Project of the Month: Proficient Builders teams up with Metropolitan Pipe & Supply to build their new headquarters

Somerville, MA Metropolitan Pipe & Supply Co. is a leading independent wholesale distributor of plumbing, heating, pipe, valves, fittings, and industrial supplies throughout New England. Wesley E. Brown Sr. and his son Wesley E. Brown Jr. founded the company in 1934. Since the beginning, Metropolitan Pipe has provided the plumbing and heating industry with personal, attentive service and quality products at competitive prices. Currently under the seasoned management of Austin Brown, Kevin Brown, Tim Brown, Jennifer Brown, Josh Brown, Metropolitan Pipe is now a fifth-generation family business that is committed to making our customers their top priority.

Metropolitan Pipe decided to relocate their operations from Cambridge to Somerville after being in the Cambridge location for 70 years. They assembled a team of highly qualified professionals consisting of Juan Prieto of Davenport Asset Management (construction consultant), Bob Liptrot of Boston Industrial Consulting (industrial engineer), Jerry Seelen of Roth & Seelen (architect) and Jim Taylor of Proficient Builders (general contractor). The goal of this group was to redesign, customize and build this new facility to meet Metropolitan Pipe’s specific needs and business objectives. The project was designed with their customers in mind, to improve their entire customer experience.

Boston Industrial is a consulting firm specializing in operations improvement and industrial engineering. Roth & Seelen, Inc. is a full service architectural firm specializing in new construction, renovation, and interior design projects for educational, institutional, corporate, and commercial clients. Davenport Asset Management, is a Mass. certified minority owned business based in Boston with expertise that includes: leasing & marketing; financial management; entitlements & compliance; asset management; and project feasibility. 

Proficient Builders, Inc. provides a full range of general contracting and construction management services. President and owner Jim Taylor believes that owner involvement is a key element to a successful company. He is involved in all business activities providing oversight on all projects, regardless of the size, and building positive relationships with his customers. The Proficient team has over 30 years of construction and construction management experience.

Proficient Builders was proud to be chosen as the general contractor to execute and deliver Metropolitan’s vision. Proficient was selected from five competent bidders, primarily for their reputation for quality work and delivering on large, industrial projects with aggressive schedules. The Proficient Builders project team consisted of owner/project executive Jim Taylor, project manager Robyn Carrillo and project superintendent Bill Jensen. Taylor assembled a team of qualified contractors with necessary experience to deliver on this project. Weekly meetings provided the venue for all issues and concerns to be addressed immediately so the schedule and budget would not be impacted. 

The new headquarters contains 15,000 s/f of office space consisting of 5 new bathrooms, large break room, lunch room, locker rooms and server room. A contemporary building entrance was constructed for their sales and parts area along with a 2,000 s/f mezzanine. The new 45,000 s/f warehouse was equipped with cutting edge technology. The redesigned space consists of new lighting; two isolation footings and foundations for two state of the art Vertical Lift Modules (VLM); all new sprinkler systems above and in rack systems for new 15,000 s/f mezzanine. Exterior work includes site work for parking, green space as well as an up-to-date 130LF exterior loading dock with new roof structure above and drive in loading dock. 

Taylor said, “Having true integrity and years of experience allows for knowledge of great resources and building the workmanship of a selective, elite team.”