Twenty-one years, 600 projects, and the same promise on every one: the number holds and the superintendent stays.
Elena Marsh and two partners started Meridian in 2004 after careers at national firms. The idea was a general contractor built around the people owners actually deal with: the estimator who gives the number and the superintendent who builds to it.
How we got here.
Elena ran healthcare projects for a national GC for nine years. She saw the pattern: a preconstruction group that won work with optimistic numbers, superintendents rotated off projects at the worst moment, and owners who never got a straight answer about the schedule. Meridian was started to be the other kind of firm.
It began with tenant improvement, because that is where a new GC can earn trust quickly, and grew into ground-up and healthcare as the owners who trusted us on a suite trusted us on a building. The Tucson office opened in 2016 for a hospital client who asked us to come.
Why the superintendent stays
Our superintendents average eleven years with the company. We pay them well, we do not rotate them mid-project, and we give them a say in preconstruction so they are building a plan they helped write. Owners notice. It is the single most common reason they come back.
What we are not
We are not the biggest GC in Arizona and we are not trying to be. We take the projects we can staff with people we trust, which keeps us at roughly $150 to $200 million a year, and keeps the second-building rate where it is.
Four things you can hold us to.
The number holds
Estimates from quantities, assumptions written down, a GMP we have hit on 86% of projects.
The superintendent stays
One superintendent start to finish. Eleven-year average tenure.
Subs are partners
Paid in 30 days, bid fairly, held to the standard. The best trades answer our ITBs.
Done means done
Closeout within 30 days of substantial completion. Warranty managed by us.
Who answers the phone.
Elena Marsh
President and CEO
Elena started as a project engineer with a national GC, ran healthcare projects for nine years, and co-founded Meridian in 2004 to build the kind of firm she wanted to work for: superintendents who stay, a preconstruction group that tells the truth about cost, and owners who get the schedule in writing. DBIA certified.
David Okafor
Chief Operating Officer
Runs operations across both offices; 26 years in commercial construction.
Luis Arana
General Superintendent
Thirty-one years in the field; oversees all superintendents and site safety.
Rachel Kim, DBIA
Director of Preconstruction
Leads the nine-person precon group; the reason the number holds.
James Whitaker
Director, Healthcare Group
Fifteen years of healthcare-only construction; ICRA and ADHS on every job.
Tell us about the project. We will tell you what it costs and how long it takes.
A project executive replies the same business day. Conceptual estimates within two weeks of the information we need.