Carroll Shelby International, Gardena: the mural we painted first

The situation

Tellus held two seats in the Shelby relationship: general contractor for Carroll Shelby International's California hub in Gardena, and owner's representative and construction manager for Shelby American's relocation in Las Vegas. Gardena needed a builder who would price one phase at a time and a standing with the city strong enough to carry a bigger project later, which mattered when Carson froze all new construction in 2016. Las Vegas needed someone on the owner's side to buy out the trades, hold the schedule and the cost, and carry the city, without paying for a general contractor's layer of coordination Tellus already did.

In Gardena, Tellus priced the mural alone, painted it first, and let the finished wall make the case to the city; when the freeze came with no exception clause, it brought Carson a packet on what Shelby would add to the city and went in person. In Las Vegas, Tellus ran the relocation owner-held: Shelby contracted each trade directly, Tellus served as owner's representative and construction manager, and Shelby took on, up front, the risks a general contractor would have carried.

The Gardena mural stayed up at the city's own request, the retail store opened, and the Snake Pit lounge was built in two phases inside Carroll Shelby's former apartment, with one of the few exemptions Carson granted during its freeze. The Las Vegas facility opened on schedule in March 2015, with Tellus's own press release putting the saving against the general contractor path at upwards of $300,000.