Commercial remodelers confront unique challenges — Focus

Transforming a space from half-baked commercial space into an elegant eatery is no piece of cake, especially when the space is on the middle story of a three-story, 100-year-old building. But Talon Construction undertook the challenge when they brought the Bonefish Grill to downtown Boise.

“We put a 10-pound bonefish in a 5-pound box,” Talon Construction president Marc Johnson said. “I don’t think there is physically a more challenging type of project than that one was.”
The challenges of remodeling an existing building for an entirely new use come at remodelers from all angles, from codes to neighbors, as Johnson can attest.
“It takes a lot of organization and communication to do underground plumbing over the desks of an operating business below, and to coordinate and work through another business operation above, to engineer the required modifications to an existing structure that was built in the early 1900s compounded with a tenant space created from several historical buildings,” Johnson said.
Talon Construction has built 32 Outback Steakhouse company restaurants across the Northwest, but Johnson said downtown’s Bonefish Grill was the most challenging because of the location and the building.
With tenants above and below, the Boise-based company found they had to install soundproofing midway through their project so the neighbors could have a “semi-quiet work environment,” Johnson said.
“We really did try to minimize the impact to neighbors,” he said. “That’s what we do at Talon Construction – tenant improvement with tough conditions: working downtown with no parking and no staging available and with neighbors on all sides. We really care about the neighbors.”
Mike Gorringe, president of Boise’s Gorringe Brothers Construction, agreed that working around neighbors complicates a project. He worked on a remodel at the Idaho Central Credit Union Building, also in downtown, installing four stories of handicap access, carpet and finish upgrades all while the tenants were in their suites.
“When you work in a space like that, you have to be conscious about noise and air quality,” he said. “You have to be conscious about what they’re doing. They have to get their work done as well as you have to get your work done.”
Another challenge remodelers confront is the looming unknown. Gorringe said a contractor never knows what kind of shortcuts the original builders or previous remodelers took that they’ll have to accommodate.
“You never know what you’re going to get into,” he said. “You hope you do. You hope your expertise helps you figure that out.”
The challenges come for the architect as well as the contractor. Eagle architect James Gipson recently completed the design for transforming a building from a church into commercial space. He said the building is of “some historical interest,” so he had the added task of retaining the character of the building as he made the necessary changes to modify the building’s use and bring it up to code.
So commercial transformation has its challenges, but for those with passion, the business comes with its rewards.
“Look at it,” Talon’s Johnson said of the new Bonefish Grill. “We took a space that was nearly impossible and created one of the nicest restaurants in town in a location that the owners wanted it in. I pride myself on being able to make things work.”