Project overview
Located in the Heights area of Houston, Modera Shepherd is a new multifamily building that consists of 245 units. Vanir served as an investor representative throughout the design and construction phases of this facility, providing weekly and monthly progress reporting to our repeat client, Elite Investments (a firm in China). We conducted weekly site visits, attended monthly progress meetings and participated in developer/investor conference calls.
The building consists of six levels of wood-framed residential units above grade, ranging in size from 660 square feet to 1,513 square feet. It includes a 1,099-square-foot fitness area, a pool, an open-air bar and game room, a media room, a leasing services office and a mail room. Three levels of below grade parking can accommodate 346 parking spaces.
Two major challenges occurred during the project. During construction of the below grade garage, the backfill from an existing utility line failed and threatened to collapse a side of the pit into the ongoing work. The contractor halted work, applied a lightweight concrete cover and managed to minimize the negative impact to the schedule. In August of 2017, Hurricane Harvey hit the Houston metropolitan area, dumping more than 55 inches of rain. At that time, most of the above grade structure was complete and exterior treatments (roofing and brick/stucco) were ongoing. Fortunately, the below grade portion did not flood or hold water. In both instances, Vanir’s timely reporting to the investment group facilitated their awareness of project conditions.