Chicago-based W.E. O’Neil Construction, a nationwide leader in the commercial construction industry, announced the official opening of its Austin office on Thursday, June 1. Members of the media will have the opportunity at the event to speak with W.E. O’Neil executives about the company’s Texas launch, their plans for the Greater Austin/Central Texas market and O’Neil’s steady growth since its founding in 1925.
In May 2022, W.E. O’Neil announced it had acquired Austin-based DCA Construction. DCA’s management team will remain in place and the firm will officially become W.E. O’Neil Construction on June 1. The Austin offices are located at 8868 Research Boulevard, Suite 500.
W.E. O’Neil, a 100% employee-owned firm, has completed several projects for longtime clients in Texas over the past decade. The firm brings a deep well of in-house resources, financial strength and nearly 100 years of construction expertise to the Austin commercial real estate and development market. With the DCA acquisition, O’Neil now has a total of 12 office locations in about 20 markets nationwide.
The Austin office will serve the entire state but will focus on penetrating the Greater Austin/Central Texas area’s multifamily, hospitality and retail segments, as well as counter-cyclical markets like aviation, healthcare, higher education and senior living. Goals for the local market are to generate $375 million in opportunities and secure $75 million in awards, leading to $100 million-plus in real 2023 backlog while achieving 10% consistent sales growth and at least a 60% net promoter score from clients year over year.
W.E. O’Neil has projects in progress across Texas, from Fort Worth to Austin to Corpus Christi. They include Junction 2035, a 14-acre site with 3,500 square feet of spec office and restroom build-out (Fort Worth); Kyle Retail, consisting of the construction of two retail shell buildings totaling 19,000 square feet separated by a lighted courtyard (Kyle); and Nordstrom Park Lane, the 27,000-square-foot interior renovation of an existing Nordstrom Rack store, including flooring, bathroom fixtures and finishes, mother’s room, dressing room partitions and finishes, breakroom, employee lockers and cash-wrap relocation (Dallas). O’Neil is also renovating Nordstrom Rack stores in Allen, San Antonio and Plano. Earlier this month, the Texas Department of Public Safety awarded the firm a contract to build a 13,000-square-foot vehicle licensing and registration/driver testing facility in Plano. A list of other notable completed projects can be accessed here.
In 2025, W.E. O’Neil Construction will celebrate its centennial anniversary. This year, in its 98th year of business, W.E. O’Neil expects to rack up annual revenue of more than $1.4 billion, which includes 80% repeat business.
The acquisition of DCA enables W.E. O’Neil to better serve clients by offering several additional resources, including full-time building information modeling (BIM) and virtual design and construction (VDC); preconstruction and estimating department with a staff of 15; mechanical, electrical and plumbing management; and marketing and business development. Over the past 12 months since the acquisition, W.E. O’Neil has hired five new employees and plans to hire more with a goal of 28 employees by 2025. Currently, the Austin office employs 19. The firm is actively recruiting project estimators, project managers and project superintendents. W.E. O’Neil Construction is an employee stock ownership (ESOP) firm, meaning it is 100% employee owned. Currently, O’Neil has approximately 503 employee-owners, 42% of whom have been with the company for more than five years. Its senior leadership team has an average of 30.3 years of industry experience.