New Wendy's Renovation Prototype

Here it comes! The first two remodels in the country are happening right here in Tidewater Area.  Ionic DeZign Studios worked with the Wendy's design team and their design consultants Tesser out of San Francisco to develop the construction documents for the exciting new structures at Tiffany Lane in Virginia Beach and also on Warwick Avenue in Newport News. The renovations remove the front 10' of the building and replaces it with an iconic stone tower. A high end interior finish package along with the new "food forward" concept is being presented in these designs. The Newport News structure has been in place for over 40 years and has been added onto and taken away many times. The Virginia Beach location, just of off Princess Anne Blvd, will also include outdoor dining area. Watch for more news and updates as progress continues.  The construction should begin August 1 for Virginia Beach and is being built by Independence Construction of Virginia. Newport News will begin shortly after as the start dates need to be staggered.

Where's the Beef?!!!!

You probably remember this phrase from the TV commercials in the 80s. It was used in reference to some little old lady looking for the meat on the hamburger. Well we are using it today to ask where is the "meat" = construction documents? Over the last 6 months, our office has been cranking out conceptual renderings for clients in anticipation that there would be the MEAT or bulk of the work being construction documents.  Don't get me wrong, we like getting paid for creating ideas, but we like getting paid more for the construction documents.....and even more so, we like actually seeing the projects get built!

We have restaurants, coffee houses, retail facilities, medical facilities, houses, marinas, and so much more.....all of these are like the appetizer for our meal....fun, tasty and certainly gets us excited about what is to come.

Well, let me also say that the BEEF is on its way.  It has begun! Starting to get busy as we feared, wanted, begged for, etc.  Finished up Office building conversion, finished up new law office design, working on large office plan, two retail projects, Home-a-Rama house, a credit union, small church and here you go......you have been waiting for it......the punchline.....4 new Wendy's restaurant renovations. Yep, brand new prototypes that they are rolling out across the states and we are working on the initial conceptual design/documentation. Two in Virginia Beach, one in Newport News and the last in Chesapeake.

And there seems to be more behind that. Truly amazing. Truly fantastic.  Truly Scary.  What scary? Yep.  Well think about it.  About 18 months ago everything in our industry seemed to say we were on our way out.  I am sure many felt that we were going to be on of the many casualties of the recession.  Who could blame you right? Well here we are. Hanging on and growing. A full office staff to handle the marketing needs, the production needs and the Construction Administration needs. We are going after RFP, we are going after design/build we are getting old projects back to life.  We have hired a contract coordinator to handle the accounting affairs to make sure we are getting the invoices out, getting the checks in and keeping them all on budget. We also have 4 projects under construction with 2 more ready to begin.  That means staying up with the RFIs, submittals, special inspections etc. Oh yeah, don't forget keeping the production team up and running with state of the art technology and software........and we need more.....that's whats scary!

SCARY GOOD!

So friends....the ride begins....and here comes the BEEF!