Strolling around New York City, you’d be remiss not to notice some of the city’s top architectural jewels, like Midtown Manhattan’s Crowne Plaza Hotel, Carnegie Hall, and 45 Rockefeller Plaza. From recent renovations to new construction installations, all three buildings are shining examples of the high-quality portfolio of work Ennell Group Electric Corp. has been doing in the city for the last eight years.
Founded in 2017 by the company’s current president, William Connolly, and based in Long Island City, Queens, Ennell Group Electric Corp. is a trusted electrical contracting firm serving all five boroughs in the New York City area, as well as Colorado.
In 2020, right before the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world, Ronan McFeely came on as a partner, where he now serves as vice-president alongside his brother and fellow partner, Niall McFeely who is the company’s chief operating officer. Ennell Group Electric Corp. handles everything from complex electrical installations for new construction to modern upgrades and emergency maintenance, with a particular focus on commercial office spaces. The company also has a niche focus on the medical and healthcare industries, two sectors that require a high degree of technical knowledge and regulatory compliance. This diversification has allowed the company to take on increasingly complex projects, while continuing to serve the day-to-day needs of commercial, institutional, and residential clients.
After relocating to New York City from Derry, Ireland, 12 years ago, Ronan was working in the electrical field to gain experience where he met William, who offered him the job at Ennell Group Electric Corp. Niall followed shortly after, joining the company in 2022. With Ronan’s background in business management and estimating, Niall’s background in project management, and William’s 15 years of expertise in the electrical industry, together, the leadership team has guided Ennell Group through steady growth, taking on some of New York City’s most reputable clients. “Most of our projects right now are residential to commercial conversions, but we do a bit of everything,” Ronan McFeely says, noting the company’s medical electrical work has encompassed everything from installing MRI and CAT scans, to setting up mammography rooms in major hospitals and labs.
Six months ago, Ennell Electric was awarded the contract for the Crowne Plaza Times Square Manhattan, a 46-story mega-hotel that originally opened in 1989 under the name the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Manhattan. Working diligently since January, McFeely and his team oversaw the renovation of 795 hotel rooms, the main lobby, the hotel’s porte cochère, several public spaces and the 15th floor gym area. “We were following a six-month schedule, which everybody thought was impossible to do,” McFeely says. “It was a massive challenge for us in terms of the scope of work in such a short period of time, and we successfully managed to really modernize the look and feel of the hotel.”
“It was a massive challenge for us in terms of the scope of work in such a short period of time, and we successfully managed to really modernize the look and feel of the hotel.”
Two years ago, Ennell Electric was selected to be the house electrician for LinkedIn’s corporate campus, located inside the Empire State Building. The contract includes 13 floors within the building, which McFeely and his team regularly provide maintenance for. “We started out with a one-year contract, but they were very happy with us and extended it to a three-year contract,” McFeely says.
Down in New York City’s Financial District, McFeely notes that he and his team have seen an upward shift in commercial to residential conversions, which typically involves transforming former office spaces into residential apartments. “These companies have more employees working from home [since COVID-19] so you take into account they don’t need that space that they had previously,” he says. “They’re taking smaller spaces so then they need their commercial office fitouts, which is really our bread and butter.”
One most recent commercial to residential project took place at 90 John St. which saw the renovation of multiple office spaces converted into 114 apartments across five floors, while installing a brand new 3,000 amp service, which McFeely acknowledges was a major challenge, given the age of the building. The company took on a similar project at 17 Battery Place, which overlooks the Statue of Liberty, successfully converting vacant office space into 138 residential apartments.
As projects continue to pile up, Ennell Electric has been eyeing several potential markets outside of New York City for expansion. “New York has been pretty steady for us in the last five years, which has allowed us to continuously expand without being overly ambitious,” McFeely says. “We did a lot of research into Colorado back in 2021, as a tester for other states,” McFeely added, noting they focused on studying the population increase and the need for residential housing. “Colorado’s electrical license also reciprocates with approximately 15 other states, so to continue expansion, if you have the Colorado electrical license, you can potentially expand much quicker into some of those other states, like Wyoming and even Alaska.”
“The next expansion will most likely be in Florida,” McFeely continues. “That’s a completely different ballgame for us. It’s all part of a bigger picture of how we can expand, but how we can do it in the most productive way without overstretching ourselves.”
Currently, Ennell Electric is completing the electrical for roughly 100 new homes across Colorado, including spec homes and renovations. The company is also currently overseeing between 20 and 30 active commercial projects in the pipeline, with the average completion time being between five to six months. Contractors are hired by referral only, which protects the integrity of the brand that Connolly and the McFeely’s have worked so hard to establish in one of the busiest, most competitive cities in the world.
“We don’t hire just anybody off the street,” McFeely says. “A lot of our guys are with us for several years and we trust them, which stands good in the workforce and is great for our clients, because keeping our clients happy and being as efficient as possible is the most important thing.”
