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Peet's new award-winning roasting facility built to rigorous "green" standards

“It’s a coffee drinker’s dream come true.”

That’s how John O’Neill describes working on the new 138,000-square-foot “green conscious” facility in Alameda built for Peet’s Coffee & Tea. The project was named Best Industrial real estate deal by the San Francisco Business Times.

“I first tasted Peet’s in the early 70’s when my wife was a student at UC-Berkeley. It was the best coffee I’ve ever drank,” says John.

So when John founded J.M. O’Neill, Inc. in 1983, he made sure Peet’s coffee was served in the office. “We’re big Peet’s fans here,” John admits. “Being able to build their roasting facility was a tremendous thrill for us.”

Peet’s wanted the new facility to be constructed following LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) guidelines, a national rating system that provides benchmarks for green design and construction.

To qualify for LEED certification, the project had to follow stringent criteria on construction materials and methods, which required many of hours of additional project management to ensure that the standards were being met.

“This whole project was one of the smoothest projects of this size I’ve worked on,” said Jim Grimes, Vice President of Operations for Peet’s. “O’Neill did a great job on the whole LEED piece, all the way from working with the various subcontractors in terms of getting the right HVAC and refrigerants to looking at recycled materials whenever possible and sourcing materials locally.

“I think J.M. O’Neill is a class act and I would do business with them again and recommend them to anybody,” said Grimes. “They’re just a great group.”

Completing the LEED project for one of the world’s most revered coffee roasters has been an invaluable experience for J.M. O’Neill. It has added to the knowledge base available to clients looking for innovative thinking and planning.

And visits to Peet’s new roast-to-order facility has only reinforced our appreciation of great coffee. That’s why Peet’s remains our “official” office brew. Stop in anytime for a unbeatable cup.

J.M. O’Neill Constructs Squeegee Giant’s New Headquarters

With stunning views of San Francisco from The WaterFront at Harbor Bay, what better company to headquarter their business there than the one that invented the tool to keep windows sparkling? Ettore Products Company, the Squeegee manufacturing giant of Oakland, California, plans to do just that in the spring of 2006.

J.M. O’Neill, Inc. was contracted by commercial real estate developer SRM Associates to handle the construction of the new 90,000 square foot structure. Scheduled to be completed in February 2006, Ettore plans to make the move shortly thereafter.

Ettore Products Co. was founded in 1936 by Ettore Steccone an Italian immigrant who invented and later patented the T-shaped tool that revolutionized the window cleaning industry. The family run business employs 80 and handles sales approaching $50 million annually.

Over its 70 years of history in Oakland, Ettore has expanded operations across 3 locations making it increasingly more difficult to maintain efficient operations. This combined with their continued growth in the retail market demanded consolidation and the search for a new location was on. After careful consideration of available sites the company finalized on SRM’s WaterFront at Harbor Bay, a business park in Alameda.

Ettore specifically wanted to stay in the Bay Area in order to retain its employee base. The move to The WaterFront, only a few miles from their current location, ensures that the employee’s commute change will be minimal.

J.M. O’Neill, Inc. began construction in August 2005 and appropriately, the building will feature an expansive 14 ft high glass entry.

“J.M. O’Neill was our number one choice on this project,” said Joe Ernst project manager SRM Associates. “We’ve worked with them since 1999 and there’s simply no match in the industry for integrity, price and quality.”

J.M. O’Neill, Inc. Completes Specialized Forensics Lab

From the outside, passersby don’t pay much attention to the $2-million renovation project J.M. O’Neill, Inc. recently completed. And that suits the tenants just fine.

In this ordinary-looking building in Silicon Valley, federal and local law enforcement agencies are waging a high tech battle to squeeze evidence from electronic devices such as computers, cell phones and PDA’s.

The 17,000-square foot Silicon Valley Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory is home to a team of digital forensic examiners engaged in the war on terrorism and crime.

The lab’s trained experts work primarily on cases in Northern California, using a variety of high-tech tools to overcome passwords and encryptions so they can gather and analyze digital evidence.

This was not your typical tenant improvement project, concedes Tony McGuire, Project Manager for J.M. O’Neill, Inc. “As you might expect with a state-of-the-art computer forensics laboratory, the challenges included meeting some very demanding electrical capacity and HVAC requirements.’

The renovation project, while highly specialized, is typical of the types of construction challenges J.M. O’Neill, Inc. meets on a regular basis. The lab was completed in 10 weeks – on time and within budget.

We’d love to have you take a closer look at the Silicon Valley Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory – it’s a picture-perfect example of how J.M. O’Neill works to meet and exceed the client’s specialized needs.

But the location is secret. So don’t look for it in an office park near you.

Celebrating Two Decades in Business

The year was 1983. Bill Clinton was a little-known governor of Arkansas. Tiger Woods was spending his days in a third-grade classroom. And the general public had never heard of the Macintosh personal computer, which wouldn’t be launched for another year.

That September, also in relative obscurity, John O’Neill, incorporated a new construction firm. Like Clinton, Woods and the Mac, John O’Neill has since made a lasting reputation for himself and his company.

In the first year, John expanded the company by adding Con McMahon, Dave Roberts, Rob Santos, and Don “Pooch” Puccinelli, the firm’s first field staff. Together they billed approximately $1 million the first year.

In 20 years, J.M. O’Neill has built in excess of 15 million square feet in new construction and tenant improvement. Those projects represent investments of more than a half billion dollars. And the company has grown to a staff of about 40.

Twenty years of experience with thousands of projects gives J.M. O’Neill clients access to a wealth of hard-earned insight on the idiosyncrasies of building in the Bay Area. “Each community has its quirks,” said John. “We have experience with all of them.”

Amazingly, in an industry known for its turnover, Con, Dave, Rob, and Pooch remain with J.M. O’Neill to this day. And while many building materials also remain unchanged over the past two decades, advancements in office technology – especially fax machines, cellular phones and computers – have enhanced and accelerated the way J.M. O’Neill does business. “When we started,” John said, “clients called to say they were sending over their plans and asked for an estimate in a week. Then, once fax machines became popular, they started faxing drawings and asked for an estimate in a day or two. Now, it’s an attachment to email, and they need an estimate in a few hours. And we really try to meet those needs.”

The client-first attitude is a J.M. O’Neill, keystone. “We have always looked out for our client’s best interests,” said John, “and we take pride in helping ensure that their buildings are well conceived, well designed and well built. Most of our clients bring us in at the beginning of a project, and we’re able to help them design efficiently, from a form and function standpoint, as well as cost.”

It’s not surprising, then, that J.M. O’Neill continues to work with several of its earliest clients, including Chamberlin Associates, Freestone Properties and Bedford Property Investors. It is a relationship that has been mutually beneficial. “Construction is a fairly risky business,” said John. “Lots of construction firms have come and gone since we started. If it wasn’t for our clients’ confidence in us, we wouldn’t have survived all the market ups and downs.”

In the end, J.M. O’Neill’s 20 years of success can be summed a simple philosophy. “It’s almost a cliché, but we treat everyone like we want to be treated,” John said. “That’s what we strive for each and every day.”

J.M. O'Neill, Inc. - Planners/ Builders