Baldwin & Shell Reaches Pinnacle Success

Rogers’ Pinnacle Point area has become Northwest Arkansas’ signature location for upscale commercial construction, and it certainly has showcased the talents of Baldwin & Shell Construction Co.

Headquartered in Little Rock, Baldwin & Shell is hardly a Johnny-come-lately in Northwest Arkansas. Baldwin & Shell opened an office at Springdale in 1990. It relocated to Rogers at Pinnacle Point in 2001. But many of its projects in the area date back much further.

Here are a few of Baldwin & Shell’s most celebrated past projects in Northwest Arkansas:

• Renovation of Barnhill Arena in the late 1970s gave the University of Arkansas basketball program one of the most feared home-court advantages in the country ($4 million).

• Restoration of the UA’s centerpiece, Old Main ($11 million).

• UA’s business building ($4 million).

• UA’s Reynolds Center for Business Enterprise Development ($4.5 million).

• Headquarters of J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. in Lowell ($11.5 million).

• Headquarters of Arkansas Best Corp. in Fort Smith ($12 million).

• Patient tower and parking garage at then-Springdale Memorial Hospital ($33 million).

• Gravette Medical Center Hospital ($3.5 million).

• Jones Center for Families in Springdale ($3.4 million).

• Jones Truck Lines shop in Springdale ($7 million)

• IBM building in Fayetteville ($4 million).

But Baldwin & Shell is not resting on its laurels. It has built 14 buildings at Pinnacle Point totaling more than 230,000 SF. And, it recently broke ground on two more facilities at the site.

“The big thing for us in any relationship, whether it’s a vendor, subcontractor or contractor, is No. 1, ethics, then costs and performance,” said Collins Haynes, president and CEO of Haynes Limited and developer at Pinnacle Point. “Baldwin & Shell fits the bill all the way across the board for us. And they help us in a very expedient manner.”

Expedient indeed. The first Pinnacle project started in 1999, and Baldwin & Shell has done about 35 total tenant build-outs there. Its two latest projects at the Rogers showplace include a 25,000-SF retail center and the five-story, 53,000-SF Pinnacle Point Tower II. It also built the similar Pinnacle Point Tower I.

Additional build-outs include the 13,000-SF Church at Pinnacle Hills and The Gap, a 15,065-SF store at Rogers’ Scottsdale Center.

The $11 million Parkway Tower at Pinnacle Hills, a six-story, 105,000-SF office building, is another ongoing project of Baldwin & Shell. So is the new Tyson Foods Inc. laboratory on the corporate campus of the Springdale poultry producer.

“I’m proud of all the work we’re able to do up here,” said Patrick Tenney, vice president of Baldwin & Shell who manages the Rogers office. “Our work at Pinnacle represents really quality work. It’s class A-type office space. When I moved up here five years ago my casual observations were that there didn’t seem to be a lot of class A-type office space. Fayetteville had some. But, there’s been a lot going in the last few years. People aren’t afraid now to build five- and six-story buildings.”

Tenney heads up a Rogers office of about 40 employees that generated $11.8 million in revenue in 2001, down from $13.4 million during the boom of 2000. He joined Baldwin & Shell in 1990 as an estimator and later served as a project manager and division manager. In 2000, he was elected to the company’s board of directors, and in December he became a vice president. He graduated from the UA’s School of Architecture in 1983. Among his honors, Tenney was elected as the Arkansas Estimator of the Year in 1995 by the American Society of Professional Estimators.

Haynes said the fact that Tenney is a registered architect helps the two sides understand each other quickly.

“The tenants that we house in these buildings are very unforgiving,” Haynes said. “Usually, we’ll enter into contractual obligations where there’ll be a nearly impossible deadline situation. But one of our successes has been to make unique and affordable office space by using [Baldwin & Shell].”

Bob Shell, president and CEO of Baldwin & Shell, said it is no coincidence that the Rogers office has enjoyed such success under Tenney’s leadership.

“Patrick has really done a good job for us,” Shell said. “We feel like we’re the most ethical group you can come across. We instill that in our people. Patrick has really fit the mold in being able to pick up all the attributes we wanted. He’s soft-spoken, but he gets his point across. He’s a really sharp, smart young man. He’s established good relationships. People can trust him and what he says — they know he looks out for their interests.”

Both Tenney and Shell have successfully worked their way into the Northwest Arkansas community, even in the competitive construction market. Shell is one of J.B. Hunt’s closest personal friends.

And Baldwin & Shell has made it a point to concentrate within the state’s borders. It has never done a job outside Arkansas, although both Tenney and Shell feel that day will come soon.

Tenney also said a strong suit of the company has been its effort to promote from within.

“This means that more often than not, the superintendent we put on a project is going to be a long-term employee who has worked his way up from a carpenter or a foreman position,” Tenney said. “And the same can be said for our estimators, project managers and principals. This longevity helps to perpetuate our company ethic.

“On our projects, we foster an environment where all of the building team members — owners, architects, engineers, subcontractors, etc. — feel free to openly express their concerns without fear of retribution. This enables us to effectively work through the problems that inevitably crop up on any construction project.”

Baldwin & Shell is rated fourth-largest commercial contractor in Northwest Arkansas in revenue for 2001 on the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s annual list.

“We feel like we run a different ship than a lot people,” Shell said.

Click here to see list of the largest commercial projects.