Matt Renault and Spencer Moran thought they found their lane in office coworking spaces. Then, COVID-19 and a difficult office market forced their hands.
Renault and Moran used the pandemic as an opportunity to pivot the mission of the construction company they founded in 2017.
Irvine-based RAM Construction LLC, ranked atop the Business Journal’s list of Orange County tenant improvement companies, reported $163 million in work completed within the region last year, a 14% improvement over the previous 12 months.
The growth, according to Renault, was a direct result of him and his partner shifting away from a specialized focus and instead casting a wide net to diversify their operations.
“We built the company organically, one job at a time, no debt. We’ve kept reinvesting in the company,” Renault told the Business Journal. “We started out doing predominantly office work because it was kind of a gold egg in front of us.”
Renault said the company grew almost four-fold in its second year, with steady work in the office market. Then came the pandemic.
“It was kind of an eye-opener for us, so, we diversified our project type. We went into more technical types of build,” Renault said.
From Coworking Space to Multiple Spaces
RAM Construction’s first big win: a tenant improvement contract with WeWork. Executives declined to discuss WeWork, which famously imploded and exited bankruptcy protection last year.
The pandemic and ensuing shift in the national office market might have given RAM Construction steady work with the coworking operator.
But the ball bounced in another direction.
RAM Construction took its eggs out of one basket and redistributed them to several – allowing the tenant improvement firm to grow by leaps and bounds.
Pivoting from its high-profile contract with WeWork to a diversified portfolio – especially when coinciding with the pandemic – opened the floodgates.
“We kind of used the time in COVID to rebuild the foundation of the company, operationally,” Renault said.
Renault said healthcare, life sciences, defense and aerospace are now the four biggest industries that RAM Construction services.
RAM Construction also started taking on conversion projects and opened new offices in Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, San Diego, Northern California and Arizona.
Notable high-profile projects include improvements at Chipotle Mexican Grill’s corporate headquarters in Newport Beach. At Chipotle, which relocated from Denver to Orange County in 2018, RAM worked on the restaurant chain’s office space on the 11th and 12th floors at 610 Newport Center Drive in Newport Beach.
Work on the high-rise overlooking Fashion Island included adding custom millwork to the lobby and several windows to ensure plenty of natural lighting. The Chipotle headquarters also features café and lounge spaces for its employees.
The healthcare sector has also been prosperous for the company. Projects include building a lab for Irvine-based medical device manufacturer JenaValve, a new urgent care facility for Hoag Medical Group in Dana Point and refreshed offices for Newport Beach-based Evolus Inc. and Huntington Beach-based Landmark Health.
At Evolus, the work included taking advantage of the office’s panoramic ocean views by adding large open recovery areas and glass treatment rooms with high-end finishes.
RAM Construction was also awarded a build-out project for a new VinFast Auto Ltd. showroom in San Diego’s Mission Bay. VinFast is a Vietnam-based electric vehicle maker.
Renault foresees continued expansion during the next few years, with RAM Construction opening new office locations and securing large contracts.
A Life in Construction
Renault is no stranger to construction. He earned his bachelor’s degree in construction management from California State University, Chico, in 2011. From there he took up work at a project manager with The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. in San Diego. One of his first jobs there was the Kaiser San Diego Medical Center remodel project.
He also worked as a project manager at Hughes Marino and Snyder Langston before blazing his own trail and starting RAM Construction with Moran.
Renault’s hobbies, when he’s not at a worksite, include boating, golfing and spending time with his wife and daughters.
Moran also earned his bachelor’s degree in construction management from Chico State graduating from there in 2009. His first job out of college was at Nex Build, where he managed Northern and Southern California markets. Moran has worked on projects for Califia Farms and Technicolor Creative Studios.
Boating and fishing are amongst Moran’s personal hobbies.