HBI Commercial Construction is a multi-dimensional general contractor headquartered in Newport Beach, California with a second office in Scottsdale, Arizona. The company was founded in 1978 with a clear vision – to deliver outstanding construction services to the Southern California market. Backed now by over four decades of industry experience, it continues to do just that. HBI has made its name across California, Arizona and Nevada as one of the region’s most experienced and financially stable commercial contractors, specializing in three core sectors: self-storage, tilt-up industrial, and retail mixed-use construction. “We’ve completed over 1,800 projects and more than 60 million square feet of construction, valued at over a billion dollars,” says Karla Talisse, Business Development Manager.
But it’s not just this track record – though impressive in itself – that tells the story of the company’s success and longevity in the industry. “What makes HBI different is that we’ve stayed true to the fundamentals the entire time. That’s on-time delivery, quality workmanship, realistic budgets. Those aren’t aspirational values for us, they’re the operating standard that’s kept clients coming back for over 45 years. Our leadership team has been with the company for decades, and that continuity shows in how we execute. There’s no learning curve with HBI. We’ve seen it, built it, and solved it before.”
HBI offers full-spectrum general contracting services including preconstruction and value engineering. “If you’ve just purchased your land we can connect you with architects, engineers, and consultants,” Karla says. “On the preconstruction side, we provide detailed preliminary cost estimates broken down by trade, value engineering where our team evaluates architectural designs, structural systems, and MEP plans on a line-by-line basis to find efficiencies without compromising quality. We handle permitting, working closely with architects and owners to navigate local approvals and streamline timelines.” When it comes to construction, HBI manages everything from scheduling, quality control, safety management, subcontractor coordination, and purchasing. “Our purchasing team leverages long-standing relationships to get competitive pricing without cutting corners,” Karla continues. When the project is complete, HBI doesn’t just hand it over and move on, but instead continues to handle certificate of occupancy, as-built documentation, and warranty services. “That post-construction support is a big part of what keeps our developer clients coming back. They know we’re going to be there from concept all the way through closeout and beyond.” HBI has been long enough in the game to remain unfazed by any challenge that comes its way, but also long enough to understand that every project is different and requires a tailored approach. “In the construction world it doesn’t matter how many times the developer has done this – one specific project might be more complicated. So, we really take the approach of asking, what do you need? And we combine that with doing either the pre-construction, the coordination, or the ground up construction, but it’s all tailored towards what they need.”
“When you look at it from an architectural and a design standpoint, a lot of the new self-storages that we’ve built really show the details and the finishes.”
As well as maintaining long term relationships, having a strong financial background has been the foundation of HBI’s continued success through the decades. “In construction, one project can make you go under, right? So having a strong financial backing is probably the number one thing in construction you need to survive whatever’s coming. We’ve seen everything happen, from recessions to COVID, so its having that foundation that allows you to grow long term. That’s something we’ve done really well here and how we’ve kept that momentum and that growth, besides building really great relationships with our clients.” When it comes to managing these long-term relationships, HBI understands the importance of clear and transparent communication. “They’re trusting you with significant capital, so you want to make sure you’re communicating effectively and meeting their budgets and timelines, especially in self-storage, where leasing timelines matter.” For over forty years, and through its relationships with well-known names like Extra Space, Public Storage, and StoreQuest, HBI has made its name as a respected commercial contractor in the California and Arizona self-storage markets. “We’ve watched that industry evolve from simple single-story drive-up buildings to complex multi-story, climate-controlled facilities with advanced security systems, and we’ve evolved right alongside it. That depth of experience is why developers across the West choose HBI for their storage portfolios.”
HBI’s most recent public storage project in Santa Fe Springs on the outskirts of Los Angeles represents both the scale and quality of the company’s work in this area. “A project of over 200,000 square feet across three stories on a single site takes a team that understands self-storage construction at scale,” Karla says, “and we’ve done it hundreds of times.” When we think of self-storage developments, we often think big industrial-type spaces that lack character, but what sets HBI apart is its ability to create buildings that are not only large and functional, but also balanced with carefully considered finishes that make them aesthetically pleasing. Another recent project – a 119,650-square-foot, three-story self-storage facility in Highland, California for Extra Space Storage through Greenspot Storage, LLC – is an example of how HBI achieves aesthetically pleasing buildings that are tailored to their surrounding environments. “That project is a great example of the kind of work we deliver consistently; a multi-story, ground-up storage construction in Southern California markets where execution and schedule matter,” Karla says. The building’s finishes were carefully selected to complement the backdrop of mountains rather than disrupt it. “When you look at it from an architectural and a design standpoint, a lot of the new self-storages that we’ve built really show the details and the finishes. It’s not just some ugly storage building. It’s actually something pretty that you want to look at.”
Next, Karla highlights a recent 54652-square-foot tilt up facility in Lake Forest for IMI Engineering. “A different type of project and a different end user,” she says, “but the same attention to detail and execution quality. IMI Engineering create the valves for nuclear power plants around the world, which is really interesting. They basically build and test them, as well as run their everyday operations in this tilt-up building. We’re approaching the finish line for that one. When you look at it, you can see that they really cared about the design and the exterior of it. It’s not your typical boring tilt up. There are some corners of it that they really wanted to influence, so when you walk in, it’s not just some big industrial building where they build valves.” The finished project is unique in both lore and aesthetic, and one that represents HBI’s capabilities in creating a functional warehouse space that – similar to its self-storage projects – complements its surroundings. “We’re currently pursuing and executing projects in the self-storage and industrial sectors across Southern California and Arizona,” Karla says of the company’s active pipeline. “We’re working with established developers who trust HBI to deliver on budget and on schedule, which in this market is everything.”
While HBI’s success goes beyond its numbers, they do tell a story worth telling. The company has completed over 1,800 projects, including more than 500 self-storage projects and 500 tilt-up industrial projects, making up over 60 million square feet constructed. Along the way the company has 10 industry recognitions, and a project portfolio valued in excess of a billion dollars. “Beyond the numbers,” Karla says, “our longevity itself is the milestone. This industry chews companies up. Economic cycles, labor shortages, regulatory changes. A lot of firms don’t survive one downturn, let alone several. HBI has navigated all of it and come out stronger. We’ve expanded from a Southern California-focused contractor into a multi-state operation serving developers across the West, and we’ve done that without sacrificing quality or taking on projects that don’t align with who we are. Our membership and involvement with organizations like NAIOP, SSA, ICSC, AIA, and LEED also reflect the breadth of our reach.”
In this sense, HBI is not just building, but actively engaged in the industries it serves. “The future is about growth in the sectors where we already dominate and strategic expansion into new developer relationships and geographies,” Karla says. She mentions data centers in particular as a prospective growth area, aware that this market is set to boom in the coming years. “Self-storage construction is still a strong market, and we’re positioned as one of the most experienced storage contractors in the West. We’re continuing to deepen relationships with storage developers and operators who need a GC that understands the nuances of their product type. At the same time, tilt-up industrial continues to be a massive sector driven by logistics, e-commerce, and now AI infrastructure. We’re actively pursuing opportunities with some of the largest industrial developers in the country. On the retail side, mixed-use projects that combine retail with storage or other commercial uses are becoming more common, and that’s exactly where our experience across multiple product types gives us an edge most single-sector contractors can’t match. We’re also investing in how we go to market. Modernizing our approach to business development, building stronger visibility in the markets where we compete and making sure the right developers know what HBI brings to the table. After 45 years and over a billion dollars in completed work, the story is there. Our job now is making sure it’s being told.”
