While one can learn construction in school, one Greenville construction company traces its earliest education to schools — building them.
This year marks 75 years since John Pellett, Heyward Morgan and Nelson Tracy established Triangle Construction Co., which started primarily doing such public works before going on to create some of the Upstate’s most prominent landmarks.
You see the company’s signs at construction sites all over town and at marquee projects such as Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport, the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities and Greenville County Museum of Art, to name just a very few.
Of Triangle’s evolution since 1947, Bryant Nixon, the firm’s executive vice president says, “Because we were doing good work there and good jobs for a lot of architects in town, that logically transpired into doing a lot of negotiated and bid work.”
At the same time, as business development manager Charley Patrick says, “We kind of take pride in doing a really challenging one-off project, like Falls Park or the Children’s Theatre or the Peace Center renovations.”
Debbie Bell, executive director at the Children’s Theatre, applauds the company’s commitment to Greenville.
“Triangle Construction was the best partner we could have ever asked for,” she says, adding, “Their dedication to our team at South Carolina Children’s Theatre continues to this day.”
Triangle President Tom Baer says that sentiment helps explain the firm’s longevity — that and the company’s transparency and forthrightness.
Patrick then adds: “A lot of companies will tell you, ‘We do quality work,’ but I think in our case, we do it, we sell it, but we stand behind what we build.”
That’s in part because as many as 16 superintendents and a half-dozen project managers of the firm’s 40 to 50 projects each year own some stake in the S-corp., Nixon and Patrick say. They also point out that most of the company’s 50-some employees have been with Triangle for 20-plus years.
“We keep people for a long time and we treat our clients that way, too. It’s all about repeat business. People come to you because they trust you. It’s no different than being a realtor. They don’t get their next sale unless somebody gets referred to them so that’s kind of our model,” says Triangle Vice President William Trammell.
Lisa Lanni, principal and Greenville Office Director at McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture, says she has worked with Triangle Construction on many projects, namely Judson Mill and Greenville Tech Charter School.
“Triangle’s rich past has shaped Greenville,” she says, “and I wish them great success going into the future.”
And what about that future?
Patrick says the company is satisfied with its annual earnings, ranging from $80 million to $115 million, and remains committed to the firm’s birthplace.
“We kind of like the size that we are. We’re not one of those that are trying to grow and expand into different areas of the Southeast,” he says.
In other words, keep building what you learned from schools?
“Obviously,” he says, “the guys and ladies that came before us created just a solid company that we’ve been blessed enough to be entrusted with.”
Timeline
1947 – John D. Pellett Jr., C. Heyward Morgan and Nelson Tracy establish Triangle Construction’s first office on Main Street in Greenville
1947 – Triangle finishes one of the company’s first projects — a warehouse addition for Poe Hardware.
1955 – Triangle purchases land on Laurens Road and builds an office that is still used today. At the time, Laurens Road was a two-lane gravel road and most of the neighbors were cows.
1962 – Triangle completes the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport ahead of schedule and under budget.
1974 – The firm completes Greenville County Museum of Art.
1985 – Triangle President Tom Baer, a stockholder and member of the firm’s Board of Directors, joins the company as a field engineer.
1989 – Triangle completes The Cove-Billy Graham Training Center in North Carolina.
May 11, 1998 – South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities breaks ground on the 8.5-acre campus, where, later, Triangle worked with Freeman & Major Architects on a $22 million project to build performance spaces, a theatre and dormitories.
Fall 2004 – Triangle Construction finishes infrastructure, green spaces, bridge foundations and more at the 32-acre Falls Park on the Reedy River.
2019 – One year after the South Carolina Children’s Theatre’s groundbreaking, Triangle completes the $14 million, 36,821-square-foot, 300-seat, $13 million performance space on Augusta Street.
2019 – Triangle Construction takes on the Peace Center’s $2.4 million interior renovations project. This is the first major renovation of the concert hall since it was built.
Summer 2021 – Judson Mill Lofts opens. Triangle serves as construction manager for the 850,000-square-foot textile mill built around 1911 and now housing work-play-live, loft-style apartments.
Early 2022 – Completion nears on First Presbyterian Church Greenville’s North Campus expansion and renovations.
April 28, 2022 – Triangle Construction celebrates 75 years.
