Meet Jim Pritchard! Jim is the Founder and President of Pritchard Associates, an owner’s representative project management firm based here in Dallas. We are thrilled that they will be lending their talents and skills as the newest members of our larger Southwestern Medical District Transformation team.
As an Owner’s Representative, think of Pritchard Associates as the aligner, helper, and ultimate advocate for the SWMD Transformation Project, committed to safeguarding design integrity and vision while managing budgets, schedules, and helping complex projects like ours function smoothly and swiftly.
You may recognize their work all across Dallas. From beloved civic facilities like the Katy Trail, or iconic places such as Old Parkland, to frequented retail centers and businesses, churches, and government buildings, they have delivered a portfolio of 4,000 projects totaling $30B+ in construction costs since their founding in 1994.
Keep reading to learn all about Pritchard and the unique asset that they will be to our team and the project!
Jim Pritchard, Founder and President, Pritchard Associates
Tell us about Pritchard Associates — who you are, what you do, and what drew your team to partner with Texas Trees Foundation on this transformational project.
Tell us about Pritchard Associates — who you are, what you do, and what drew your team to partner with Texas Trees Foundation on this transformational project.
Pritchard Associates is an Owner’s Representative Project Management firm, and we’ve been in business for 32 years. Most of our team are architects and engineers by training. We possess that technical background; however, we are exclusively in the business of project management. We mainly do projects in the State of Texas, but we have done projects all over the country.
We have a lot of experience doing projects in the industrial, office, and retail space, so when projects like the SWMD Transformation Project come along that are really good and interesting... we love to go after them for a taste of something different, and it’s a great project that will benefit the City and just everybody who is touched by the Medical District in some shape or form.
Pritchard Associates also has several ties to the Medical District, including a personal connection – my wife is a retired doctor from Children’s Health.
You've worked on projects across many unique industries — from hospitality and entertainment to office, residential, worship, and historic buildings. What common threads, or perhaps unique differences, have you observed in delivering successful projects across these sectors? And is there one project that stands out as especially meaningful or memorable to you?
Typically, a successful project is when everybody is going in the right direction, and everybody wants to work together as a team. To put it simply, we love working with great people, no matter the industry.
Across all our projects, everyone involved is working towards the same end goal of delivering an impactful project. However, the mindset and approach to getting there can look a bit different between the different parties involved. That is what we are charged with: “How do you get public entities to talk to and work hand-in-hand with the private sector, and vice versa?” .
We challenge ourselves to be the “helpers” – how can we help each entity to best play their part and how can we all help each other? And this makes for a fun project! What we like to say is -- “We all work really hard, and life’s too short not to have fun doing this business!”
As far as the project that is the most memorable or meaningful to us -- it’s difficult to name just one! The Old Parkland Campus is special – we’ve seen that through from the beginning of its renovations; from restoring each building to its collective, renewed purpose as a corporate campus while maintaining its historic style, to our ongoing work in bringing the East Campus expansion to life – it has been a fabulous project! It is a project with a lot of meaning for the Crow Family, the neighborhood, and the entire City of Dallas.
Of course, it’s neat to think about the legacy of our city intertwining from one project and neighborhood to the next. Old Parkland and the Southwestern Medical District Transformation Project have multiple connections - from geography, Old Parkland is just a couple of miles down the road from the Medical District, to historical ties, Parkland Health’s first home was Old Parkland. The impact that these types of projects have on the legacy of Dallas is exciting and energizing.
We have also had the pleasure of working with a number of nonprofit organizations and charities. We just finished up The Nexus Recovery Center in Dallas. The projects that are helpful to people who are making a difference are especially meaningful.
"We challenge ourselves to be the “helpers” – how can we help each entity to best play their part and how can we all help each other? And this makes for a fun project! What we like to say is – “We all work really hard, and life’s too short not to have fun doing this business!”"
-Jim Pritchard, President, Pritchard Associates
Can you paint a picture of what it is like to serve as an Owner's Representative — managing complex budgets, timelines, and relationships — and is there a particular phase of the project lifecycle that you find most rewarding?
The way I look at it is that an Owner’s Representative is not required in any development or construction project, while an architect, a contractor, and a bank are. However, an Owner’s Representative is a service that we at Pritchard obviously view as important. It is somebody who understands the complete project, not just their cubby hole in that project. Owner's Representation is exclusively what we do. Although we are architects and engineers by training, we are managing people and managing projects.
What we try to do is quarterback the entire project, making the systems all work together in a good way. It’s all about how you get every party – the architects, general contractors, public agencies, and everybody involved – pulled in the right direction. We try to make everybody accountable for the unique roles that they play because that’s how the project can be the most successful.
To us, that’s a day in our life, every day we get up. We’re here for the good days, the bad, and all the in between.
The end is the most rewarding part of the project! On the other end of the timeline, getting the project to begin with is also rewarding. When you position the firm and earn the opportunity, and the Owner says, “Hey – that’s your project!”, that is a big win for us.
From a personal standpoint, I also love the front end of the project: getting it organized, and getting the budgets, the schedule, and the people set, and everyone’s mindset aligned. If you get all of that done and get everybody going in the same direction, and everyone’s having a good time, building the project and all of the other things to come should flow easily.
"What we try to do is quarterback the entire project, making the systems all work together in a good way".
-Jim Pritchard, President, Pritchard Associates
Are there any traditions that your team has for commemorating major project milestones and celebrating the ultimate completion of a project?
We like to celebrate our victories. While some industry standards may stress “Lessons Learned”, this looks a bit different in practice for us. Every week, we will look back on what went wrong that week, but we also try not to dwell on the negatives. Mostly, what we reflect on is positive, and we try to celebrate those wins in ways big and small. For some, such as securing a project or a project closeout, we may have a celebratory dinner or a company trip, and other times, it may simply look like searching back through what may have been a particularly hard week for that one win worth celebrating together and moving forward positively.
What's most important to us is that we are truly enjoying our work.
When you look ahead to the future of the Southwestern Medical District, what role do you see the reimagination of Harry Hines Boulevard into a vibrant, pedestrian corridor, The Green Spine, and the construction of the 8-acre Green Park playing in the daily lives of employees, residents, patients, and visitors? What will success truly look like for this project — for Dallas and for your team?
Our office space overlooks Klyde Warren Park. When we come into work every day, look out our window throughout the day, and leave to go home, to see people enjoying the green space and there being lots of outdoor activity in the middle of a city – and it’s all ages, doing everything, it’s wonderful!
I've been in Dallas for 50 years, and parks and pedestrian connections haven’t always been commonplace. For a long time, when you’d travel across the country as we do for work, and you’d visit other cities, it was noticeable that there was a gap in those defining trails and greenspaces in Dallas’s landscape, and it seemed like no one had thought that through as the modern city was growing.
And today, to see somebody like the Texas Trees Foundation pose the question: “How can we experience the Medical District as a pedestrian? How can we enjoy being outdoors in the Medical District?” is incredibly meaningful.
Again, with my wife being in the medical field, I know that when you’re in the Medical District, it usually means you are going through a difficult time. And, while you're there, you may need a place to find rest or relief from your situation. One day, when people can walk outside of the hospital, and there are lots of trees and greenery, and people are outside smiling and enjoying themselves and the landscape – to me, that's what it’s all about.
"One day, when people can walk outside of the hospital, and there are lots of trees and greenery, and people are outside smiling and enjoying themselves and the landscape – to me, that's what it’s all about".
-Jim Pritchard, President, Pritchard Associates
Pritchard Associates has a national footprint, yet many of your projects are rooted here in North Texas. What excites you most about delivering projects in DFW and across Texas — especially as the region continues to evolve and innovate?
I was raised in Texas, and the reason I came to Dallas as an adult is because it was the center of business. It was a growing city and very accepting of everybody. I never thought I’d stay here this long, but the city continues to grow in the right direction, and it’s doing things the right way.
At Pritchard, we feel like we’ve got to play a significant role in what makes Dallas a great place to be through our role on several development and construction projects. I want to keep the momentum going – people want to move to Dallas, and it is consistently ranked among the top cities. We are doing something right, and making beautiful spaces has to be a part of it.
Thirty years ago, when people moved here, it wasn’t exactly obvious what spaces might have drawn them, or would be keeping them here, in Dallas. Now, we can see the city and region are really investing in open and green spaces as they continue to grow, and it’s a great thing for the future of our city and region.
On a more personal note, do you have a favorite park or green space, whether right here at home or anywhere in the world? Is there a dream location where you'd love to work on a future project?
A favorite green space? My ranch! Also, White Rock Lake, I’ve had a chance to enjoy that space, and I think the area is one of the best neighborhoods in Dallas.
A dream location to do a project would be my house (joking). We took the whole group to Banff for a project, and everyone loved it, and we had a great time! We have had the opportunity to do projects in cool places. From ski resorts to the beach – everyone has their favorite spots where they’d like to work in.
We’ve also done some international projects. Ultimately, we enjoy opportunities to work in different environments than we’re used to and to make a difference, both near and far. We have been able to send ministries out to developing countries to help people in need, and we’d like to keep doing that kind of work as well.
How can people stay in touch and keep up with the great work that Pritchard Associates is doing?
Please stop by our office anytime! We love seeing people. We have a great, casual office. Our office is Downtown, right off Klyde Warren Park.
You can also visit our website at pritchardassociates.com or call me (Jim) anytime at (214) 616-7025.
"And today, to see somebody like the Texas Trees Foundation pose the question: “How can we experience the Medical District as a pedestrian? How can we enjoy being outdoors in the Medical District?” is incredibly meaningful".
-Jim Pritchard, President, Pritchard Associates