Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Kaufman Lynn opens new $7M Delray HQ
Construction firm outgrew Boca facility
Mike Kaufman’s 29-year-old company has constructed many buildings in South Florida. Finally, he got to build his own.
The new headquarters for Kaufman Lynn Construction, at 3185 S. Congress Ave. in Delray Beach, officially opened Thursday.
“We’ve been expanding, and we grew out of the space we were in,” said Kaufman, founder and CEO, whose company has moved from leased space in Boca Raton.
The new 23,000-square-foot headquarters cost about $7 million, according to Kaufman. Designed by RLC Architects in Boca Raton, it has a facade of brushed, stainless-steel “mesh” panels, a glass curtain wall and state-of-the-art, air-conditioning and LED lighting systems.
The efficiency is already paying off in a much lower electric bill for a space that’s twice the size of the old office, Kaufman said.
Kaufman Lynn paid $3.2 million for the 2.99-acre site. On the Interstate 95 side of the site, Kaufman Lynn built a storage building for CubeSmart.
Kaufman said he wanted a new headquarters that would provide a “pleasant and convenient place to work” for employees. The building has covered parking and a cafe. The location near I-95 was critical.
“We’re running up and down 95 all day long,” Kaufman said, referring to the construction firm’s many building projects in South Florida.
The headquarters houses about 75 employees. Kaufman Lynn has a total of 155 employees, with offices in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and near Fort Myers, as well as in Raleigh, N.C., and Austin, Texas.
“We’re growing the brand over different regions,” he said.
Construction projects in southwest Florida, North Carolina and Texas include senior living, multifamily housing and commercial buildings.
“Those markets are strong opportunities to grow the brand; they also serve as buffers of cyclicality. South Florida tends to be very high and low at times,” Kaufman said.
Kaufman Lynn was recently tapped to be the general contractor for JM Family Enterprises’ $150 million renovation and expansion project at its Deerfield Beach campus.
Kaufman Lynn had 2017 revenue of just over $200 million and expects to reach $300 million in 2018, the CEO said. The construction firm ended 2017 with $225 million in project backlog, or contracted work that hasn’t yet been built. This year, Kaufman said, he expects the backlog to be closer to $600 million.
“There is more work available to do than there are contractors to build it,” he said.
Kaufman began his career in 1981 as an estimator for Fort Lauderdale developer Terry Stiles, according to a previous report in the Sun Sentinel. He began his own company in 1989, borrowing $12,000 from his mother-in-law.
Soon after, his best friend from college, Joe Lynn, bought half the company, allowing Kaufman to repay the loan. Lynn left the business in 2000 when Kaufman bought his shares but retained the name.
In 2010, Kaufman was awarded the Palm Beach County Small Business Leader of the Year Excalibur Award by the Sun Sentinel Co. Last week, Kaufman Lynn was named one of the Sun Sentinel’s 2018 Top Workplaces.