CREJ

88 / BUILDING DIALOGUE / June 2020 / Kiewit: Since 1884 / building group. Like many before him, Kelner’s career has followed Kiewit’s familiar tradition of training and promoting from within. He has been with Kiewit for 22 years. Starting as a project engineer, he came up through the ranks as a superintendent, project manager, senior project manager and project executive. In his current role, Kelner is responsible for leading vertical building pursuits in support of project acquisition across North America. Though Kiewit’s success as an infrastructure builder in heavy highway, water/wastewater, rail and transportation may seem a more common calling card today, Kelner and his team take pride in delivering chal- lenging projects across many commercial segments. “Vertical building is in our DNA,” says Kelner of the commissions his team pursues from seven U.S. offic- es stretching geographically from Washington, D.C., to Hawaii and Anchorage to Texas. “We’re working in all major markets from health care to government, ener- getic mixed-use infills and corporate campus creation on greenfield sites. The commonality is often the need for processes that can manage a high degree of risk and complexity, and the owner’s focus on excellence in exe- cution.” Locally, Kiewit has been a leading player in Denver’s reconfiguration boom, famously delivering the Union Station Transit Improvement Project in 2014. The 19.5- acre redevelopment reimagined a 19th-century relic as a regional multimodal catalyst that has shifted Denver’s epicenter from Civic Center Park to the other end of the 16th Street Mall. Delivered as a design-build project, the redevelopment significantly improved the public realm through a series of interconnected destination pla- zas tying the site together. A massive effort, part of the challenge was coordinating the combined interests of Regional Transportation District, Colorado Department of Transportation, city and county of Denver, and the Denver Regional Council of Governments harmoniously within the project. “Kiewit is client-focused and process-driven,” says Kel- ner of the firm’s fundamental approach to preplanning work down to the finest detail to eliminate risk, maxi- mize safety, and enhance finished quality. In today’s hy- perconnected “workmosphere,” clients often are shoul- der-to-shoulder with builders and designers throughout the delivery process, compelling contractors and consul- tants to bring their A-game to every engagement. “Simply being able to build the work is no longer suf- ficient,” he continues. “Communications skills, under- standing team dynamics, data-driven determinations, facilitating collaboration, and having clients teach us about their business and needs is what enables us to de- liver win-win solutions and build lasting relationships.” Situationally constricted, urban infill tied to transit where the complexities of infrastructure and reuse con- verge seem to be a strong suit that illuminates Kiewit’s multifaceted expertise. With Denver’s mass transit needs consolidated at Union Station, Continuum Partners en- gaged Kiewit as construction manager/general contrac- tor to deliver the rethink of the former RTDMarket Street Station bus terminal, a few blocks up the 16th Street Mall.