| 33 T T Sue Russell Newmedical centre taking shape The building’s ground floor will extend over 880sqm, while the floor above measures 575sqm. Marra Construction Ltd: Green Cross Medical Centre “Today, we have around 40 to 50 staff with 10 staff based in the office. We concentrate on commercial design-and-build projects, and have 12 projects on the go at various phases of being built.” REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT A new medical centre is taking shape on the corner of Girven Road and Grenada Street, Mt Maunganui, a project that idan Marra, from Bay of Plenty-based Marra Construction, says is proceeding very well. The build has meant first creating a temporary car-park to reposition cars from the site where the new building, which will be accessed from Grenada Street, will be constructed. Aidan says work proper began on the site in March this year. An existing building, no longer fit for purpose will be demolished. “Stage 1 is constructing the new building, which will be home to the medical centre and four other tenants. This is due for completion March 2025, followed by Stage 2, three months later, the construction of the car-park next door facing Girven Rd,” Aidan explains. When Business North spoke with Aidan in July, work was well underway on the ground floor, with pre-cast concrete panels in place. The building’s ground floor will extend over 880.5sqm, while the floor above measures 575.6sqm.. Asked to explain what is involved for tendering such a project, Aidan says, the tender process itself for this build had a four-week time frame and his company won the tender against three other competitors. “We go out to all our subcontractors and receive three quotes for each sub-trade. We try to get the very best price to pass on this value to our client. The subcontractors take up to about 60-70% of the overall contract value. We then price internally all the carpentry and concrete fixtures.” And it’s not always the best price that will determine who is awarded a contract, Aidan says. In this case, feedback from the client was that Marra was a very close first in terms of pricing; however, what ultimately determined who the client gave the contract to, also took into account the company’s reputation with various other companies Marra has done business with. “That was especially gratifying for us, as this is a very competitive sector we operate in.” The bulk of Marra Construction’s projects are in the Bay of Plenty; however, the company has engaged in projects in the Waikato. As senior project manager, Aidan is responsible for overseeing all the bigger projects the company takes on. While the company has a history that extends back 45-plus years, Aidan says in the past 10 years there have been changes in its structure and ownership, with new shareholders slowly and eventually taking over from the founders, Phil and Bev Marra. “Today, we have around 40 to 50 staff with 10 staff based in the office. We concentrate on commercial design-and-build projects, and have 12 projects on the go at various phases of being built.” Marra Construction is also engaged in a townhouse development, and work for the Ministry of Education, through a long-standing relationship. “We have four government projects running through this period.” Looking ahead there’s a solid level of work programmed through to the end of the year, and Aidan and the team are pricing projects into next year as well. “I like to think we’re at a good size and scale to handle the type of projects we’ve built our reputation on, and as a very well-established Bay of Plenty business, we enjoy delivering our contribution to development of this special region we live in.”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=