A new technology has successfully hoisted some 1 million pounds of steel, concrete and other building materials to the top of an under-construction residential high-rise in Detroit's Greektown neighborhood.

Both the first lift and development of the LiftBuild LLC technology were long in the making.

In what construction experts at Southfield-based Barton Malow Co. — the parent company of LiftBuild — describe as a "proof of concept," it took some 10 hours to raise the roughly 500-ton roof of The Exchange building Saturday and into Sunday, rising at a rate of about 20 feet per hour. It started at about 7 p.m.

As the floors are installed from the top down — literally, as Barton Malow says in one video, turning the construction process upside down — each successive lift will take less time.

Barton Malow first began purchasing patents and other resources that served as the early foundation for the current technology, which involves assembling entire floors at grade level and then raising them to their appropriate position, in 2017.

Joseph Benvenuto, vice president of LiftBuild, said during a tour of The Exchange site in April, that this technology, however, is also vastly different than what was in the patents.

"We spent three years and a very large investment focused on engineering and developing this into something that will do what we needed to do," he said.

In the big picture, that means reducing construction times by increasing worker efficiency, therefore decreasing construction costs and hopefully easing some of the pressure on the skilled trades, a near constant source of strain in the construction labor market the last several years.

But at the ground level, it works like this:

First, the building's "spines" — the building's primary backbone — are constructed.

Using a process akin to a carefully choreographed ballet, various prefabricated materials are brought on site precisely when they are needed from different locations, including a warehouse at Michigan Avenue and 23rd Street in southwest Detroit — starting with steel and concrete.

Then the floor's facade and mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems — MEP, in construction industry parlance — are put into place. Other prefabricated and necessary materials are brought onto the floorplate before it is elevated and locked into its final position.

And even while that floor is being raised, the next one can be assembled below. (Work can continue around the site and adjacent to the floorplate while it is being lifted, Benvenuto said. There are eight jacks, each with a capacity of about 200 tons.)

As much of the building is assembled at ground level as possible, providing for better worker safety and faster construction, which can shave significant costs off a project's budget as well as schedule.

"All of that is at the most efficient height we can put it at for them," he said during a recent tour, largely done with the 1 million pounds of steel and concrete overhead, supported by the LiftBuild system.

The process is intended to streamline construction and make it more efficient, akin to an automotive assembly plant.

"How do we turn the construction site into really a manufacturing facility? That's our ultimate goal," Benvenuto said. "It's making (workers) more productive, which of course helps us and our owners, and that's really what this is about."

Logistics is key to making sure as much of each floor is finished when it is lifted, as there are no tower cranes like would typically be seen at a construction site like The Exchange. The building will have153 apartments and 12 condos when it's completed next year on Gratiot Avenue.

Ultimately, the technology could also help with labor shortage issues that have plagued the industry for years, Benvenuto says. If skilled trades workers are more efficient at sites where the LiftBuild technology is used, that means they can move on to other construction jobs quicker, alleviating some of the pressure on the labor market.

But now that what Benvenuto calls the "validation" of the technology is complete, that will help LiftBuild sell the concept to other developers who may be interested in utilizing it.

"We do have some owners that say, 'Hey, we love the concept. We love what you guys are all about. But once you have built a building or two, then let us know,'" Benvenuto said.

The Exchange is expected to take its first residents in late spring next year. Deep foundation work began in March 2021 and the spines were completed earlier this spring.

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