Phil Dinan
Director of Business Development, Callahan Construction
Age: 34
Industry experience: 10 years
Mutifamily housing developers are gravitating to the suburbs in search of sites that offer lower acquisition and construction costs than urban cores. It’s a fertile growth opportunity for Bridgewater, Massachusetts-based Callahan Construction, which established a White Plains, New York office in 2020 to expand its Connecticut and Westchester County business. Phil Dinan oversees business development for the office, which has completed such Connecticut projects as the The Beam, a 203-unit apartment complex in New London. After working as a golf pro in his native Massachusetts, Dinan joined Callahan Construction in 2014 and was named to lead the Westchester office in 2019.
Q: What’s the typical size of your Connecticut projects, and how are project costs trending?
A: We’re pretty diverse in terms of size of projects. Where we bring the most value is anything over the 100 or even 80 units at this point. You’re starting to see the costs plateau. Back in 2022 and 2023, the numbers from our trade partners weren’t holding. Talking to the financial professionals in our market, we’re starting to see that things are starting to turn the other way. They are starting to lend again with some of the projects that were paused, which is a good sign. On typical wood-frame over a podium construction, you’re looking at $275 to $300 a square foot. That’s all-in costs on a construction job: not just what our costs are, but the overall budget.
Q: Is there increasing price competitiveness on projects within the building trades compared with recent years?
A: This is for us one of the reasons we came down to the Westchester market when we did. We have been working in New York and New Jersey and Connecticut for over a decade, and a lot of our clients were asking us if we were willing to work more in those areas. I think they were finding there wasn’t a lot of competition in the wood frame and podium buildings. For us, that was another reason to bring us down there. I think the competition is definitely growing now. We’re starting to see other companies come from the metro areas and look in the suburban areas a little more. But at the end of the day, reputation is what is going to lead you over competition, and we’ve done a great job of that.
Q: How do the Fairfield and Hartford county multifamily development markets compare to each other and similar suburban markets?
A: The markets are very similar. New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts all have similarities. Really the best deals are anything transit-oriented, which for us, is Yonkers and Westchester. You’ve got train stations everywhere, so that’s what’s driving demand in those areas. Cost-wise, New York versus downtown Boston, Boston is a little heavier unionized than New York is these days. Therefore, you are getting that increase in Boston versus downtown New York. We’re not building in either of those places.
Q: What are the most difficult trades to fill positions on current projects?
A: As we get busier, it’s superintendents and project managers that we’re looking to fill the most.
Q: How many employees are based out of the White Plains office?
A: We are at about 20, after a peak of 30 in 2022. The idea is to grow steadily and organically like we did in Massachusetts.
Q: How are construction managers controlling costs and compressing project timelines?
A: Cost and schedules are the two big factors. Everyone is trying to be a leader. Modular construction is not something that’s new, but it’s something we are going to start to see more and more. There’s been issues in the past with shipping and the supply chain. You had a lot of plants in Canada or the West Coast, so getting it to the East Coast didn’t make sense. I think we’re going to see more groups looking to do modular and at the end of the day, time is money. It’s a fine line. It’s not perfect. Modular has been around a long time, and it doesn’t seem anybody has found the exact recipe.
Q: How do you maximize communication and avoid financial disputes with subcontractors?
A: It really comes from the top. It’s the importance of the lead super on that project, and for them to lead by example. Our team does a great job with that. When I’m on site, it’s constant touchpoint meetings. You’re in communication and everyone is in true partnership working in tandem. That can be the difference maker in getting to the end of a project.
Q: How did your career transition from golf to construction originate?
A: Customer service has always been in my life. As a golf pro, I had known [President] Pat Callahan for a little while and through conversations, he said it would be a good opportunity if I was thinking of changing careers and doing business development. There are a lot of similarities. The only experience I had was working construction doing roofing and laboring in high school and college. I started in estimating and went into marketing and business development, coordinating putting proposals together and moving into a manager role to find new opportunities about five years ago. Pat tapped me on the shoulder to come down to New York and open Callahan’s New York office.
Phil’s Five Favorite Golf Courses
- Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York
- Cabot Links in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
- Calusa Pines in Naples, Florida
- Maidstone Club in East Hampton, New York
- Sacconnesset Golf Club in Falmouth, Massachusetts
