown and Lincoln Heights.

In Chinatown, the company has begun construction on a mixed-use creative office space at 1418 N Spring St. The 20k SF space is across the street from the 32-acre Los Angeles State Historic Park, also known as the Cornfields, the largest green space in Downtown. The building was formerly a poultry factory. In addition, the firm has recently picked up a 10k SF lot around the corner from The Chicken Factory, as Bryson calls it, to build a new corporate HQ, which he expects to break ground on shortly and occupy before Christmas.

Bryson found City Constructors in 2003, and completed $85M worth of projects in the first four years of business. He tells us the company nearly doubled its profit from $12M to $21M in 2014 and expects to double it again this year. The firm's primary business remains construction and construction management, and it's hard at work on two of the more interesting projects in Downtown, including the overhaul of the Case Hotel.

The hotel, originally built in 1924 at 1106 S Broadway, is vacant. It was picked up late last year by newly formed Proper Hospitality, a partnership of the Kor Group and Viceroy Hotel Group founders Frank Stork and Channing Henry. The 13-story, 107k SF building is being converted into a boutique hotel, expected for completion early 2017. He tells us the hotel, which is being rebranded the Downtown LA Proper Hotel (rendered above), will have 150 rooms upon completion. In addition, the company is the contractor for Atlas Capital's Produce Building, which recently broke ground and should take about 12 months.