An Interview with Andrew Eshelman: Eshelman Construction on 2024 Successes and 2025 Opportunities

Interviewer: Emma Tarp

To kick off the new year, we sat down with Andrew Eshelman, founder and president of Eshelman Construction. 2024 was a year of adaptability and renewed focus for Eshelman. In this interview, we reflect on milestones accomplished and lessons learned from the past year and touch on exciting opportunities ahead for 2025. No matter what the new year has in store, Eshelman is more committed than ever to fostering strong client and working relationships and delivering exceptional quality as they help build Nashville's commercial construction landscape. 

Emma Tarp (ET)

What kind of growth do you feel Eshelman Construction has experienced over the past six months? What are some big wins, highlights, and notable moments for you and your company?

Andrew Eshelman (AE)

We finished a really cool project downtown called Fogg Street Lawn Club. That's been a two-year project in the making— not that we were working on site for two years, but just in terms of working with the owner, getting all the plans done, bringing in architects and engineers . . . it was truly a complete life cycle of a project.

It's got this big rooftop deck with turf for lawn bowling and overlooks downtown Nashville. There's a really, really good view of the city from there. Plus, multiple bars and a full-service kitchen— one of our larger projects to date. It was really cool to complete a project like that from beginning to end.

ET

How was 2024 in general?

AE

2024, as a whole, was challenging. Nashville is a really strong market, so we're very fortunate in that regard. It was more of a maintenance year for us.

There were opportunities that we thought were coming or certain projects that we thought were a done deal that ended up getting postponed or canceled. But, rolling into 2025 and the last month or two of ‘24 really started heating up. We've signed a couple more projects starting Q1 of ‘25 that will be good size. 

ET

If you were to describe your ideal project, what would that include? This could be the scope of a project as well as any specific kinds of industries or spaces you’d like to either add to your portfolio or further niche down into.

AE

We've done a lot of hospitality lately, including bars and restaurants, and while we love that work, we don't want to be solely known for doing that. That part of the market is strong here, but that's not all we do. We don't want to get pigeonholed in that.

We are also targeting more ground-up, new construction. We care a lot about establishing relationships with local developers and small business owners we can work with again and again. It’s great to do repeat work because we have our team together and know how each other operates. It leads to efficient projects, great work, and lasting relationships.

And, for size, we're getting away from the smaller stuff. There needs to be enough meat on the bone to devote resources to it. There are only so many projects that you can work on. There's a finite amount of resources and time, so we’re trying to prioritize more.

ET

What makes the process of working with you special for your clients? Is there anything you've heard past clients say about your work that sets you apart? 

AE

There's plenty of projects in Nashville that are 10, 20, 30 million— you know, really, really big. And we're not really like playing in that sandbox. That's part of our competitive advantage. We're not those really big guys chasing the really large work. We're a little more lean. We have good relationships with our vendors, subcontractors, and different trades that we work with, and we do great work, but we can still be fairly competitive on pricing.

We're excellent communicators. We set expectations. We try to create the best experience that we possibly can in an imperfect and unpredictable environment. Mistakes are bound to happen when scopes are complicated, and several people are involved. When they do, we're going to address things proactively and over-communicate with the client. That's the relationship component. We're on the same team, it's not us versus you. We figure it out and move on.

Recently, we've been working with a lot of clients that aren't local to Nashville. That’s been interesting because they're not physically here, so they're really trusting us to get stuff done, and communication has become more important than ever. We’ve started using Procore, the gold-standard project management software for construction. It streamlines our communication and project efficiency so much, internally and externally.

It helps our clients, especially our remote clients, stay informed as we progress. We have daily logs that the on-site guys will fill out— the day, the weather, and who's on-site working. They’ll upload pictures and videos. So our clients are getting updates in their email inbox daily, and they can see, "Oh, wow. The electricians were here today, the plumbers were here today, and the drywall guys were here. They're doing this, this and this, this." They can pull up the schedule, they can pull up the budget, they can pull up all the reports and be like, "Oh, we're right on track. If I want to, I can sit here in my bed at night and pull up a video of these guys working."

It just goes back to over-communicating and setting the expectations. Our clients, both in and out of town, have really appreciated that.

ET

In addition to streamlining your processes and communication with your PM software, have there been any other internal changes that have helped you serve your clients better?

AE

Our team members, for sure. We're not a huge company, but we have a great team, and everybody knows their role. I worked in corporate, sizeable commercial construction before I started my own thing, so I know how there are certain limitations and rigidity once you hit a particular scale. You have to stay in your little box and not worry about what's going on outside of it. But that's just not how we operate. On our team, everybody is flexible.

It's all about making that adaptability part of the culture within the company and finding the team members who buy into that and appreciate that. In 2024, we had a shake-up with some staff members, and honestly, it worked out for the best. It’s about finding that cultural fit, getting people who don't mind collaborating, and staying agile.

We're going to need to bring on another team member this year. I am looking for folks in the sweet spot between having a decent amount of experience, but maybe they're a little bit younger and still eager to learn.

————

As Eshelman Construction looks ahead to 2025, the company’s mission is clear: to continue delivering high-quality projects while building strong, lasting partnerships with local developers and business owners. Whether you’re planning a hospitality venue, a ground-up development, or a unique commercial project, Eshelman Construction’s personalized approach, experienced team, and commitment to quality communication and construction could make them the perfect partner for bringing your vision to life.

Ready to get started? Contact Eshelman Construction today, and let's start building something great together.