OUR COEUR STORY

SERVICES

THE BEGINNING

Growing up in the construction world as a contractor’s son was not easy. Thankfully, my dad was wise enough to know that a young boy will take instruction from anyone else before he will listen to his father. So beginning in 7th grade, he had me working for some of his contractor friends in town during my summer breaks; each year I was learning a new trade and a new skill. Raised in a Colorado mountain town, I was able to be a part of some really cool projects throughout a number of ski resort communities. The uniqueness of those environmentally and topographically challenging sites really honed my planning and execution of hillside construction.

I remember one day my dad came to me after firing his Superintendent and said, “You’re running the jobs now”. I was barely old enough to drink beer with these guys who were twice my age but we grew and the following few years we managed some pretty large scale projects, growing to over 60 employees. Then fate intervened when I incurred an injury from my weekend hobbies of Semi-Pro Football and Rodeo. Doctors' orders were to heal up for a few weeks, so I visited my Uncle living in the Inland Northwest. As soon as I toured North Idaho I was hooked. I went home, packed my gear and moved here just a few weeks later.

Well, that was over 25 years ago….

Eric Brandon Tracey at Colorado mine 1983.jpg

A NEW PERSPECTIVE

After working as a foreman for 5 years in the Spokane area, the 9/11 terrorist attacks stalled the economy for a bit. Waiting around is not my style, so I started my own Building Construction business in early 2002. We focused on Government contracting and Heavy Industry for those first few years. We added our first field crews in 2003 and first Superintendent in 2005. It was all rainbows and puppy dog tails until 2008. We weathered the Great Recession by accepting projects from all over the western U.S. and during that time period it allowed me to really focus on some new concepts.

The first was this emerging trend of Modern-Industrial structures for Residential use, later to be branded as Mountain-Modern or Modern-Rustic, that we were fortunate to be involved in. These styles really fit well into our Heavy Industrial experience and more complicated Governmental plan sets.

The second point of focus was to re-invent the customer experience. I’d felt the residential construction industry had just plain ignored the need for customer experience (particularly communication and transparency). So I’ve worked hard to merge arguably the most complex profession of Residential Custom Construction into a user friendly and trustworthy experience. That was the origination of the

DIAMOND VU PROCESS.

We really rolled that concept out in late 2014 and it’s been a success, although always under improvement.

OUR WORK

AND COEUR WAS BORN...

In 2015 we moved from our construction operations yard in North Kootenai county to a small brick and mortar location at 4th and Sherman in downtown Coeur d’Alene. By 2018, we had 3 full time Field Superintendents and a handful of construction divisions (excavation, foundation, framing, trim and paint). Since then, we’ve scaled our business to match the more customized needs of our Idaho clients. This winding path of growth has blessed us to be recognized by numerous organizations and as part of a distinguished NAHB Builder 20 Group (partnering a limited number of industry leaders across America).

Today, my boutique construction business accepts just a handful of clients each season and are chosen, not by budget or clout, but by personalities. I really believe the length of time we will be involved together is more like a mini-marriage (and no one wants mini-divorce). I tend to think that’s why so many of our customers are lawyers, project managers and engineers. They appreciate the attention to detail… and the process.

Every builder uses the word “process”, but do they really have a written process to avoid things from falling through the cracks? Do they really have a Quality Control process? Do they really have a clear Sales, Design, Estimating, Contract and Change-Order process that keeps the client’s best interest at heart? Our Trade Partners, Professionals and Clients believe that we do. We hope we can add your special project to our resume.

MEET THE TEAM