“An emphasis on long-term relationships, coupled with an ethic that treats everyone with the highest degree of respect, has created beautiful construction and bonds that enrich the community.”
How much architecture can you fit in a building? That’s a line as old as the construction industry itself – and one that Troy Jessee Construction knows all too well.
Started by Troy Jessee, a San Antonian, to bring high-quality commercial and residential construction to the city. Troy graduated from Texas A&M University and worked for large commercial and residential firms in the city. After earning his MBA at the University of Texas San Antonio, Troy founded Troy Jessee Construction from his home office before expanding into their current offices on Josephine Street. This privately-held, family owned firm has been operating in San Antonio for nearly 40 years.
His son, Lawson, joined the firm in 2017. After graduating from Texas A&M University, he learned the ropes of the industry at The Beck Group, then Skanska, before joining his father’s firm to add his skills and expertise to their projects.
FUTURE-FOCUSED
“Our company is focused on holding onto the culture of San Antonio: we maintain the architectural integrity of this great city,” Troy shares about his company’s vision. “The rich architectural history is like a narrative that plots the course of the city over time, and we are proud to contribute to that architecture and construction. Troy Jesse Construction’s core values emulate our work’s physical manifestations.”
The core values of Troy Jessee Construction are five-fold:
• Client Focused: To enable clients to meet all their goals and wishes. No matter how complex, the company will be flexible in meeting its clients’ needs.
• Quality: It will never compromise the quality of products or services to clients.
• Care for Design: It believes that they are a partner in ensuring that it delivers the intent of the design. Troy Jesse Construction approaches the project as a team player and supporter for the designer.
• Relationship-Driven: It strives to build strong relationships; with its clients, designers, subcontractors, and employees. Strong relationships lead to better teamwork.
• Integrity: The company will be honest with its clients, partners, and itself.
Troy describes the key to the company’s longevity and sustainability in a competitive market: “Our determination to invest in our people, a commitment to excellence, and our care for design have been the keys to success for the past three decades, and they remain our foundation for years to come. An emphasis on long-term relationships, coupled with an ethic that treats everyone with the highest degree of respect, has created beautiful construction and bonds that enrich the community.”
The company has deep ties with the subcontractor community in San Antonio. Lawson Jessee, Project Manager, explains: “Subcontractors are viewed as partners when approaching a project. This leads to better project planning and execution and achieves a higher degree of success on our projects.
He shares more about the company’s unique approach in the construction industry: “We employ a strong base of carpenters and craftsmen to ensure flexibility and cost- efficiency on our projects. This allows for increased control in quality and craftsmanship and the ability to perform unique services for our clients.
CARE BY DESIGN
Troy Jessee Construction’s most significant differentiator is its care for design. The firm strives for its construction and architectural
projects to add to the city’s beauty and become part of the stunning architectural fabric of San Antonio.
Its Boehler House project speaks to that. The building was originally a saloon in the 1880s. Tenants changed numerous times over the decades, but The Liberty Bar put the building on the cultural map of Texas. In the 1920s, it survived flooding and was subsequently renovated. Unfortunately, the building had a historic lean of about 75 degrees and lost its structural integrity. Troy Jessee Construction was tasked with renovating the building in 2009.
The entire building was lifted off its foundation and moved sixty feet away to be restored and refitted. Over the process of a decade, the building was remarkably straightened. The project saw them construct another building alongside the original, and the company’s carpenters and artisans maintained the architectural integrity throughout. Today it houses Carriqui, a celebration of South Texas food and beers and architectural heritage.
“The most amazing thing about that project is that no one could definitively tell us where the renovations started and finished, and even where the original building was and where the new building started,” Lawson enthuses. “We really do build what matters and what we build, we aim to be around for a long time. That detail and attention matters to a city’s culture.
While boasting excellent carpenters and artisans, San Antonio has a skills shortage. Construction, renovation, preservation, and conservation require specialist skills and experience. Restoring historic buildings is precision, painstaking work where details matter more than anything else. Lawson states: “Another investment into the now and the future of San Antonio is a program we’re partnered with the city of San Antonio for a trade school par program. It helps upskill the workforce with job-ready skills that are in much demand by other companies and us. It adds another layer to creating community through history and skills education.”
Troy Jessee Construction carves and creates San Antonio’s future, brick-by-brick, building-by building, and community-by community.
