Roofs are the Cinderella of the architectural world. While facias and facades garner attention and praise, roofs rarely get so much as an honorable mention. Only those in the trade can testify to the technical complexities involved in fabricating what is arguably the most integral part of any build; the part that provides shelter. So, it takes a special type of person to become a roofing contractor, an unsung hero – someone who, in many ways, is like the roof itself; unassuming, hard-working, out in all weather, busy ensuring the safety of those underneath. Roofing requires someone who doesn’t need accolades, who can work without fanfare or public recognition. Someone like Jim Hoselton.

Coming from a long line of roofers going back three generations to 1931, it’s fair to say that roofing is in Hoselton’s genes. With a pedigree like his, it seemed inevitable he would follow in his grandfathers’ footsteps, one way or another. But while good genes make a good start, roofing is a notoriously tough business and it takes a lot of courage, stamina and determination to succeed in it.

“My college experience was simply this: I learned the hard way. I didn’t do the work, and then I’d worry about not doing the work. Finally, I got kicked out and I began to realize that it’s probably easier to just study. I went back and I worked hard. I got As and Bs and graduated with a degree in Economics and Business Administration. When I left college, I worked for the family business, doing office stuff, but by the time I was 36, I realized I didn’t want to do that anymore, so I went to Chicago. I worked for a guy, then I worked for another guy and eventually, I bought a roofing company and went into business for myself.”

Leaving the family business, he says, wasn’t easy and it caused a rift, but Hoselton, a half twin, was driven by a desire go it alone and stand on his own two feet. He set up Preservation Services in 1992, a roofing company with an enviable reputation for its expertise in a niche market. The company employs forty full time staff from of its office in Romeoville, clocking in an annual turnover of over 10 million dollars. The business is now considered Chicago’s most unique and efficient commercial roofing firm. They don’t shy away from difficult jobs. Instead, they embrace them, hence their much-deserved reputation for being the best at tackling monumental assignments, heavy on logistical challenges.  A recently completed project, re-roofing the Evoque Data Centre in Lisle, Illinois, is a case in point.

The roof covered an area of 360,000 square feet. The job involved eye-watering amounts of materials and was completed in 100 days, for a price tag of four million dollars. Roofing is not totally without reward, it seems. Your price point, Jim explains, makes all the difference when attracting the right sort of client.

“For 80 per cent of our work last year, we weren’t the lowest bidder. Our business model is not to come in low. Nobody trusts anybody in our industry because we’re roofers. If you have a job, and you expect to have a terrible experience, you think, hey, I might as well put it out to six guys. I’ll take the cheapest guy, because then I’ll have a cheap terrible experience instead of an expensive one. People who want a terrible experience will always find each other and that’s how their business models are built. I charge more but I do things right. I filter out my clients because I don’t want bad experiences. I want someone that has 15 buildings, and they’ve already had 30 good experiences with me and they realize that 10 per cent more is probably justified. Really, what I do is data centers, telecommunications buildings, highrises, difficult tricky stuff and everything we do is very, very detailed.”

“He’s not afraid to go big if the situation calls for it, like when he needed to swap a truck for a helicopter, for instance.”

Attention to detail is vitally important for jobs like the Evoque Data Centre. That, and Jim’s evident self-confidence, earned from years of hard graft. He’s not afraid to go big if the situation calls for it, like when he needed to swap a truck for a helicopter, for instance. “The Evoque data center was like an eight-acre iPad. There were a lot of ways to do it.” Because I know that eight acres of roof is fragile, meaning I can’t really step on it, I can’t run truck equipment on it but I still have to replace this roof, right? I have to pull materials over it and I have to take wheelbarrows over it. It’s an eight-acre building and it’s 30 feet in the air and I’ve got to do that acre in the middle.  I just knew … I’m not going to use a crane which will require me to drive on this roof. I told the owner, there’s going to be 247 miles of construction traffic on your existing roof, over your existing servers. You’ll have months and months of leaks until I’m done. So, let’s use a helicopter. In this case, we were more expensive than other bidders but I wouldn’t have done it any other way. We have a fantastic reputation for data centers. We keep our word. This is our specialty. We sell project plans; we don’t sell pricing.”

Preservation Services was solid enough to carry on during the Covid pandemic without having to lay off staff. Construction on the Evoque project continued throughout restrictions until the job was complete. Most of this, I suspect, is down to Jim and the ethos he encourages at work. A quick look at the company website reveals a ‘Support Team’ made up of five adopted bulldog/terrier mixes, which speaks volumes for Jim’s sense of humor and subtly demonstrates his kindness and compassion. “The dogs come to work every day. We have a great culture at work. I have two deaf dogs and my office manager has one. These deaf dogs are so cute together. So, it’s just our vibe, I mean it’s big business, smash mouth, get to the point kind of business but it’s also cool.”

 Jim is cool. I ask him what’s the secret of his success. “I think my superpower is taking experience and making wisdom out of it, because I’ve already made every mistake possible. If you call me, I’m bringing my experience and I’m bringing my candor. I can make you laugh; I can talk about fishing or football or whatever, but you’re here for a reason, you need a job done and I’m good at it.”

At 60, Jim is philosophical about the future of the business. He harbors no illusions of being irreplaceable and accepts that he won’t be running the company for ever. For now, though, the future for Preservation Services looks bright.

“I am listening to the “board of directors” advising me to create a more valuable company that can transition beyond me, the founder.  I set out to make myself obsolete so I can work on the company objectively – not in the company.  I am more driven to make the company more valuable. If that ends in the sale of my business, that’s fine. If ends with me still having a desk in a successful organization run by others, that’s fine too.” 

“An overwhelmingly huge part of our successes comes from our employees, and the day to day, hard work that they do and also our clients, they have an unwavering trust in us to get the job done.” The words of U.S. Army Staff Sergeant John LaGiglia, President of Chicago Fire Protection, shine a light on what it means to work for, and with, this company. Chicago Fire Protection is a family and service-disabled veteran-owned business specializing in fire suppression & alarm systems. With LaGiglia, himself a multiple tour veteran in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and his brother-in-law Joseph Regan, an extremely experienced and qualified Local 281 Sprinkler Fitter at the helm, they have created a company with an outstanding safety record and more than 50 years of combined experience. For LaGiglia, the company is so much more than a money making enterprise; however, it is an opportunity to build something valuable and worthwhile for the people of Chicago.

In terms of product offerings, this is a company that does the whole lot. Given the vast wealth of experience within Chicago Fire Protection, this comes as no surprise. The company owners pride themselves on their ability to work with a client and meet their fire protection needs, regardless of the complexities or scale of the project. For LaGiglia, it can be explained succinctly. “Basically, anything and everything involved in fire safety systems, we do it.” A better way to describe the experience of working with this company is the old ‘one-stop-shop’ adage. However, as worn as that phrase is, it seems as though it is one that can genuinely be attributed to Chicago Fire Protection. “We do everything from retrofits, where there’s an existing building in place, new construction and design builds, testing, inspections, and preventive maintenance. For example, we recently finished a nine-story new construction building a couple of months ago. They came to us with their architectural plans and project intent. We provided the overall MEP design of the life safety systems, the budget or cost, and the guidance of what would be required to install an operational fire sprinkler and fire alarms system per NFPA and local code.”

Given the difficulty in finding skilled workers throughout the construction industry and beyond, it is remarkable that Chicago Fire Protection can offer its clients such a wide array of skilled work and knowledge. This established staff –all of whom are Local Union 281 Sprinkler Fitters or IBEW Local 134 Electricians —are equipped with an unrivalled level of experience. Each team member, as LaGiglia points out, has undergone both a five-year apprenticeship and qualifying test in order to reach this level. These qualifications are not only a desirable quality in its staff, they are a necessity. Given the vital nature of its work, it is reassuring to know that this is a company that prides itself on a meticulous eye for detail and a strict adherence to codes and “doing things the right way.”

This dedication to creating a company that works to a clear and recognizable vision undoubtedly sets Chicago Fire Protection apart from its competitors. There is a tangible feeling of community and collective progression when speaking to John. Likely born from his experiences serving in the military, a sense of camaraderie permeates his words when he speaks about the staff within the company. “My partner Joe Regan and I are both still Local 281 Sprinkler Fitter cardholders by trade, our careers actually started in the field. We both completed apprenticeship programs, we both still participate, contribute, and pay into the Union as active members. We have always felt that it was extremely important to treat each of our employees like family. We understand, and respect, the day-to-day grind that the workers go through in order to make each project a success.”

“As LaGiglia puts it, he and his partner are willing to ‘be there in the trenches, working with our staff.’”

It is telling that the company has, even from its earliest days, been able to carve out a healthy share of a crowded market and experience substantial growth over a period of years. This dedication and commitment to working as a cohesive unit has reaped huge rewards for the business. As LaGiglia puts it, he and his partner are willing to “be there in the trenches, working with our staff.” This, he explains, is much more than an offhand comment. His staff are fully aware of that, should the need ever arise, he is more than happy to get his hands dirty. “We’re not just going to be there, pointing our finger and telling our employees what to do. We often say, you know what, if it comes down to it Joe and I will put our work boots back on, go out there and pull on wrenches ourselves.” With an ethos that eschews a more typical ‘Management vs employee’ model, it is clear to see why LaGiglia proudly talks about the company having an environment where everyone pulls together in the same direction. “Our team works in an atmosphere and culture that supports them. I think once they see that, they give 110% because they enjoy where they work, they enjoy the leadership of the company, and as I said, everybody’s in the trenches together.”

To better understand the context of Chicago Fire Protection and how it has reached this point, it is worth recognizing that both John and Joe have extensive experience in the field. Both men worked for what are now their company’s main rivals. This learning curve has been extremely beneficial for them, learning as they have, what needs to be done to excel in their field. “We identified the things that the companies did well, we identified the strengths of those companies and then we also identified the things that they did not do well, that needed improvement. We took that experience in the field and, from it, put together the standard operating procedure for our company.” Despite this, early success did not come easily. “The first couple years was the most challenging. We had to prove ourselves to the industry and say, ‘We understand you guys have relationships in place, and we respect those relationships that you have in place. All we are asking for is the opportunity to prove ourselves and show you that Chicago Fire Protection could provide you a better service than what you are used to.”’

Despite those early challenges, companies did indeed give Chicago Fire Protection the opportunity to prove themselves. The company, according to John, is now operating at a level where they can comfortably maintain the projects they are tasked with; building up a large portfolio of highly successful jobs in the process. While the company is now in the luxurious position of being able to expand rapidly due to the “a qualified labor force that have heard of the company climate and culture and they want to be a part of it,” John knows that this would not be in keeping with the ethos that has gotten them to where they are. “If you grow too fast, you potentially overstep your boundaries. You start to lose the very things that got you there in the first place. For us right now it is all about sustainable growth. It is all about maintaining our current relationships, servicing our clients to the best of our ability, and then, little by little, building more clientele and taking on more projects.” At the end of the day, as John says, the company needs to keep “doing things the right way.” By continuing to work with a focus on quality, commitment and community, Chicago Fire Protection is sure to meet whatever targets it sets itself.

With a rich foundation of culture and heritage, Chicago could quite easily choose to hang on to what it has. Instead, the city has plans to weave new threads into its tapestry by moving over and making room for a new neighbourhood.

It is a city famed for its striking architecture and, in 1885, it was the location of the world’s first modern skyscraper. Though the building was modest by modern standards, the pioneering nature of the city has long been evident. Chicago hums with bold styles and building work of huge historical significance. Its skyline is as synonymous with the city as crime novels and it is the birthplace of the influential Chicago School style of architecture that was the platform for Frank Lloyd Wright to reinvent architecture as an artform. It is not, however, a city that wants or needs to look backwards. A megadevelopment costing $7bn will gradually rise in the city over the next two decades and with it, the Chicago skyline will have some competition and the 77 existing neighbourhoods will have a new addition.

The 78 is a new ‘built-from-scratch’ neighbourhood that is currently being prepared for development and is located on a 62 acre site that borders Chinatown’s Ping Tom Park, Roosevelt Road, Clark Street and the Chicago River. When completed, it will be a hub of progressive and innovative businesses and community led initiatives like gardens, breweries and restaurants. The neighbourhood will be built on land that has been vacant for almost a century. This will change the landscape of Chicago immeasurably and bring a new found sense of community to the otherwise empty space. The land was acquired by the developer Related Midwest in 2016 and the project was green lit in 2019. Master Planner on the project will come from architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

“When completed, it will be a hub of progressive and innovative businesses and community led initiatives like gardens, breweries and restaurants.”

‘Our vision for The 78 is to create Chicago’s next great neighborhood,’ said Curt Bailey, president of Related Midwest. While it is clear that the scale of this project is enormous, the idea behind it is relatively simple. Related Midwest identified an opportunity to create a city within a city, bringing with it a new identity and community spirit. Before a shovel could hit the ground though, all stakeholders had to ensure that the project was viable. Community engagement took place between 2016 and 2019, involving public and block club meetings. These were attended by more than 2,800 people. The main concern initially was access. The land is parcelled, with barriers on all sides. However, this was successfully overcome with plans to develop large scale infrastructure, namely realignment of existing Metra tracks, a CTA Redline station, water taxi station and building sufficient through roads and bicycle lanes. By having no parallels by which to compare, the project has been enabled to dream big.

Alongside infrastructure, the planners faced the daunting prospect of integrating The 78 into an already thriving and bustling city. This vision of a new neighbourhood, while achievable on paper, needed a sense of community and natural development in order to knit into the fabric of its surroundings. Related Midwest identified key components to achieve this. The space will be home to both residents and workers, public art spaces, walking zones and green areas. In addition, the development will maximise the riverside location by including waterfront pathways for walkers, joggers and cyclists. It is hoped that tweaks such as these will ensure The 78 is accepted by Chicagoans.

This integration into the fabric of the city is encouraged hugely by the partnership with the University of Illinois System’s Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) which has committed to building a new innovation centre in The 78 on land donated by Related Midwest. Related hope that the centre will become ‘a one-stop workforce solution to cultivate and retain new-economy talent at scale, expand the diversity of Chicago’s tech workforce, and boost research and development activity to drive our economy.’ The goal is, by cultivating an area that is at the centre of tech developments and training, The 78 can become a vital piece of the city jigsaw. Governor JB Pritzker goes further, stating that this partnership and subsequent ongoing work will put Chicago out there as a global leader in tech innovation. ‘We are launching a new era for Chicago as an extraordinary focal point for an unparalleled tech workforce and research and development that will attract talent to our state from around the world.’

While the DPI’s immersion facility will attract up to 2,000 national and international students annually, one aspect of this development that should not be overlooked is how positively this reflects back on to the existing workforce and people of Chicago. Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot was highly appreciative of this partnership and keen to stress the importance of this for the development of the city as a whole. ‘DPI’s decision to anchor in Chicago is a vote of confidence in the talent of our people and strength of our diverse, local economy, and we look forward to collaborating with them on our shared goals of developing inclusive, long-term economic growth through an array of investments that will create jobs, start companies, and help shape the future of our city for generations to come.’

A key component to ensure that The 78 retains a sense of community and becomes, as envisaged, the next great neighbourhood of the city is employment. The balance between residential and commercial, commuting into and out of the area, is of paramount importance and cannot be overstated. Without this mix of work and home, the area could become another business district. Mr. Bailey is confident that The 78 can become more than that. ‘Our vision for The 78 is to create Chicago’s next great neighborhood. With a dynamic Phase One plan that includes DPI as its centerpiece, we’re showing how a 21st-century neighborhood, created from the ground-up and connected to so many exceptional areas, will bring new opportunities to all of Chicago.’

Initially, these opportunities come by way of construction jobs. In addition to the 9,000 permanent positions that will be realized in the area during Phase One, the project is also creating 9,500 trade, construction and professional service jobs. On completion of the whole project, The 78 will have generated a staggering 15,000 trade construction and professional services jobs and will be home to 24,000 permanent jobs. What is worth noting also is that Related Midwest is committed to exceeding the City of Chicago’s traditional participation requirements for women- and minority-owned businesses by awarding a minimum of 40% of contract work to minority, women, disadvantaged, LGBTQ, people with disabilities, and/or veteran business enterprises. While it may seem trite to laud the company for this endeavour; the modern construction industry values skill and innovation above all else and many would hope that diversity would be a natural and obvious result from a project of this scale.

Unfortunately, this is not always the case. However, Related Midwest, and The 78 by extension, is making decisions, both professionally and commercially, that stand out while attempting to develop a sense of place, a sense of people and a sense of community. Chicago has a rich history. It is not necessarily easy to push into that and find a space for something new. A neighbourhood needs an identity and a spirit. By creating an area that is built on innovation and is built by a diverse and skilled workforce, The 78 is getting off on the right foot.