Shawn Danoski and partner Bryce Clutts co-founded Danoski Clutts Building Group in 2001 and in 2013 renamed the organization DC Building Group. Danoski serves as the chief executive officer.
He is a Las Vegas native and graduated from Bonanza High School in only three years. He started out at UNLV majoring in architecture before making some changes and earning his degree in construction management.
For the past 12 years, he has served on the board of the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation. NCCF helps “treat the family as they go through the cancer process,” he explained. “NCCF gets notification from the hospital to immediately jump in and help the family deal with what that journey is.”
Q. To what do you attribute the success of DC Building? How do you define your success?
A. Our success is attributed to our people. Our mission statement is to enhance the lives of our team, and employees, and the communities where we do business. When we make decisions, it’s based upon ‘is it better for the people’ — the people, they dedicate their lives to their job, and we have an obligation to provide them the best opportunity we can. So when we make decisions, we evaluate what works for everybody, not just not necessarily what works for the bottom line, not just what works best for the customer, what works best for the organization as a whole.
It’s important to know that we’ve done work from California to Connecticut. We’re currently licensed in Nevada, California, North Carolina, Connecticut, Texas, and soon to be Colorado, Arizona, and Utah. So, even though we are based in Southern Nevada — and this is my home — we do work around the country.
Q. Is there a particular project which you see as a defining moment in your career?
A. There’s been several defining moments in the business’, in the corporation’s career, and most recently there was a significant Chili’s — a very common brand, a very common family restaurant. They choose to do something they’ve never done before and that was put a flagship store on the Las Vegas Strip. Not inside a casino, actually Las Vegas Strip frontage. So, doing that project, doing that remodel, doing that expansion, and addressing the dynamics of working on an active Las Vegas Boulevard for a customer, that had never done that before either. It was a significant step for them and it was healthy for our organization to do that as well. Even though we’ve done dozens and dozens and dozens of projects on Las Vegas Strip, they have been inside the resorts, inside the malls, inside the casinos. This one being on Las Vegas Strip, that was kind of significant for us.
Q. You’ve had some major projects recently; what is the largest upcoming project or event on your radar?
A. We are currently master planning a couple church campuses. One is Faith Community Lutheran. They currently have one campus and are looking to expand that to two locations. We’re master planning with the client both locations. Life Baptist is another church that we helped build their current campus and they are now master planning the rest of their campus.
Q. Are you specializing in retail spaces or is that simply the current market demand?
A. The restaurant retail is currently producing almost 50 percent of our revenue for this year. You take that and couple that with the religious and nonprofit and then you add in that industrial office type build-outs. So there’s been quite a variety. The retail is just what’s forefront and center today. I don’t foresee that being 50 percent of our revenue next year; I see that adjusting as the market adjusts.
Q. Is there a large increase in merchants sensing this is the time to update/upgrade?
A. Yes, I’m seeing a turnover of existing tenant or merchant leases and for them to renew their lease, they’re upgrading their stores, or expanding their footprint, or they’re capturing a better location. Starbucks is doing quite a bit; they’re staying in the same area but they’re capturing a better footprint.
Q. What is your advice to businesses that may be considering this as the time to redevelop or update?
A. I would encourage them that it is a good time to expand right now because of construction costs, because of lease rates, because of land rates. All of those make it a good time. I would encourage them to seek construction counsel early in their process so they can manage their budget appropriately.
Q. Is there a particular building that you’ve built from the ground up that you feel best represents your company or your brand?
A. When Faith Lutheran sought out to add a new gymnasium, I believe the overall project for Faith was probably $7 or 8 million. The logistics were very complicated; it was an active school campus, and there wasn’t much room to do the project. So completing that project not only was it successful, it was successful for the school and a very nice project. It complements our brand in being a community kind of organization and that is a community project.
Q. How do you see the current state of the recession and recovery?
A. I would say we are still in a bit of recession but we are in a point of the recession where there are significant opportunity. There is opportunity for quality businesses. We’re at a point in the recession where those opportunities are still very encouraging to move forward and create construction and to create opportunity.
Q. How do you see the future market? Is there stability in the future of construction in Las Vegas?
A. I would say I’m encouraged by where the economy is going. However, there are some indicators that’ve made it not completely stable. I’m optimistic that we’re going to continue to grow, that we’re going to continue capturing our market share, and increase our market share, and therefore construction will increase in Southern Nevada area. But not to what Southern Nevadans were accustomed to.
