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Longtime Detroit builder making mark in the Valley
by Lynn Ducey
The Business Journal of Phoenix
November 30, 2007
The Meram family has a 30-year history in the Detroit construction market, but they packed their bags and set up shop in Scottsdale this past February.
Meram Cos. President Francis Meram first came to the Valley in March 2006 on a scouting trip with his father and brothers. They were looking for new opportunities because the economy had slowed in Michigan, and they were excited by what they saw here.
"What I saw, it was just unbelievable to me. In August (2006), I actually moved here," Francis Meram said.
A certified civil engineer, Meram took a job with a small East Valley engineering firm while his family continued to travel back and forth investigating development opportunities.
They purchased a piece of ground in Gilbert in late 2006, which led to the establishment of Meram Cos. in Scottsdale. The company, which specializes in commercial projects, has several retail and mixed-use properties under development across the Valley.
Rick Murphy, senior vice president of CB Richard Ellis in Phoenix, said there is plenty of demand for new-build projects here.
"More developers are coming back inside the Valley, inside the outer loops. Building is weakening out on the fringes, where housing has weakened," he said.
Meram said his company did commercial projects in Detroit, but focused more on residential work there.
"Even as we got to Phoenix with the housing slowdown, we felt an absolute necessity to focus on the commercial side of development," he said.
He serves as president of the company. His father, Sam, is CEO and a consultant; and two of his three brothers, Irvin and Jason, are involved in day-to-day operations.
Meram Cos. already is building a solid clientele. The firm, established here in February with Francis Meram and one additional employee, now has a staff of 30.
Meanwhile, the company is moving from a 2,000-square-foot leased office on Pima Road to 6,000 square feet of space purchased at Chauncey Lane and Scottsdale Road.
But Meram also is working hard to get his name and company in front of people.
He is active in the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce and the Arizona Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties. He is networking his business heavily and has begun to advertise in trade publications, including Southwest Contractor.
He also is trying to get existing clients to spread the word about his company and its work. So far, business has been pretty good, Meram said.
"We control our own excavating, we do our own masonry, our own concrete, our own trades, and that enables us to get our jobs done," he said.
"I think that we are seeing a flight to quality, a flight to infill," said CBRE's Murphy.
Murphy said the Valley's overall vacancy rate for retail property was 5.8 percent for the third quarter of 2007. That's relatively low in contrast with the record-high rate of about 7.5 percent in 1997, analysts said.
Meram said there is demand for his company's products. The first property the company bought last fall, at the southeast corner of Warner and McQueen roads in Gilbert, is the site of a proposed retail development called Village at the Islands.
The company has another project under way in Peoria and is preparing to start three more in the Valley early next year.
Meram Cos.
What: Commercial and mixed-use general contractor and development firm
Who: Francis Meram, president
Employees: 30
Founded: February 2007
Web: www.meramcompanies.com
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