For more than a quarter-century, CHW has been at the forefront of creating major landmarks in Alachua County.
Today, the firm (formerly known as Causseaux, Hewett, & Walpole Inc.) is at the cutting edge of the surge in new commercial, residential, manufacturing, health and academic development projects in Alachua County.
They include the following:
• The Butler North and Town Center Development, which includes 2.6 miles of new roadway and infrastructure systems with 758,000 square feet of new commercial and retail space
• UF Health Shands Cardiovascular and Neuroscience Hospital, a $300 million dollar expansion to the existing campus
• Alachua project for Coqui RadioPharmaceuticals, which plans to build a plant to make radio isotopes
• Innovative facilities for Trimark Properties including the new Nimbus Office Space. Nimbus is a revolutionary new office building offering over 15,000 square feet of office space near UF and downtown Gainesville. Startups and established businesses alike will find Nimbus to be a perfect location for harnessing research, growing operations, and forming new professional networks.
• Several projects near the corner of Northwest 13th Street and University Avenue, including the 10-story retail, residential and hotel building called the Standard at Gainesville (formerly University Corners)
In addition to leading their projects, Rory Causseaux, the founding principal and chief executive officer, is active in his leadership role with the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce.
In January, he will take over as chairman of the chamber’s Council for Economic Outreach, and in 2017, he’ll move into the chamber chairmanship.
Along with the Chamber, Rory has participated in business development trips around the country, promoting the goal of making Gainesville and surrounding areas the “global hub for talent, innovation and opportunity.”
Causseaux sees the upcoming CEO chairmanship as a great opportunity for progress.
“We raised over $6 million toward the five-year Transforming Greater Gainesville campaign,” he said. “Now, the focus is on action and results.”
Challenges are nothing new for Causseaux. He began his career in 1983 as an intern (while also a University of Florida engineering student) on the surveying crew for Chance, Eng & Denman.
In 1988, Rory Causseaux and Wayne Chance formed Chance and Causseaux Inc. (C&C). The corporation remained in operation until 1997, when ownership transitioned from Chance to Donnie Ellington, changing the company name to Causseaux & Ellington (C&E). The company was known as C&E from 1997 to 2007.
In 2007, the company ownership transitioned from Ellington to Kevin Hewett and Robert Walpole in order to form Causseaux, Hewett, & Walpole Inc. In 2014, Causseaux, Hewett, & Walpole added two more principals, Gerry Dedenbach and Walter Jarvis, and is currently doing business as CHW Professional Consultants.
“The value is in CHW as an entity, which is the transition we are in,” Causseaux said. “The company itself carries the CHW brand. It’s about our people, rather than a person.”
Throughout Florida, CHW is committed to the goal of establishing long-term client relationships and providing responsive client representation. Nurtured by the five principal owners, CHW has grown based on responsiveness to clients, technically sound positioning in the community and strategic acquisition of professional expertise.
CHW’s diverse staff has grown to over 60 professional and technical engineers, surveyors, land planners, designers, technicians, construction administrators, inspectors and support personnel who all share a common goal of satisfying clients’ comprehensive needs.
“Our vision is to be the industry leader for our clients and community,” Causseaux said. “We set the goal to become the No. 1 firm in Alachua County…As a measure of our success, we have processed multifold more development plans than the No. 2 firm.”
CHW has built long-lasting relationships with multiple clients. Among them are UF, UF Health/ Shands, Trimark Properties and Butler Enterprises.
For the Butler project, CHW has employed its full range of services: drawing plans, seeking government approval, surveying, designing infrastructure and managing construction contracts.
“There are so many moving parts for a project of this magnitude,” Butler Enterprises President Deborah Butler said. “This project is very complex, and CHW has stepped up to the plate.”
Trimark Properties Managing Partner John Fleming said he, too, has confidence in CHW.
“It has the ability to help push our projects beyond the standard ‘four walls and a roof’ to developments that set new standards in design, function and integration with the surrounding neighborhood,” he said.
Causseaux sees the company’s experience as a major strength.
“To our clients, we are their advocate. Our job is to get results for them and to get results that benefit the community.”