2/16/03 WF Construction Wins Service Award San Dimas firm built townhouse project, is finishing Kohl's Department Store San Gabriel Valley Tribuen (West Covina, CA) Section: Business LA VERNE - WF Construction Inc. of San Dimas had a reputation as an up-and-comer when company officials began negotiating with the city of La Verne for several jobs. This company has been built into one that now employs more than 250 people and grossed $20 million in 2001 - but there are still bigger firms in the construction business. That may not be true much longer. WF Construction, which will receive an award this week for service to the city, recently completed a 12-townhouse project in La Verne and is putting the finishing touches on the Kohl's Department Store that will open next month. Photo: These Detached Residences, built by WF construction (mediha feizagic-dimartino) "It has been a wonderful company to work with,' La Verne Councilman Patrick Gatti said. "They did an awesome job on the townhouses and they're doing an amazing job on the Kohl's. I don't know how many accolades I can give them.' Jide Alade is the development manager for WF Construction and was a partner on the townhouse project, which utilized an infill site that formerly held a large Victorian-style home, to build 12 Craftsman-style townhouses that sold in the $310,000 to $320,000 range. "We had done a few houses,' he said. "One or two in different places. But this project was different. It's an urban infill location that's within walking distances of services, entertainment and banking.' Indeed, the homes on the west side of Emerald Avenue are about two blocks from Foothill Boulevard and the same distance from La Verne's Edwards Theatre complex. "When we set out to do this project, we thought we would be getting young people just starting their families and empty nesters,' Alade said. "When we opened, we had 300 people walk through and look at them and they all sold just like that.' Some were sold to single adults and others to recently divorced people who were downsizing. The biggest challenge was what to do about the 21 mature oak trees on the property. "It was a difficult site to develop,' Alade admitted. "There was an old house (the Alex and Lois Mueller residence) that had been built in 1902, and there were all those trees.' The trees were uprooted and moved to better positions on the property. WF Construction offered to move the house for anyone who wanted it, giving them the structure for free and paying them $5,000 in the bargain. "Nobody took us up on it,' Alade said. "The house was pretty dilapidated.' So the house came down and a plaque went up in the common courtyard most of the houses share. Once the Kohl's is finished, WF Construction will move on to new cities and new projects, with one under way in Rancho Cucamonga and another in the negotiating stages in Los Angeles. Alade expects infill housing to be a big part of the future for many cities. "The population is still growing,' he said. "And a lot of people don't want to work in Los Angeles and live all the way out in the High Desert.' -- Mike Rappaport can be reached at (909) 483-8556 © 2003 San Gabriel Valley Tribune. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc. Record Number: 1184533