Born in the Bay Area, he majored in English at the University of Arizona, but realized more fulfillment from working outdoors and seeing the tangible results of his labor. Time was when Tompkins’ career seemed destined down a different path, perhaps as a writer or professor. “When recruiting, I always look for the raw skills which I think are most important-a good work ethic, honesty and those that take ownership of what they’re doing.” A great communicator “No one can do this job alone and everyone on the team has helped contribute to our success,” he says. In addition, he is part of the company’s executive leadership team and helps to oversee many of their key initiatives throughout the organization. On the building systems side he has a chief engineer at Trinity Place who helps to ensure that all of the complex systems that are now in place are working correctly. He has multiple facility managers, oversees the warehouse and logistics/procurement, a team of carpenters and all the company’s security systems. Security a major concern in any urban environment, he has over 1,300 camera views accessible in a central Security Operations Center.Ī one-man facilities team in 2012, Tompkins now runs a department of 12. That’s a lot of maintenance that he must oversee as well as procurement, budget planning and capital management. And not just at Trinity Place, his employer having around 3,500 units in 30 buildings, all within San Francisco’s 49 square miles. With those matters met and the company focusing on leasing, Tompkins can concentrate on his many other responsibilities of facility management. “These are mostly on the mechanical side and increase the complexity of each project from construction to maintenance and operation.” “Every new building has a newer and more modern code compliant system that didn’t exist before,” he explains. The first two phases had to meet no such criteria. The city, now a stickler for ventilation, required that each bedroom in the new building be assured fresh air whereas the third phase only required an exhaust fan. San Francisco’s building codes always changing, the fourth building was subject to rules that weren’t in place for the previous three. Tompkins helped coordinate a solution to assemble a central trash plant in a landing area that should be capable of compacting refuse from the four buildings for the next century. “This many units on one large parcel in a high-density area-it makes it all the more complicated.” Trash talkingĪll those apartments generate a lot of trash each day and the city expects a developer to spare it headaches. “It took a lot of creative thinking and some changes in the construction process,” he says. Three subterranean floors also will be home to the area’s largest grocery store, a 55,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market-the grocer’s flagship location in San Francisco and one of the most complex designs it has in the United States.Īll buildings have been integrated into a cohesive master plan that Tompkins deems one of the most challenging aspects of making Trinity Place compatible to a greater community and satisfying a slew of local rules and regulations to boot. Dwellers have access to a parking facility six stories underground that, after extensive waterproofing, further solidifies the foundation.Īmong other features, there are four fitness centers, 30 elevators, a 92-foot-tall statue and a nearly 2-acre open space courtyard. The four buildings range from 19 to 24 stories and bring nearly 2,000 apartments, as well as commercial space to what’s known as San Francisco’s Mid-Market neighborhood.

“The culmination of 44 years of planning and development, and I’m proud to have been a part of successfully shepherding and on-boarding much of this project.”Įach is unique. “A huge milestone for us,” he tells Blueprint a few days afterward. Given that the other three buildings were quickly occupied, Tompkins has reason to believe this one will be as well. The fourth not yet even in the blueprint stage at the time of his arrival, it was completed this past summer with the first residents moving in on July 16. The second and third buildings opened in 20 respectively. Dave Tompkins | Director of Facilities | Trinityĭirector of Facilities at San Francisco-headquartered Trinity for the past 10 years, Tompkins stepped into the role with the first high-rise complete and excavation having begun on the second of four phases.

Blueprint magazine