26B — May 25 - June 7, 2018 — Owners, Developers & Managers — M id A tlantic
Real Estate Journal
www.marejournal.com
E xecutive P rofile
Bill Hadge, P.E. CEO
• CEO of GZA GeoEnvironmental since April 2013 • GZA Senior VP 1993-2013, with firm since 1979
• American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) member since 2001 • BS, MS in Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
GZAGeoEnvironmental, Inc. (GZA) is a nationally recognized, 650-person consulting firm specializing in environmental, geotechnical, ecological, water, and construction management services. GZA has been doing business in the Mid-Atlantic region for more than 30 years. Within the last six months, GZA has greatly increased its presence and capabilities here through three carefully planned strategic acquisitions. GZA now has nine offices in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., working extensively with real estate, industrial, energy, and government clients in core areas such as environmental, geotechnical, and water/dam engineering.
“Beyond our specific categories of deep technical expertise, I tell our clients that GZA is all about mitigating risk,’’ says GZA CEO Bill Hadge. “For real-estate developers, industry, energy, government, and other sectors, your greatest risk in building or renovating a property can be what you can’t see underground: contaminated or unstable soil, or problematic bedrock and groundwater conditions. GZA’s experts help you understand and plan for these conditions so you reduce risk, and all its potentially huge and unpredictable costs, on your project.” By way of example, Hadge points to a recent Prologis warehouse distribution property GZA helped develop on the site of a former landfill in Port Elizabeth, NJ. The site consisted of marginal land with soils unsuitable for supporting a 54-dock, 540,000 SF distribution facility served by freight trains and tractor trailers. “Working closely with Prologis’ design-build contractor, GZA specialists developed a three-pronged approach for improving the ground conditions so they could build on conventional spread footings with a slab-on-grade,’’ Hadge explains. “That saved them millions of dollars compared to the cost of a more conservative solution requiring the driving of piles to a deeper bearing stratum and building a structural slab. GZA’s solutions also supported the paved areas, railbed, and associated infrastructure. It’s exciting and a real honor to turn a severely degraded site like that into a positive, job-producing asset for New Jersey and the Mid-Atlantic.’’ Building on years of service toMid-Atlantic clients, since January 1st GZA has expanded its footprint and services it can provide clients through three acquisitions that collectively have added more than 70 new professionals to the team: Melick-Tully & Associates and Civil Dynamics, Inc. (CD), both based in New Jersey, and Emery and Garrett Groundwater Investigations, Inc. (EGGI), whose headquarters are in New Hampshire but which has long served a major client base in Virginia. “At GZA, we are very strategic and deliberate in our acquisitions. These three premier organizations have excellent reputations and strong client relationships,” Hadge explains. “Adding their superb teams to GZA positions us to serve many more Mid-Atlantic clients, and with a broader range of services and risk-mitigation solutions.” Melick - Tully, founded in 1976, has long been one of New Jersey's largest geotechnical firms, providing comprehensive geotechnical, environmental, and geologic services on more than 26,000 projects covering everything from commercial and industrial to residential real estate. Operating as a division of GZA, MTA is maintaining its current leadership and South Bound Brook, NJ, office. “Joining a dynamic company like GZA gives us the opportunity and expertise to expand and diversify our services to all of our clients in New Jersey and the Mid-Atlantic,” says MTA president Gene Gallagher. “We see this as a tremendous win-win for both MTA clients and the GZA/MTA team.” Before acquiring CD, GZA had completed more than 1,500 dam projects nationally over 30 years. Bringing in the CD team from their Stockholm, NJ, base to GZA’s Fairfield, NJ, office significantly strengthens GZA’s dam engineering experience and capabilities in the Mid- Atlantic region. “Throughout its 32 years in business, CD has earned a reputation of being one of the most highly regarded consulting firms providing services related to dam engineering, inspection, and maintenance for public and private water suppliers, lake communities, and hydropower clients,” Hadge says. “We’d been honored to partner with CD on many projects over the years, so it has been especially exciting to make them full members of our GZA team.” In addition to specialty dam engineering, CD provides civil engineering, construction phase services, land surveying, and related services. CD President Chris Adams describes joining GZA as “really taking our practice to the next level. Formally joining GZA after our years of positive and productive business partnerships will greatly strengthen CD’s ability to consult and advise on large and challenging dam and civil engineering projects throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.” Emery and Garrett Groundwater Investigations, Inc. (EGGI) has been in business for 28 years, winning awards from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Association of Groundwater Scientists and Engineers for providing technical leadership in the field of groundwater exploration and development. EGGI’s clients include municipal utilities, public water authorities, hospitals, universities, Fortune 500 companies, developers, counties, states and federal agencies, including many in Virginia. “Demand for sustainable groundwater resources only continues to increase in the Mid-Atlantic, and the EGGI team has many of the most respected and sought-after groundwater experts in
AGZA field scientist uses X-ray fluorescence (XRF) technology to screen soil during remediation at a contaminated industrial site in New Jersey.
GZA engineers with expertise in damengineering conduct a mandatory dam safety inspection of the primary spillway structure at one of the largest water supply reservoirs in New Jersey.
AGZA natural resource specialist conducts tree inventory prior to site remediation at former industrial site in Central New Jersey.
the Eastern United States,” says Hadge. “One of the most compelling testimonials about the caliber of EGGI’s professionals is that every single client they’ve served since their founding has hired them for repeat engagements. That shows you the excellent client service and results they deliver.” Summing up GZA’s new position in the Mid-Atlantic, Hadge says: “With our new colleagues, as well as the talented longtime GZA staff who’ve been serving clients throughout the Mid-Atlantic for decades, we’re more excited than ever about the opportunities in this growing, diverse, and beautiful part of our country. At GZA, one of our go-to phrases is ‘Moving Forward.’ Our clients are always moving forward, creating and improving properties and processes and facilities, and our company is thrilled to be moving forward in the Mid-Atlantic.”
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