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Harness roofs new Branson mega-project

By John Fullerton, MRCA Communications Director
Article from MR Magazine, Winter of 2006

Roger Harness of MRCA member company Harness Roofing, Inc. wishes he had more time. "I've been so busy," he says, "our business had a 50% increase in sales last year, and we are expecting another 40% growth on top of that this year."

We were lucky to get some time from Roger to get a little insight into a huge project that his company recently completed. Harness Roofing is now finishing up the second biggest project they have ever been awarded - roofing the new Branson Landing commercial development project in Branson, Mo.

The city of Branson and private investors have built the new commercial development on some underutilized land along Lake Taneycomo, just off of the old downtown district.

After five years of construction on the southern edge of downtown Branson, the $420 million project is now one of the most distinctive shopping and recreational areas in the nation.

At one end of the development is a Belk's Department Store, and on the other is a Bass Pro Shop. The Bass Pro Shop even has its own restaurant on the water. The center street is an artistic promenade that winds through a five-story canyon of world-class shopping, fine food and luxury condos.

More than $100 million has been spent on new five-lane highway interchanges to feed into the landing. Two 20-passenger trams run back and forth along the promenade and past the open town square, ferrying shoppers and visitors from one end of the landing to the other.

The atmosphere has been compared to the Disney World Boardwalk and San Antonio's Riverwalk. The half-mile long promenade will feature about 14 quality restaurants, each with an outdoor patio fronting the lake; two hotels operated by Hilton Hotels with a total of 550 rooms; and a spectacular lighted outdoor fountain designed by the same company that created the magnificent fountains at Belllagio Hotel in las Vegas. There also will be many upscale department stores and an audience-participation dinner theatre known as "Tony and Tina's Wedding."

All 106 residential condominiums along the promenade have already been sold at nearly $300 per square foot. Fewer than severn of the 106 storefront leases remained uncommitted in early April. The Branson Convention Center adjoining Branson Landing also will be managed by the Hilton Corp.

White granulated modified bitumen cold-process adhesive membrane systems were used on the roofs. "They weren't going for LEED points, but they would have got them form the systems we used," Roger says. The parapet walls have white TPO to seal them up.

The project was about 400,000 sq. ft. of roofing, on a total of 12 buildings.

The project was delivered to the owner on time and on budget. "It was pretty demanding making the schedule, because of the timeline and waiting for other trades," Roger remarks. "When I would walk on those jobs, the project managers said we were by far the most reliable subs there, and we really pushed the other trades - hearing that from them was very rewarding."

"Our logo C2, stands for 'Customer Committed'," Roger notes. "It's good to get positive feedback from the customer."

Harness Roofing maintains four business office locations in Arkansas. The office that did this work was based out of Harrison, Ark. Other Harness offices are located in Springdale, Ft. Smith and Little Rock. For more information, visit www.harnessroofing.com.