GC License #CGC048740 · Florida Certified Since 1989

Orlando, FL · 28.5384° N / 81.3789° W

We build what stays.

Florida's institutional general contractor. Thirty-five years of aerospace, ecclesiastical, civic, and industrial construction — delivered on critical-path discipline, in small batches, by hand.

See the work → Start a project

Selected Clients

NASA / Kennedy Space Center· Michael Graves & Associates· Diocese of Orlando· US Army · US Navy· Brevard County· Spaceport Florida· Florida Dept of Management Services· Delaware North Park Services· NASA / Kennedy Space Center· Michael Graves & Associates· Diocese of Orlando· US Army · US Navy· Brevard County· Spaceport Florida· Florida Dept of Management Services· Delaware North Park Services·

Years in practice

Florida certified since 1989.

$150M+

Delivered

Across institutional, aerospace, civic.

Projects late

Critical-path discipline, every time.

Saturn V rocket

Housed. Ahead of time. Under budget.

The firm

A general contractor for the buildings that have to stand forever.

Starkweather Construction builds the public, the sacred, and the technically difficult. The buildings that don't get torn down in a decade. The ones that have to outlive their architects.

Starkweather Construction traces its roots to W&J Construction in Central Florida, where founder John W. Starkweather made his name moving fast on projects other GCs quietly avoided — a six-point-four-million-pound rocket that needed a building around it; a Michael Graves church on a nine-month clock; a Kennedy Space Center launch complex rebuilt in eight.

Our second generation brings the same discipline — concrete poured clean, documents known cold, schedules held — to Florida's next wave of institutional, aerospace, and civic construction. We take big, difficult projects. We deliver them. The rest is just plans and wishes.

Est. 1989 · Orlando, Florida

Selected works

Seven landmarks. One standard.

Every project below shared a constraint: failure was not an option. Kennedy Space Center cannot slip. The Diocese of Orlando does not tolerate a late Easter mass. A Brevard County courtroom cannot open with drywall still wet.

Aerospace / NASA 1996

Apollo-Saturn V Center NASA · 1996

The bar

Eighteen months. One 6.4-million-pound rocket. A showpiece at Kennedy Space Center.

The Apollo-Saturn V Center houses an actual Apollo rocket — equivalent in volume to the National Air and Space Museum. Two theaters. A restaurant. A VIP viewing terrace sited at the former Banana River shuttle launch overlook.

Delivered ahead of schedule, under budget. Architect: Morris Architects. Client: Delaware North Park Services. This is the standard every project after has been measured against.

Cost: $38M
Duration: 18 mo.
Status: Ahead of time

Capabilities

The work of a general contractor, done right.

Self-performed concrete and masonry; managed everything else. Forty years of hard-won judgment on what sub-contractors can actually deliver, in what order, under what conditions.

Concrete Formwork & Placement

Poured in-place and precast. Shoring and scaffolding. Reinforcement detailing. Curing protocols held to ACI standards every time.

Structural Masonry

Brick, CMU, and load-bearing unit masonry — one end of the spectrum to the other. Certified structural masonry inspector on staff.

Specialty Finishes

Stamped concrete, colored hardeners, hardscapes, exterior insulation finish systems, patterned exposed concrete. Where the building meets the eye.

Interior Build-Out

Metal stud framing, drywall, doors, windows, tile, caulkings, specialty security structure. Labs with fume hoods and glass waste piping included.

Value Engineering

Practical, applied, prior to project commencement or during development. The kind that survives the owner, not the kind that dresses a proposal.

Critical-Path Scheduling

Defined before the first pour. True CPM with aggressive front-end scheduling. Every sub knows which week is theirs, and which week isn't.

Sub-Contractor Management

Acquisition, coordination, follow-up, punch-out. Knowing which crew can hit a deadline and which one talks a good game.

Quality Control

OSHA job safety standards. ACI, NCMA, BIA, AISC codes. Read, interpret, cipher plans and specifications — then enforce them on site.

Construction Management

CM-at-risk and design-build delivery. From groundbreaking through certificate of occupancy, with full owner-rep capability.

The ethic

There are five ways to deliver a difficult project. We use all of them.

Define the critical path first.

Before the first bag of cement is opened. Before the permit is in hand. The schedule is a document you commit to, not a hope you nurse.

ii.

Place concrete with all the pieces in place.

Plans reviewed. Reinforcement tied. Crew briefed. Weather checked. Pour once, finish right, cure without compromise.

iii.

Know the documents. Know what's missing.

Half of job-site problems come from what the drawings don't say. Reading specs means hearing the silences.

iv.

Apply practical value engineering.

Prior to commencement, during development — not after the lawsuit. The kind that lets the owner sleep.

Nudge, push, or shove.

In that order. The job gets done when the GC cares more than anyone else on site. So we do.

vi.

Recognize correct practical application.

Craftsmen know when they're doing it right and when they're not. A good GC knows the difference too, and calls it.

Sectors

Where we build.

Institutional construction requires a GC who speaks the language of the client — whether that client is a diocese, a school board, an army colonel, or a program manager at NASA. We speak all of them.

Aerospace & Launch

NASA · Spaceport Florida

Ecclesiastical

Diocese work · churches

Civic & Judicial

Courthouses · county facilities

Education

Schools · community colleges

Military

US Army · US Navy facilities

High-Rise & Mixed-Use

Condominiums · urban infill

Credentials

Certified, continuously.

License

Florida State Certified General Contractor #CGC048740

Certification

Certified Structural Masonry Inspector FC&PA

Standards

OSHA Job Safety · ACI · NCMA · BIA · AISC

Education

Florida Construction School · Continuing Ed.

Service

US Marine Corps · Amphibious Assault Battalion

Continuously active

Since 1989 — 35 years

Work with us

Bring us the difficult project.

Tight schedule, complex program, high-profile client, a permit you already needed yesterday. That's the job we prefer. Tell us what you're building.

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A general contractor for the buildings that have to stand forever.

Seven landmarks. One standard.

Apollo-Saturn V Center

Saint Mary's Catholic Church

Brevard Community College

Launch Complex 20

Taft US Army Reserve Center

Space Coast Middle School

Brevard County Courthouse Expansion

Eighteen months. One 6.4-million-pound rocket. A showpiece at Kennedy Space Center.

The work of a general contractor, done right.

Concrete Formwork & Placement

Structural Masonry

Specialty Finishes

Interior Build-Out

Value Engineering

Critical-Path Scheduling

Sub-Contractor Management

Quality Control

Construction Management

Define the critical path first.

Place concrete with all the pieces in place.

Know the documents. Know what's missing.

Apply practical value engineering.

Nudge, push, or shove.

Recognize correct practical application.

Where we build.

Aerospace & Launch

Ecclesiastical

Civic & Judicial

Education

Military

High-Rise & Mixed-Use

Certified, continuously.

Bring us the difficult project.