J. Calnan & Associates Inc.

As a construction management firm, J. Calnan & Associates Inc. (JC&A) utilizes its industry expertise to develop solutions to satisfy clients’ distinct business objectives. Headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts, with an office in New York City, JC&A is sophisticated enough to work with Fortune 100 companies, yet remains a grounded, nimble and innovative group of uniquely talented professionals. By embracing emerging technologies and fostering relationships within the industry, JC&A has grown into a leading premier construction management firm of the Northeast. 

Founded in 1996 by Jay Calnan, JC&A continues to grow exponentially each year. Working exclusively in the private sector, JC&A provides construction management and preconstruction services in the academic, corporate, health care, science and technology markets throughout the New England region and beyond.

After 20 years in business, JC&A remains a progressive and innovative company. By seeking out a young, energetic workforce, the business is able to focus its vision on the future and adapt to an ever- changing market. With each project, the company is able to create relationships, identify objectives, develop solutions and maintain a commitment to customer service through each phase of construction.

With the opening of its office in New York City, JC&A has expanded its geographical reach to clients in southern Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The company has named Adam Arsenault as the regional director of its New York office. Arsenault will work with Jim Kramer, the longtime director of operations. “We expanded our reach upon clients’ requests and have now been there for 15 years,” says Maureen Rystrom, director of marketing for JC&A. “With Adam taking the reins, we’re really going to focus on acquiring new business and establishing relationships with new clients.”

Building on relationships

A new market that JC&A is venturing into is hospitality. The company is currently involved in the construction of its first hotel, which is a 160-key Hilton Garden Inn, located in Marlborough Hills, Massachusetts. The upscale Hilton Garden Inn is slated to open in spring 2016 and will offer 160 hotel rooms and suites, a full-service restaurant and bar including two corporate private dining spaces, fitness room, pool, conference facilities and breakout rooms. The new five-story, 105,000-square-foot hotel is part of the Marlborough Hills mixed-use “live-work-play-stay” development.

The Marlborough Hills development has transformed an outdated, vacant business park, previously home to Hewlett-Packard, into one of the most vibrant mixed-use development centers in New England, featuring commercial office, retail, residential, hotel and pedestrian space. The development features up to 1.05 million square feet suited for corporate office space, research and development, biotech and technology uses, 350 new residential units and an estimated 50,000 square feet of retail, including a day care center, restaurant, market, coffee shop, banking, dry cleaning, and other service amenities all within walking distance.

“We are proud to be part of Marlborough’s transformation story so far and look forward to watching it flourish,” says Stephen Robak, executive vice president of JC&A. “With major corporations like Quest Diagnostics and General Electric Co. Healthcare, residential developments such as Avalon Bay and the future retail developments along with the new Hilton Garden Inn Hotel, Marlborough is truly a ‘live-work-play-stay’ destination.”

Although JC&A had never been involved in hotel construction previously, the company’s reputation — paired with a strong network of strategic business partners — was solid enough for the developer to feel comfortable moving forward on the project with the firm. “Our work is always based on relationships,” says Jim Cahill, president of JC&A. “That is our mantra and it has always proven to be successful.”

As president of J. Calnan & Associates Inc., Cahill offers nearly 20 years of construction industry experience. He focuses on strategic planning as well as client relationships and development for the firm. Cahill earned a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering with a minor in engineering management from Tufts University. His professional experience encompasses various projects with corporate, life science and institutional clients including involvement with such noted clients as: General Electric, Parexel International, Reebok, Boston Properties, Acceleron Pharma, iRobot and Iron Mountain.

An example of relationships and reputation coming into play was displayed when JC&A collaborated with studio TROIKA and WB Engineers to complete the construction of Boston Harley-Davidson, located at 649 Squire Road in Revere, Massachusetts. This project was a 60,000-square-foot gut renovation of two existing core and shell spaces into a new showroom, which included both office and bike storage spaces for the new dealership location. The project scope included both exterior and interior work, with the exterior including site work, underground utility services, repaving and landscaping. The interior work involved a full demolition down to the building envelope and the buildout of brand new mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection systems.

To bring both buildings up to current code standards, the team completed comprehensive structural upgrades including 100 new 40-feet-deep piles. The end result is a cutting-edge new space that reflects the attitude of the Boston Harley-Davidson brand.

In Andover, Massachusetts, JC&A recently completed a 135,000-square-foot renovation with an 80,000-square-foot addition for Schneider Electric at the company’s Boston One location. The facility is home to 850 employees across multiple business units. To create this new state-of-the-art headquarters facility, Schneider Electric engaged JC&A, Perkins+Will Architects and RDK Engineers. Along with the renovation and addition to the facility, the scope included a significant tenant improvement package totaling 235,943 square feet to both the existing building and new addition that included a combination of open space, closed executive offices, conference rooms and dry labs. “An interesting aspect of this project was that it included more than 315 tons of steel,” says Rystrom. “The project was also certified LEED Silver.”

Additional highlights of the project included Schneider Electric’s Discovery Center, which allows visitors to learn about their history as well as test their solutions through simulated demonstrations using 65-inch interactive panels. Boston One is also equipped with 53,000 square feet of StruxureLabs, which are labs where Schneider Electric engineers test and validate products that go into real-world customer deployments. The project also included a chilled beam mechanical system.

More than a construction company

The high-profile portfolio of JC&A has not gone unnoticed. The company has been recognized by Boston Business Journal as the Fastest Growing Private Company for three consecutive years, and is also a two-time recipient of the CoreNet New England Service Provider of the Year Award.

JC&A is also heavily involved in its community and the company believes in giving back to the community that helps to support it. “Philanthropy is a part of our culture at JC&A,” says Calnan, CEO of JC&A “Our team has a keen understanding of how much help we have received from our community since our inception in 1996. We have successfully grown from a startup company to an industry leader. Our community continues to inspire us every day to be the very best and we feel strongly that it is our obligation to return that support in every way we can.”

JC&A remains heavily involved in Team IMPACT, a nonprofit organization that improves the quality of life for children facing life-threatening and chronic illnesses through the power of teamwork. Team IMPACT children are drafted onto a college athletic team and to the greatest extent possible, become a member of the team from “Draft Day” through to graduation. As part of the team, the child is included in all team activities, including practices, games and any team functions.

As a well-rounded company JC&A is well-positioned to remain a leader in the Northeast construction management market. With the implementation of new technology in design and field applications, J. Calnan & Associates Inc. retains a solid history while maintaining its position as a company of the future and remaining conscious of its impact on the environment and community.