Dive Brief:
- Digital design-build company Prescient announced today that it has closed a $190 million strategic investment and bonding support deal led by two long-term investors: Kansas City, Missouri-based construction firm JE Dunn and Greenwich, Connecticut-based holding company Eldridge.
- The capital will accelerate Prescient's expansion and growth in the multifamily sector, according to a release shared with Construction Dive.
- Since its founding in 2012, Prescient has completed 57 projects across the United States including hotels, student and senior housing, military barracks and apartment buildings.
Dive Insight:
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company leverages offsite manufacturing and lightweight steel construction to help developers and general contractors create multifamily and hospitality projects more quickly and with less expense, according to the firm. All of its components are made from 100% recycled steel that can be taken apart, reused or recycled, the company said.
Tim Dunn, chairman of JE Dunn Construction and a Prescient board member, said the benefits of Prescient’s system are many. Dunn, who declined to specify the amount of his company’s investment, has used the system in past projects.
"Prefabrication can provide tremendous value to our clients because we have more control over quality, weather impacts, safety and more," he told Construction Dive. "Utilizing advanced technology to deliver precise virtual design, we are able to construct systems in an extremely efficient way. The added value this brings to our clients is worth the investment on our part."
Prescient's approach is different from that of other modular building companies because it is focused on the superstructure of a building, Prescient CEO Magued Eldaief previously told Construction Dive.
"Our structures are engineered to 1/32s of an inch. So within everything that we would design, just like a car chassis, we know where everything — MEP and other fittings — is going to fit," he said. "We enabled that by doing the full design and coordinating all those activities for what needs to be bolted on that building."
Recent Prescient projects include:
- The West Village at the University of California, Davis built by CBG Building Co.
- The Generation Atlanta 17-story mixed-use apartment building in Atlanta developed by Kaplan Residential and built by CBG Building Co.
- The Osprey 12-story mixed-use apartment building in Atlanta developed by Toll Brothers with general contractor Balfour Beatty.
- Denargo Market, Phase III, an eight-story, 325,000-square-foot apartment building in Denver from Cypress Real Estate Advisors and CFC Construction.
- The Grandscape Live 15-story, 380,000-square-foot apartment building in The Colony, Texas, near Dallas, built by VCC Construction.
The company received $90 million in funding last summer from Eldridge. The latest investment demonstrates the strong growth potential for prefabrication and technology in the construction market, said Eldaief.
"The support of Eldridge and JE Dunn is indicative of the strength of our technology, the progress we have made in getting market acceptance for our product, our business strategy and the significant growth opportunity ahead of us," he said.
