Real expansion, with virtual reality

Suffolk Construction, one of the largest builders in country, with a fast-growing presence in the Southeast, recently opened its fourth office in Florida — and this one comes with a technological twist.

The 4,500-square-foot office, at Channelside Bay Plaza near downtown Tampa, includes a 2,200-square-foot tech lab, which features live streaming of job sites, touch screens for project updates and virtual reality stations. “We've been in and around Tampa for a few years now,” says Josh Christensen, Suffolk vice president of West Coast Florida operations, “but now we have an actual home.”

Suffolk's Tampa office currently oversees an expansion and renovation of the Tampa Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, with exclusive private suites, a salon and spa and a 58,000-square-foot convention facility. The company is also the lead builder behind the redevelopment of the former Tampa Tribune building into an eight-story, 515,000-square-foot waterfront apartment complex. Tampa's Suffolk unit has about 35 employees in the field, and 20 people in management and support roles.