There’s a unique hotel now serving downtown Los Angeles, and CSI Electrical Contractors, Inc. (CSI) helped make the project a success. It’s a citizenM hotel, which was executed using modular methods of design and construction.

Modular design and construction is a process that involves building identical units or modules of the structure entirely off-site. Once built, they are delivered to the construction site to be stacked and connected together.

The CSI team provided design-build electrical construction services for citizenM’s Los Angeles Downtown hotel – which holds the distinction of being the tallest modular building in the city.

Working with M.A. Mortenson Company and project owner citizenM, CSI brought extensive commercial project experience, an understanding of state and city construction including environmental standards to this downtown hotel project, while also gaining valuable modular engineering and construction experience at a time when modular construction is gaining popularity.

Working closely with the overseas modular manufacturer, CSI provided design and installation engineering that would convert the installations, especially the proprietary lighting lines, to meet state and city construction standards, codes, and environmental standards.

This upfront collaboration was essential to ensuring all the modules for the 11-story structure would be built correctly before being shipped to California.

Once on-site work began and modules were stacked together by crane – similar to building with Legos – CSI was responsible for the installation of a new Los Angeles Department of Water and Power utility service feed, electrical distribution tying the junction boxes of the modules into building systems as the building took shape, lighting outside the prefabricated modules, and fire alarm system installation.

By embracing modular design and construction, the real estate developer and hotel operator, citizenM, is bringing innovation to hotel construction in cities worldwide. Based in the Netherlands, citizenM was the first and only hotelier to use entirely prefabricated rooms to construct its hotels. The hotelier was also named California and Northwest “Owner of the Year” by Engineering-News Record in 2022. Having rooms prefabricated, shipped, and then stacked can offer several advantages, including lower costs and shorter construction time. 

“Modular construction is a rapidly growing market, and we are grateful for the unique experience the citizenM Los Angeles Downtown Hotel project provided us,” said CSI Project Executive Derek Rivas.

CSI’s successful execution of this project in 2021 opened the door to additional work with Mortenson for citizenM. They are now collaborating to develop the Menlo Park, Calif. hotel – a five-story modular hotel with 240 rooms.

All images: citizenM / Richard Powers Photography

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MYR Group recently hosted its annual CORE Leadership training kick-off session with a community-based, team building activity focused on the topic of TRUST. Launched in 2018, CORE Leadership is a year-long, MYR Group developed training program that provides leaders across the company with an opportunity to connect and share work experiences, learn best practices, and reinforce leadership competencies. Getting involved in an activity that supports the community was a great way for our leaders to start the program by interacting with each other and enhancing their communication tactics as they built trust and prepared for the week ahead.

MYR Group partnered with Wish for Wheels, a nonprofit organization that provides bikes to Title 1 schools and children in need. There was no better way to engage the team and empower children in the community than to take part in their Team Build and Give program which offers organizations a chance to build and gift bikes to an entire second-grade class. MYR Group employees had the opportunity to gift children at Slater Elementary School, in Denver, Colo., with new bikes.

Upon arriving at the school, MYR Group employees were paired to participate in a variety of trivia questions to complete the bike build challenge. With more than 40 participants and volunteers, MYR Group gave 28 new bikes and helmets to the students at Slater Elementary and set in motion a healthier and brighter future. When the kids arrived, they were smiling from ear to ear. It was a special moment for the MYR Group team to reflect and help kids who may not own a bike or in some cases have never learned to ride.

“The opportunity to build a bike, then present it to a child, and in my case: then teach the child how to ride a bike, was an extremely rewarding process. Seeing him smile and learn how to ride was an unforgettable moment.”

– Jack Carmone

Participating in Wish 4 Wheels’ Team Build and Give Program helped the participants create a sense of comfortability and vulnerability, leading to improved communication and overall participation in the first training session. Teamwork was crucial in this event and required trust between partners to work together to build a safe and sturdy bike for these children. Thank you to all our employees who participated, as we continue to show up and give back to the communities where we work and live.

“The Wish 4 Wheels CORE Leadership event was a great jumpstart to what I know will be a successful year of CORE. It allowed participants to interact with each other on a team building level from the very beginning and grow in our communication tactics not just by assembling the bikes but also teaming up with the 2nd-grade class where many had never ridden a bike before.”

– Malia Papineau

Watch the recap!

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E.S. Boulos and Harlan Electric rebuilt the aging South Street Substation, creating a new control house and substation, to meet the area’s current and future electric demands and help revitalize downtown Providence.

Crews converted three 1,400-foot-long 115kV overhead line supply circuits from Franklin Square to the South Street substation to place cable circuits underground and re-route the 23 and 11.5kV underground feeder getaway facilities to the new substation. They also modified remote substation terminals and removed existing 115kV overhead line circuits and unused portions of existing 11.5 and 23kV feeder getaways and substation facilities, including the switchgear building.

Opened in 1919, the original South Street Substation was a major component of the city’s critical infrastructure for providing reliable power to the area. The facility required significant rehabilitation to support the growing region and, in part, because the equipment manufacturer no longer supported the substation’s resources.

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Buried in the gusty Tehachapi mountains of California, lies one of the largest wind farms in the world. Among approximately 5,600 wind turbines is Amy Arnold, project manager of renewable projects for CSI Electrical Contractors, Inc. (CSI Electrical Contractors)

Amy leads construction crews in performing electrical work for the underground collection systems for 17 of these turbines. We caught up with her between outages to learn about her experience, values, and the future of renewable energy.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WITH CSI AND HOW HAS YOUR ROLE THERE EVOLVED?

I worked with CSI in previous roles and about five and a half years ago, I was recruited by CSI to join their team as a project manager. At the time, I didn’t have a background in engineering or electricity, but I was excited be part of a team that had great potential for growth. Over time I have learned and evolved by being present on jobsites and always having a trained electrician at my side. In our renewables group, we have a core team of “usual suspects” that travel from project to project together. We have worked together for most of my career with the company and I am grateful to be part of such an amazing team.

WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?

I thrive being on the road and project sites with my team. We have been very busy for over a year managing large-scale utility renewable projects. Every day is unique and different in this role. My general tasks include managing the responsibilities of the entire project, such as construction duties, labor resources, safety, budgets, schedules, and maintaining client relationships. I try to be proactive by understanding potential challenges and creating plans to mitigate those challenges and issues.

WHAT ATTRIBUTES ARE IMPORTANT FOR SOMEONE TO HAVE AS A PROJECT MANAGER?

• Perseverance: I try to exhibit strong perseverance professionally and personally. I never use phrases like, “We can’t do it” because we can do it! I don’t give up in any area of my life and if I illustrate this on the jobsite, my team feeds off my perseverance. If I maintain a positive attitude, they will too, and we will achieve our goals!
• Leadership: leadership encompasses more than just leading a project. I am not only responsible for the workload and construction duties, but I’m also responsible for the safety and lives of my team. It is my job to make sure everyone returns home safely. Another aspect of leadership is truly getting to know my team and learning how to lead them properly. I focus on getting to know my team members and treating them fairly — people want to work with me and that is something I’m proud of.
• Ability to perform under extreme pressure and stress: This speaks for itself. Being on a jobsite with sometimes hundreds of crew members can be overwhelming. I have learned to turn that stress into a motivator to complete projects successfully, in a timely fashion, and on-budget.

WHY IS YOUR ROLE IMPORTANT FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC?

Clean energy is the way of the future. It is an important factor for our environmental and economic health. The projects we’re working on are large scale and they create a lot of job opportunities for the communities near our projects. This is especially important and apparent in the remote locations where we work. Our projects create jobs for the people that live in these small, rural villages, which is important for their families, their community, and their livelihood.

WHAT IS SOMETHING UNIQUE OR DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS ROLE?

Being a female project manager in this industry is still uncommon. I happen to be one of few females on the team – surrounded by about 90 percent male counterparts. Early on, I felt the need to earn their respect by working hard to sustain a leadership role in the construction industry. Over time, my team has become like family to me. They are always watching out and supporting me and each other.

The last thing I want to mention is my signature phrase: “Teamwork makes the dream work!”

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