FaverGray

An award-winning national contractor, FaverGray has been providing conception-to-completion commercial construction services since 2005. Jim Gray and Keith Faver established the company 11 years ago with decades of experience in the industry. Today the business has fostered a reputation with clients and strategic partners for quality construction management and general contracting. 

With a staff of 60 operating from its headquarters in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, FaverGray offers leading experience and expertise to real estate owners, developers and investors. These clients rely on the team for a range of services — all components of a well-run turnkey project. From start to finish, clients can count on FaverGray for assistance with preconstruction financing, site selection, permitting, value-engineering, construction management, general contracting and more. Regardless of scope, size or complexity, FaverGray delivers high-quality projects on time and within budget parameters.

Building a reputation

Jim Gray is president of the company and responsible for overall management of operations and business development. He brings 35 years of experience and successive promotion through all levels of design and construction management. Keith Faver serves as executive vice president and has more than 25 years of design and construction management experience. He is responsible for overseeing all day-to-day operations and working with Jim Gray to set the strategic mission for the company.

While FaverGray operates from a single location in Jacksonville Beach, the business is not limited by geography. “We are licensed in 17 states and are currently working in seven states — including Kentucky, Virginia, Texas, Missouri, Tennessee and Ohio,” notes John Fischer, director of business development. Distance rarely creates issues for the team, but there can be other challenges when pulling together rapid schedules for high-profile projects.

“In this business, schedule is everything,” Fischer adds. “We have never been late with a student housing project — we are always on time with our jobs for our customers. We cannot be late, particularly with student housing projects — they have to be ready for students to move in before classes begin.”

The most common hurdle is weather — unpredictable patterns can throw off schedules by creating downtime. Fortunately, FaverGray has strong intercompany relationships and manages subcontractors with constant communication. If weather delays a project and the crew needs to catch up, FaverGray implements additional shifts, sometimes keeping workers on-site 24 hours a day in order to wrap on time.

“Every day represents a new set of challenges which must be met and overcome so that the entire team can be successful,” Fischer explains. “The majority of our work is negotiated for construction management because we have an excellent reputation for high-quality construction and finishing on time in a business where schedule is so important. FaverGray’s experience and talent provides owners with on-time performance and what we refer to as ‘Certainty of Outcome.’ Our team has an excellent esprit de corps, and this comradery makes it enjoyable to share the workday with some of the brightest and most qualified people in the business.”

Shining in multifamily

FaverGray performs exclusively commercial work and the company’s portfolio includes office buildings, health care and hospitality projects — though an impressive 85 percent of the firm’s work is in multifamily and student housing. “That’s where the market is strongest right now and should be for the next few years,” explains Fischer.

One project currently underway is the Lubbock Overton Addition project in Lubbock, Texas. This luxury student housing project is ambitious in its style and structure. “It is basically two square apartment buildings with an opening in the middle for the pool and amenity areas, and they sit next to a multistory parking garage,” says Fischer. “It’s a big project and has been well-received.”

In 2015, FaverGray’s recently completed Palmetto at Oakleaf Plantation project earned an Eagle Award for Excellence in Construction from the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). The new $21 million multifamily development includes 330 units spread among 14 multistory apartment buildings with detached garages, a clubhouse and pool. The high-profile community sits on 24 acres in Jacksonville, Florida, and features rich tropical landscaping.

The firm’s office building is also a winner of the prestigious Eagle Award for Excellence. FaverGray undertook the major renovation project, which was completed in early 2014. The $2.5 million project included a complete interior and exterior renovation, rebuilt in the style of 1800s Savannah, Georgia, architecture, and marked by decorative ironwork and old-style brick on the building envelope.

These projects represent only a small portion of FaverGray’s expansive commercial portfolio, which continues to grow year after year. The business is on track for continued expansion and Fischer and his colleagues continue to build relationships with clients and strategic partners to improve efficiencies and make it possible to take on even more complex commercial work.

The leadership foresees significant growth — both in scope and revenue — for 2016. Backed by experience, innovation and longstanding industry relationships, FaverGray stands as a leader in the Southeast commercial construction market.