Success Stories
Griffin Partners: Construction RFPs and Bid-Leveling
Griffin Partners in Houston is a leading commercial real estate investment, development, and property management firm. Founded in 1980 with a focus on development and construction, the firm expanded into formal investments in 1998.
Over the years, Griffin Partners has become one of the most respected firms in the industry. The team has witnessed the acquisition, development, or management of more than 100 properties, totaling over 18 million square feet and having an aggregate value exceeding $2.5 billion. Today, Griffin Partners is 62 team members strong and continues to work as a trusted partner for its clients.
The Problem: 5+ Hours to Create Construction RFPs
Despite their success, Griffin Partners faced a common challenge: creating requests for proposals, or RFPs, and bid-leveling for each new project took four hours of manual work and required the collaboration of multiple team members. This process proved cumbersome and inefficient for a growing team with limited resources.
Griffin Partners wanted a system to speed up their preconstruction workflow and provide easy access to active and historical project data for the entire team. These requirements meant finding software that was secure, efficient, and flexible to meet the needs of an evolving company.
The Solution: Streamline the RFP and Bidding Process
Griffin Partners’ search led them to Relay, preconstruction software designed by experts. Relay offers project owners an intuitive, comprehensive platform for managing everything from estimates to handovers.
Relay’s extensive preconstruction features solved Griffin Partner’s RFP problems. Relay's easy-to-use interface and drag-and-drop tools allowed Griffin Partners to create RFPs and streamline the bidding process. The increased efficiency shaved hours off their workflow each time they sent a new set of RFPs, drastically decreasing from an average of 4 hours to 5 minutes. They estimate they will save over 250 man-hours each year by implementing Relay technology.
Relay provided the Griffin team with the tools they needed to standardize processes without becoming a burden for the general contractors they work with. The software also allowed them to clearly track budget and schedule expectations between themselves and general contractors, helping to avoid costly delays or overruns and forcing more transparency with their contractors. Furthermore, the single project hub enabled them to access existing projects in one location to plan future resource allocations more easily.
For Griffin Partners, Relay was the answer to their preconstruction needs. The firm has been using Relay since January 2023 and has leveraged its features on multiple projects.
The Results: Creating New Construction RFPs in Minutes Not Hours
Relay’s impact on Griffin Partners was immediate and quantifiable. The preconstruction process, which previously took four hours per project, saw a drastic reduction in time spent, with each project now taking just five minutes to set up. That's nearly four hours that they can now spend on something else.
Moreover, the team achieved unprecedented success by sending bid solicitations to general contractors (GCs). One hundred percent of GCs responded. The GCs were also curious and positively engaged in the software’s use. The GCs highlighted Relay’s user-friendly design and proactive customer support.
Relay also led to a marked improvement in Griffin Partners' ability to compare bids apples-to-apples. Before, comparing a new bid to a previous one was often time-consuming as it was necessary to locate the older document and all uniquely formatted GC bids, inquire from each GC about bids specifications, and finally key them into a spreadsheet to compare.
With Relay, Griffin Partners now quickly analyze historical data alongside new information, allowing them to identify differences and make informed decisions tailored to individual project needs. As more and more historical data is gathered with the help of Relay, Griffin Partners expects to make more accurate construction cost estimates during budget season.
Ultimately, as Patrick Keltner, Director of Innovation at Griffin Partners explains, “One of the most significant benefits for our team from using Relay is being able to standardize our process without becoming a burden for our GCs.”
Conclusion
Griffin Partners has significantly improved their preconstruction process since introducing Relay into their workflow.
The software gives the team the power to control expectations with general contractors. Traditionally, project owners depended wholly on GCs to detail how the property was progressing. With Relay, project owners can proactively oversee their projects, creating a more successful outcome for all parties involved. This meticulous tracking allows for a more efficient use of time and, most importantly, the ability to “scale our construction business without having to scale our team.” Griffin Partners is an excellent example of how construction technology solutions like Relay can provide value.
The lessons from Griffin Partners’ construction case study are clear: Relay can provide immense value by streamlining workflows and improving project oversight. Our platform is a trusted solution for any project owner looking to maximize the success of their preconstruction process.
The future looks bright for both Griffin Partners and Relay as Relay continues to break into the owner market and provide innovative solutions that are vital to improving the preconstruction process.
Contact our team to see what Relay can do to improve your preconstruction process.
