Time Warner Complex

Case Study

Building NYC

Spotlight On:

Complex Team Projects
High Demand Owners
Public Scrutiny

The Challenge

The Senior Vice President stepped up to take on the very challenging construction of the Time Warner buildings on Columbus Circle in New York City . This project had the largest private financing of any building in history at $1.1 billion, and was characterized by Engineering News as “the most complex project ever built in New York City.” The risks were considerable: multiple high-demand owners and developers, intense public scrutiny, the sheer size and scope of 2.8 million square feet, management coordination of up to 3,000 workers per day on the job site and an incredible pace (an entire floor of concrete was poured every other day).

The Predictable

Ages-old, traditional tensions, disagreements, and adversarial relationships between the multiple owners, the developers, and our client as the lead construction management team would continue, business as usual, repeatedly slowing down and exacerbating already risky and ambitious deadlines. The existing division, delay, blame, and frustration between Office and Field management teams that characterizes many construction industry job sites would continue.

The Breakthrough

Under the direction and invitation of the Senior Vice President, VSA expanded individual coaching into the combined team coaching of the Field and Office Units, a team of 19 managing over 1,000 professionals.

In a series of coaching and training exercises, VSA enabled the profound commitment and appreciation of the team for each other to emerge rapidly and unmistakably. This breakthrough became “the glue” for the team to work immediately and powerfully as one body, both emotionally and operationally.

VSA trained the team to literally re-invent their relationships with the developer, such that the the anchor tenant, The Mandarin Hotel, publicly and gladly acknowledged our client as “the best builders in New York City.”
Of the five breakthrough outcomes, which at the outset the team said “could not and would not happen,” our client hit all the outcomes, in timeframes that were unpredicted.