Clark Construction Group sold to management team

Dive Brief:

A group of Clark Construction Group executive managers — all employees of Clark for more than 30 years — has purchased the parent company’s shares in the company, securing 100% management ownership of Clark, The Washington Post reported. Clark, one of the largest commercial and civil contractors in the country, has 4,000 employees, 11 offices throughout the U.S. and annual sales of $4 billion.
The late owner, James Clark, chose the current leadership team according to his belief that company owners should have hands-on experience, not just have held white-collar positions, The Post reported.
Bethesda, MD-based Clark counts some of the District’s most iconic buildings as part of its portfolio such as the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian, the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and L’Enfant Plaza.

Dive Insight:

"(James Clark) always wanted Clark Construction to continue this legacy after he was gone. This sale accomplishes that, and not only produces a successful outcome for those directly involved, but, as well, a terrific result for our metro area," Michael Glosserman of JBG Companies told The Post.

Clark’s desire to preserve his legacy through a program of employee ownership is similar to Boldt Construction's announcement last year. In October, Boldt announced a five-year plan to transfer the majority of company ownership to employees as part of the family-owned business' succession planning.

Clark is currently a joint venture partner for the construction of the new Golden State Warriors arena in San Francisco. That project is under fire from the Mission Bay Alliance, which represents a group of hospitals across the street from the new site. The Alliance has filed lawsuits against the construction of the arena, claiming that its presence in that location would be detrimental to the health of the hospital patients.

Clark is currently part of the team building the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco, and it constructed a $200 million neurosciences center on the Mission Bay Campus of the University of California, San Francisco. It also built the Nationals Park MLB stadium in Washington, DC, and FedExField for the Washington Redskins NFL team.