Archives: News

With the help of the City of San Marcos Chamber of Commerce, Sabre Commercial broke ground for the Central Texas Eye Center in San Marcos, Texas.

Construction of the new single-story, 20K SF is expected to be completed in Spring 2019. It is located on the southbound side of IH-35 in San Marcos just South of Wonder World Drive. The building will include the Central Texas Eye Center build-out as well as retail and restaurant space.

The project team includes:

• Malone Maxwell Borson Architects, Architecture
• Nova Engineering, Inc., MEP Engineer
• Stenstrom Schneider, Inc., Structural Engineer
• JD Engineering, Civil Engineer
• Studio Outside, Landscape Architecture

All associated sitework and the 120+ car parking lot will be completed by Sabre Commercial.

Sabre has found a construction partner in Dell Seton Medical Center, the new teaching hospital at The University of Texas at Austin, located in the heart of Austin’s medical district at 1500 Red River Street. The 517K SF facility aims to help train and attract the next generation of talented doctors to the region and elevate the standard of medical education, treatment and research in Central Texas communities.

Since the 211-bed DSMCUT opened their doors in June 2017, the Sabre Healthcare Team has been a fixture on site, completing over a dozen miscellaneous interior projects in and around the hospital. On the strength of our past work for the Seton Healthcare Network and Dell Children’s Medical Center, we forged connections early in the process and made ourselves available for whatever work was needed in the early stages.

“We ended up doing 13 projects in all,” said Healthcare Project Manager Jarrod Cady. “This included the finish out of shell space to create a Bronchoscopy Suite, the installation of a 42,000 CFM exhaust fan, and upgrading the electrical and plumbing systems of the testing lab, among other tasks. Our number one priority was to provide truly outstanding customer service, paying strict attention to the well-being of patients and personnel along the way.” Cady is currently overseeing a major Obstetrics expansion at Seton Medical Center Hays.

Sabre was recently awarded a multi-million-dollar contract to finish out the fourth floor shell space of the Dell Seton Medical Center at UT. The Healthcare Team for the job, which started in September, features Project Manager Dan Bradley, Project Engineer Allyssa Taylor and Superintendents Brad Hatton and Lance Hipps. Lance helped bring a sense of continuity to the new project, since he served as one of the superintendents for the above mentioned miscellaneous interior work.

“The team really did an outstanding job on our initial work with Dell Seton, building confidence and trust with the hospital staff, which paved the way for more substantial work,”said Troy Lee, Sabre’s Healthcare Project Executive. “And of course we have a long history with Ascension, Seton’s parent company, at many different hospitals and clinics in and around the Austin Metro Area. The project is a great opportunity for us to further solidify our status as a preferred provider for Ascension and the local Medxcel team.”

For the second year, Sabre is participating in Barkitecture, Austin’s annual doghouse design contest, silent auction and fundraiser benefiting Emancipet, Bastrop Animal Rescue (BAR) and Meals on Wheels’ PALS program. Our participation in Barkitecture is part of Sabre’s commitment to the city we live and work in for our two-legged and four-legged citizens. Last year, Sabre’s entry was a multi-use dog bed and bar and with a waterfall fountain that won the People’s Choice award (see above photo).

This year, our group is focusing on our ultimate client, the city dog. In partnership with Urban Foundry who will design the doggie digs, we’re building an urban chic doghouse compact enough to slip easily into an apartment or condo space, a stylish doghouse that can easily fit within limited living space.

Be sure to check out our entry at the culminating 2018 Barkitecture event to be held on October 28 from noon until 4PM at Fair Market, 1100 E. 5th Street, Austin. All doghouses will be available for purchase by silent auction.

With revenue expected to hit $17 million this year, our San Marcos branch is expanding Sabre’s footprint south of Austin. Operations Manager Jon Barton says the key to their success is the strength of the Sabre South team as they respond to booming construction demand in the Southern region. This group is pursuing interior finish outs and ground up projects from Buda to San Antonio.

“I am proud of the fact that four of our anchor construction projects were won in the project interview process strictly due to the experience of our proposed teams,” said Jon.  “For example, Senior Estimator Bob Fritsch and Project Manager Greg Dorman have worked in this region for years, and between the two of them, their construction knowledge and experience are second to none.

“Our teams are great in client interviews because we convey our experience, our communication philosophy and our work experience together as a team, and that makes everyone comfortable. Our superintendents are seasoned and well experienced. They work off realistic schedules and provide factual real-time information to our clients who appreciate the no-nonsense communication. The professionalism and cohesiveness of our teams shine through.

“We’ve also been getting competitive and thorough subcontractor coverage which allows us to present comprehensive pricing to our clients. For projects in San Marcos, we get bids from subs in the greater metro regions of both Austin and San Antonio allowing us to provide the best value for the client.”

Jon Barton credits the Greater San Marcos Partnership with promoting development growth in the area. The public-private partnership, which serves as the regional economic development agency for the City of San Marcos as well as Hays and Caldwell counties, has been a great proponent of Sabre.

San Marcos holds the distinction of being the fastest growing city in the country, with Hays as the third fastest growing county. The demand for new builds is high in sectors such as healthcare to adequately serve the burgeoning population.

“My initial plan was focused on pursuing San Antonio-based projects by this time, and we’ll get there, but we haven’t had the bandwidth because of our success with projects within the ‘corridor’ from Austin to San Antonio,” Jon continued. “This area is currently providing a majority of ground up opportunities but we have not lost sight of our bread and butter, interior finish outs. Our current project load is diverse ranging from new medical office buildings to corporate non-profit office buildings to retail stores as well as an Autopsy lab.”

Featured In-Progress Projects

Owner: The Village of San Marcos

Architect: Delineate Studios


Sabre Team: Greg Dorman, Project Manager; Jason Lawder, Superintendent; Project Engineer, Kenneth Dominguez; Project Executive, Jon Barton

Sabre Commercial is building this 22,000 square foot, one-story, ground up structural steel building in the heart of San Marcos, which will be home to four local non-profit organizations: Community Action Inc., Homespun (Early Childhood Intervention), Family Justice Center and WIC – Women, Infants and Children.

Owner: Mittman Real Estate

Architect: LK Design Group


Sabre Team: Greg Dorman, Project Manager; Jesse Gonzalez, Superintendent; Kenneth Dominguez, Project Engineer

; Project Executive, Jon Barton

Construction of the new two-story, 25,000 square foot medical office building is underway at the bustling intersection of Hunter Road and Stagecoach Trail in San Marcos.

Owner: McDonald Development Group


Architect: Studio 8


Sadler East II Sabre Team: Kristin Kibling, Project Manager; Jesse Gonzalez, Superintendent; Marlee McKee, Project Engineer; Jon Barton, Project Executive

Austin Heart Sabre Team: Matt Sitterle, Project Manager; James Myers, Superintendent; Brandon Klotz, Project Engineer; Jon Barton, Project Executive

Ground up construction of an 18,000 square foot, two-story, structural steel frame building and corresponding core finish out in San Marcos, TX. Building features a masonry and stucco veneer, a single elevator and custom metal panels along the parapet and entrances. Sabre has also contracted with Sadler II anchor tenant Austin Heart for a first generation finish out.

This is the second project within the same development that Sabre Commercial has built. See Sadler East Building I here.

The fajitas were hot, the beer was cold and the outlook was sunny at Sabre’s 3rd Quarter All Hands Meeting at Top Golf last Thursday. John Cyrier kicked off the festivities, noting that by living our core values, we improve our communities. CFO Evan Spaulding announced we’re on track to exceed last year’s revenue, and Director of Estimating Tommy Meserole outlined our goals for winning business through 2018, commending our intrepid Estimating Team.

CBDO Todd Reimers encouraged all to participate in upcoming events, including some sweet tailgating action at UT home games this fall and our ultimate client event, the three-day Formula 1 Trackside Party, October 19th through 21st.

CEO Matt Lutz was excited to share recent progress with the Sabre team. “I’m proud of our new meeting structure and PM project reviews, along with our weekly Accounting and Week in Advance emails that keep us all informed,” he said. “We’ve created a more refined corporate structure that has helped define roles, responsibility and accountability.  With the market as it is, we must all take ownership, understand our responsibilities and be accountable to our team, our clients and the company.”

Our Healthcare Team was recognized by Project Executive Troy Lee for maintaining and growing our presence in this vital sector.  Happily, we have three ground-up hospital expansion projects and a new surgery center underway, with more on the horizon. And after staffing up and moving into spacious new offices in San Marcos, Sabre South is hitting its stride, managing $24 million in projects under construction and another $3 to $5M upcoming, according to Branch Head Jon Barton.

Our internal survey results reflected that training and recruitment were high on everyone’s wish-list, along with a consensus to keep our culture focused on collaboration, mentorship, teamwork and family.  HR Director Suzanne Simpson also welcomed new employees, marked work anniversaries, and reminded staff that annual bonuses will be determined in the 4th quarter.

Congratulations to our second quarter 2018 Sabre Igniters, Claudia Garcia and Jason Lawder!

Sabre igniters are voted on every quarter by Sabre employees. The igniter award is given to one field and one office employee that is recognized as a “Sabre difference maker”.

Superintendent, Jason Lawder, recently finished up work at the 5900 Ben White Campus Upgrade project and is currently working on the construction of The Village Main, a co-working space for local San Marcos area Non-Profits out of our Sabre San Marcos office. Claudia Garcia, Project Estimator, is known for her outstanding work ethic and meticulous project estimates. Focusing on interior commercial finish-outs and healthcare renovations, her past experience includes the award-winning finish out at Aristocrat Technologies. Claudia is not pictured as she was on vacation at the time of this picture.

10 Years Strong

The Texan founders of SABRE COMMERCIAL–John Cyrier, Matt Lutz and Todd Reimers–talk about starting a company at the height of the recession, putting people first, and the next chapter.

Sabre Commercial is a general contracting firm born and raised in Austin, working mainly in the healthcare, higher education, biotech and corporate sectors. The company has its headquarters in East Austin with a second location in San Marcos. Building places where people work and learn, where they heal and worship and gather as a community, gives Sabre a tangible connection to our neighborhoods and a stake in our region.

You started Sabre in 2008, a year before the height of the recession. How did you succeed?

JC: We started the company mainly from necessity. It was a scary time and we didn’t know what the future would bring. Matt and I briefly spoke about starting a company in 2007, when I left the Houston-based GC where I had worked since college. We had done a couple development deals and knew we worked well together. And Todd was a great fit, had the same values and a strong construction background. Larry Foster was our first hire and first superintendent, and he’s still with Sabre.

TR: Back then it was just the four of us. Matt did the accounting and business administration, and the three of us worked the jobsites. Our first project was the Oak Hill Plaza remodel. Then we got the Veteran’s Affairs Financial Services project.

JC: The VA job came up first, but took a while to get going. Matt and I got a call about an opportunity at the Met Center from a previous client needing some preliminary pricing and scheduling. The project started small, but ended up being a three-phase, multi-million-dollar project that helped us through the lean years to 2011. Ten years in, we’ve successfully completed more than 700 projects, over 80% with repeat clients.

Sabre was on the ABJ Best Places to Work list several times and was named a 2017 Top Work Place by the Austin American Statesman. What’s your secret?

TR: We wanted to start a construction company with a different approach, with an emphasis on treating our clients, our team members and trade partners with equal respect. We’ve spent countless hours defining what we wanted Sabre to become. The focus on a team approach with all our stakeholders has allowed Sabre to thrive and build a positive culture.

ML: I have always thought of us as “the Good Guy Team.” We care about each other. We care about the subcontractors. We care about the clients. In terms of leadership style, we’ve always been on the same page: treat your employees well and act with integrity.

Sabre is well established in the healthcare, higher education, corporate and biotech sectors. What’s next?

ML: We’ve built some great projects over the past ten years and look forward to continuing our forward momentum. We’re making some exciting changes. We’ve promoted John Kovar to COO, to ensure our operations stay in line with our strategic goals. You’re also going to see some great things from Todd as he pursues new client opportunities as Chief Business Development Officer. In the short term, we’re looking at how to improve and refine our processes and find new ways to make our project teams and projects excel and flourish.

JC: It all goes back to our mission, which is to create better lives. We’ve made our mark building places that impact the Texans in our region. That’s the construction side. But it’s also our employees’ impact on their communities, their growing families, their local giving, and all of us trying to make every day a little better for someone else. The most fulfilling part for me is seeing the positive impact we’ve collectively made on Central Texas communities.

See the story in the Austin Business Journal’s special anniversary edition.

With the help of the City of San Marcos Chamber of Commerce, Sabre Commercial was able to break ground on Hunter Medical Plaza in San Marcos, Texas.

Speaking about growth of the region and opportunities ahead, the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce President, Jason Mock, conducted the ceremony. Other speakers included:

• Jason Mittman, President and CEO of Mittman Real Estate
• Ben Kogut of Kogut Commercial Real Estate
• Robert Schwartz of BHS Physicians Network
• John Cyrier of Sabre Commercial
  All photographed above

Construction of the new two-story, 25K SF medical office building is expected to be completed this year. It is located in the bustling intersection of Hunter Road and Stagecoach Trail. BHS Physicians Network has been listed as the anchor tenant with three suites still available for lease.

The project team includes:

• LK Design Group, Architecture
• Energy Squared Texas, MEP Engineer
• Ludy & Franke Engineering, Structural Engineer
• CEC Engineers, Civil Engineer
• Horizon Design & Development, Landscape Architecture

All associated sitework and parking lots will also be completed by Sabre Commercial.

Sabre Commercial Construction Team, including John Cyrier, co-founder; Bob Fritsch, senior estimator; Greg Dorman, Project Manager; Jon Barton, Project Executive; Jesse Gonzalez, Superintendent; and Marlee McKee, Project Engineer

Congratulations to our first quarter 2018 Sabre Igniters, Matt Lien and Huey Sandifer!

Sabre igniters are voted on every quarter by Sabre employees. The igniter award is given to one field and one office employee that is recognized as a “Sabre difference maker”.

Matt Lien, Project Engineer, is currently working on our St. Vincent Retail Remodel as well as the adjoining new building on South Congress. His past experience includes this award-winning finish out at 5900 Ben White Campus Upgrade. Superintendent Huey Sandifer recently finished the Whole Foods Innovation Kitchen project, which includes an industrial kitchen and classroom.

In honor of Earth Day (April 22nd), we’re celebrating some of the sustainable buildings and finish-outs we have constructed over the years.

Sustainable building, or “green building”, increases the efficiency of buildings and the health of their occupants by reducing the use of energy, water, and wasteful materials it takes to create and maintain them.

Because buildings have such a large impact on our natural environment, green building concepts will continue to become more and more important as time goes on. As a general contractor, it’s crucial to be well versed in green building principles to properly execute the intent of these green designs.

While there are more certifications available, we have experience working within the LEED and AEGB systems.

• LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the most widely accepted and used green building rating system globally.
• AEGB, which stands for Austin Energy Green Building, was created by the City of Austin in 1990 to help the city reach their climate protection goals.

Both programs are unique in their requirements and documentation. Sabre has the staff to help the team execute the project and meet the requirements for the system.

Please see our portfolio for more details about each of the above projects:

• Vida Capital, within the AEGB 2-Star Rated Shoal Creek Walk Building
• Scott, Douglass, & McConnico, within the AEGB 2-Star Rated Colorado Tower
• Dell Children’s Medical Center, Mental Health Addition, seeking LEED Gold Certification
• Creative Action, AEGB 3-Star Rated
• Kelly Hart Hallman, within the AEGB 2-Star Rated Colorado Tower
• Ovation Partners, within the AEGB 2-Star Rated Shoal Creek Walk Building
• Veterans Affairs, Financial Services Building, LEED Gold
• Atlassian, within the AEGB 2-Star Rated Colorado Tower