Description
Capital Projects Manager — Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas
Home Base: Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, Texas Territory: Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas Travel: Frequent regional travel, including overnight travel Base Salary: $130,000 Bonus: Discretionary annual bonus up to 10% of base, based on attention to detail, vendor sourcing, documented cost savings and value engineering, and project and field execution.
ABOUT GAINES INVESTMENT TRUST
Gaines Investment Trust is a 100% family-owned real estate investment and management company founded in 1966 and headquartered in La Jolla, California. Don Gaines started the company brokering and managing apartment buildings in the San Fernando Valley. By 1983, the portfolio he had assembled for his own account was large enough to demand his full attention, and he left the brokerage and fee-management business to focus solely on owning and operating his own assets. Sixty years later, that is still how we work.
We own everything we manage, and we manage nothing we don't own. We have no partners, no outside investors, and no third-party management clients. Every property you would work on belongs to the family, and it is staffed and operated by our own people. Our assets are institutional in size and quality, but we are not an institution — the person paying for the roof is the same person approving it.
Today the portfolio includes:
- More than 8,000 apartment homes across six states — California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas — serving more than 13,000 residents.
- Approximately 460,000 square feet of commercial office, including 2600 Michelson Drive in Irvine, CA (310,925 RSF), 7580–7590 Fay Avenue in La Jolla, CA (62,898 RSF), 1055 Wall Street in La Jolla, CA (46,500 RSF), and N 434 Greenville Drive in Greenville, WI (38,390 RSF).
- More than 1.6 million square feet of industrial, including Fredericksburg, PA (1,021,938 RSF), Post Falls, ID (491,040 RSF), Beltsville, MD (66,424 RSF), Daytona Beach, FL (37,000 RSF), and Poway, CA (21,000 RSF).
- Roughly 10,000 acres of developable land in Washington, California, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Florida.
We are not real estate traders. We do not flip properties — we buy them, improve them, and hold them for decades. That single fact shapes this job more than anything else in this posting: capital work here is a long-term investment in our own balance sheet, not a cost to be minimized ahead of a sale.
THE ROLE
You will work directly for the owner. There is no management agreement, no fee, and no third-party owner to satisfy. Because we own the buildings and intend to own them for a very long time, a capital project here is judged on whether it was the right decision for the asset — not on whether it came in cheapest this quarter.
This is a role for someone who does more than collect bids. You will own the physical condition of an assigned portfolio: inspect the properties, identify and prioritize capital needs, write complete scopes of work, find and qualify contractors, run competitive RFPs, negotiate the best overall solution, present recommendations directly to the President, and carry approved projects through final closeout.
You must live in the Dallas–Fort Worth area and be able to travel regularly throughout Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.
WHAT YOU WILL OWN
- Inspect properties regularly and identify deferred maintenance, developing conditions, asset-preservation needs, and resident-impact issues before they become larger or more expensive problems.
- Determine whether a condition calls for repair, replacement, redesign, or continued monitoring, and prioritize based on risk, urgency, useful life, resident impact, operational disruption, and long-term value.
- Write contractor-ready scopes and RFPs that define GIT's specifications, alternates, schedule expectations, warranties, insurance requirements, payment terms, and closeout obligations.
- Recruit and qualify capable local and regional contractors rather than working from a familiar short list, and build a dependable bench across the region.
- Obtain multiple competitive bids, level them on an apples-to-apples basis, identify exclusions and gaps, challenge assumptions, and rebid when proposals do not address the required scope.
- Negotiate pricing, scope, schedule, payment structure, and warranties for the best overall outcome for GIT — not simply the lowest initial bid.
- Present concise recommendations to the President and executive leadership: the condition, alternatives considered, bid comparison, risks, budget impact, recommended contractor, and the reasoning behind it.
- Move approved projects through contract preparation, preconstruction planning with property operations, and field execution through final completion, including schedule, quality, safety coordination, resident impact, change-order review, and issue resolution.
- Inspect the work before approving progress payments, confirm installed work matches the contract documents, and verify lien releases, warranties, permits, inspections, and closeout materials are received.
- Maintain accurate trackers, budgets, forecasts, photographs, contracts, bid records, payment status, and executive reporting across multiple simultaneous projects.
PROJECT TYPES
Roofing and waterproofing; exterior painting, siding, stucco, and wood replacement; asphalt, concrete, parking lots, and site circulation; drainage, grading, retaining walls, and erosion work; structural repairs and building-envelope projects; mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire and life-safety, and utility projects; pools, amenities, common areas, offices, and other renovations.
WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE
- Capital needs are identified early, scoped accurately, and prioritized before they become larger problems.
- Contractors bid the same complete scope, so comparisons are meaningful and change orders are rare.
- Recommendations are fact-based, concise, and ready for executive decision-making.
- Projects are completed safely, on schedule, within approved budgets, and to GIT's quality standards.
- Progress payments are supported by verified field progress and complete documentation.
QUALIFICATIONS
- Seven or more years of progressively responsible experience in construction project management, capital improvements, major renovations, facilities capital planning, or representing property owners on construction projects.
- Multifamily renovation or capital-project experience strongly preferred. Hospitality, senior housing, commercial real estate, or other occupied-property experience will also be considered.
- Demonstrated ability to run a project end to end and independently: inspect the condition, define the problem, develop the scope, source bidders, level proposals, negotiate terms, recommend a course of action, and manage execution.
- Strong working knowledge of construction means and methods across multiple building and site systems.
- Proven skill in scope writing, RFP preparation, estimating, bid analysis, contractor qualification, contract administration, change-order control, pay-application review, and project closeout.
- Ability to read and interpret plans, specifications, proposals, contracts, and schedules.
- Clear and concise writing. You will put recommendations in front of senior leadership in writing on a regular basis.
- Resourceful, persistent, organized, and comfortable working with significant autonomy and accountability.
- Strong proficiency with Excel, Word, Outlook, and project or contract tracking systems.
- Bachelor's degree in construction management, engineering, architecture, or real estate preferred. Equivalent hands-on experience and demonstrated results will be fully considered.
- Valid driver's license and ability to travel frequently, including overnight travel.
WHY THIS ROLE IS DIFFERENT
- You are working for the people who own the buildings. Decisions get made by the family that signs the checks, not by a client committee or an asset manager reporting to outside investors.
- Direct access to the President, with recommendations that lead to action.
- Ownership of projects from initial identification through final closeout.
- Real influence over the condition and performance of a portfolio we intend to hold for decades — the work you approve today is work we will live with for the next twenty years.
- A stable, privately held company with 60 years of operating history that values sound judgment, resourcefulness, accountability, and quality.
BENEFITS
Medical, dental, and vision. Optional life, accident, and critical illness insurance. 401(k) with company match. Paid vacation and holidays.