Expanding SETRAC: north, south and Midtown

SETRAC, the SouthEast Texas Regional Advisory Council, coordinates emergency and trauma healthcare readiness across the Houston region. Their headquarters at 5115 Rosslyn Road had outgrown its space, and they needed more offices, a better layout, updated finishes, and infrastructure for a modern IT and operations center. The catch: none of it could shut the building down. This is a working headquarters for mission-critical work, so closing for a few months was never on the table. The job had to happen around the team, with staff at their desks and systems running the whole way through.

SOS came on as the general contractor and single point of contact, managing every trade on site so SETRAC only ever deals with one team. The whole build is phased around the people using the building. Phase one is the north and south offices: two new two-story mezzanine office structures built inside the existing envelope, with engineered beams and headers, fire-rated load-bearing walls, a new interior staircase, and a dedicated IT room with its own cooling for around-the-clock equipment. Once those offices are finished, the team moves in on a planned move week and clears out the conference building, so the messiest work lands in an empty space instead of next to occupied desks.

One detail shows the mindset. The staircase tying the existing building to the new structure had a low landing and a drop step at the top, a real trip hazard left by the original work. SOS rebuilt it flush and level, so the old and new spaces flow together with a clean, safe transition instead of a stumble.

Phase two will modernize the central conference building, SETRAC Midtown, with a new ADA restroom, a new IT room, and a new entry. Inside and out, the finished campus will read as one: new finishes, trim, flooring and ceilings matched to the existing building so the additions blend right in, and a single sharp exterior color scheme, deep navy with crisp white trim, across every building. This is a four-month build and we are one month in, posting it here as it comes together. It is exactly what SOS does best: residential-grade craftsmanship brought to a commercial project, every moving part managed by one trusted team, and a headquarters that keeps running the entire time.

The existing space, and the plan

A working headquarters that had outgrown its space, and a phased plan to expand it without ever shutting the doors.

Opening it up and laying it out

Building the stairs and mezzanine

Two stories, framed and sheathed

Rough-in and first finishes

The finished campus

The interior finishes, the campus exterior color, and the Phase two conference building (SETRAC Midtown) are still ahead. Final photos land here as each part is done.

Scope of work

• Single general contractor and point of contact for every trade
• Two new two-story mezzanine office builds, north and south
• New interior staircase with a flush, level top landing
• New IT room with dedicated cooling for around-the-clock equipment
• New ADA restroom and entry in the conference building
• Full remodel of the central conference building (SETRAC Midtown)
• Engineered framing, fire-rated walls, engineered subfloor
• Campus-wide exterior refresh: deep navy with white trim
• Phased around an occupied, working headquarters

Service: Exterior Painting

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