The mission of The Bridge Group Construction is to positively impact the lives of older adults in the environments where they live.  At The Bridge Group Construction, we are honored and privileged to serve the senior living industry exclusively through our construction services.

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Hear about the history, mission, and values of The Bridge Group Construction from Founder, Lucas McCurdy.

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Q: Describe your background in construction and path to your current career?

A: I'm a third generation construction entrepreneur, so general contracting is in my blood. Even from an early age, I've always enjoyed the whole process of bringing something up to date, transforming something into something new and re-imagining a space where people love to live and enjoy their life.

Q: What made you create The Bridge Group Construction?

A: Senior living operators have many different challenges. Renovation and construction projects are on a long list of things that they have to understand and take responsibility for. The challenge is they have to go out into the commercial construction world where most contractors have very little understanding about what takes place inside an open operating senior living community. 

I saw this problem years ago, and it's been a goal of mine to build a team and a company that is tailor focused to the needs and the constraints of working around older adults in open operating communities. The Bridge Group Construction is a great team of people that really know and love this type of work and understand the parameters that we have to work under. 

At The Bridge Group Construction, we really take responsibility and make sure that everybody is safe and we make these environment is beautiful.

Q: Why does The Bridge Group Construction specialize in the Senior Living Industry?

A: When you go into an older building and you completely transform it, and you're a part of that process and you get to the end of the project and you get to hear people say “We love our new home. Thank you for being here. Thank you for doing this work.” , rust me, you wanna do it again, and again, and again. It keeps you coming back. When you compare that to a vanilla box somewhere where you're just building out a retail plaza for people to sell socks and jeans, you realize that there is a big reward in doing this type of work in an industry that largely is unrecognized, and where sometimes people are living out the last days or years of their life.

Seniors should live in a place that's safe and beautiful and clean and fits their lifestyle. That's a passion of ours and we love every day being inside senior living communities.

Q: What is your goal for Bridge Group Construction?

A: Our goal is to build a different type of construction company. If you go out into the commercial world, egos can get tangled and it can be a little rough sometimes. When you build passion around a common mission that elevates the dignity of older adults above your personal emotions, it tends to draw people together as a team so that they work together. When you couple that with great interior designers, great architects, and great subcontractors, you've really created something special and you've created something tailored to an industry that really hasn't existed before. We're really honored to do that.

Q: What would you tell someone looking to break into the senior living construction industry?

A: Join us! Join us because the industry really does need more entrepreneurs. It needs more construction-minded individuals to bring their time and their talents to this industry. At The Bridge Group Construction, we can't help everybody and so we would lock arms with anybody else that shares the same passion and also has the level of skill and expertise to be able to go on a very, very difficult journey because these types of projects can be complicated. I think that kind of high barrier to entry is what has stopped people from doing that and pushed them back into their more traditional commercial roles. But it's needed and there's a lot of honor in doing this work.

Q: What are some challenges you've seen senior living owners/operators face because they use a construction partner not familiar with the industry?

A: One of the worst things about a construction project can be misunderstanding, not speaking the same language, and not being able to communicate in an appropriate way on these types of projects. The commercial construction world is vastly different from doing a construction project inside an open operating community. 

In senior living, even painting a corridor can be complicated. It sounds like a very simple task, but it's not. And, when you add in a variety of other trades and dimensions in the scope with flooring and lighting and paint and millwork, and potentially even reimagining spaces with demolition, structural components, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, it can be really important to understand how to not only coordinate those from a construction side, but how to phase that through an existing community where older adults are living and they're wanting to access their common spaces, get to dining, and access their activities. It really does take a lot of upfront planning time, attention, and patience to be able to conduct these types of projects. 

I'm so proud of The Bridge Group Construction’s team that really excel in all of these areas and are able to make these projects very successful.

Q: What are some ways that you are able to provide better service because of your specialized approach?

A: That's what sets us apart. Our value proposition is that we can do these types of complicated work inside open and operating communities. We minimize frustration, disruption, and exceed budgets. We understand how to put these projects together and more importantly how to execute them along the way.

Q: Can you walk us through one of the most rewarding projects The Bridge Group Construction has  worked on?

A: We do a lot of work in the Dallas Fort Worth area, and one of our biggest projects that turned out to be a very big success thanks to The Bridge Group team President of Construction, Steve Oliver, was Wyndham Court Plano. This renovation was a heavy lift. This was completely re-imagining almost the entire first level of the building and required us to bring in a 22 foot I-beam to shore up a brand new section of the building. We blew out the dining room, and created the most amazing bistro lounge area that I've ever seen inside a community. We re-purposed a second floor wing that used to be memory care into assisted living, installing brand new kitchenettes. We had to redo all electrical and mechanicals. It was a very detailed and intrusive work all while the building was open and operating. We had a great operating partner, 12 Oaks Senior Living, and we really appreciated the intense coordination between Architects, Designers, us as the contractor, and the operator. 

I recently actually went back and did a tour of the community, and I saw that it was holding up tremendously well. And again, this goes back to that rewarding feeling. It was amazing to see the residents in that community thriving in these brand new spaces, enjoying company, surrounded by their peers and other residents, enjoying activities, enjoying food and drinks, and really living life in these brand new spaces. I'll never forget it.

In today's marketplace, it's so important to have a beautiful, safe, and updated senior living community as operators want to raise occupancy, attract talent, and keep the residents from going to competitors down the street. If you have a project in mind, or ideas, dreams or goals to transform your community, reach out to The Bridge Group Construction today. We'd love to help you with the project to make your dreams reality.