Six Decades of Construction Excellence

Founded in Dallas, Texas in 1946 by John McFadden and Ed Miller as a general contracting firm McFadden & Miller, Ltd. began life shortly after WW 2, making it the oldest and most experienced GC in the region. In 1949, a rising star in the post-war Dallas real estate market teamed with Mr. McFadden and Mr. Miller to build his very first speculative warehouse. That project, with a young Trammell Crow, began a partnership that endured for decades, to the benefit of all. It also helped change to face of commercial construction in North Texas. Today, that heritage continues w/ the emergence of Crow Holdings headed by Trammell’s son Harlan and two sons of the man who would carry McFadden & Miller into the future.

In 1956, civil engineer Martin “Jake” Jacobson joined the company as General Manager. When the company incorporated in 1964, Mr. Jacobson became a partner in McFadden & Miller, and assumed the company’s Presidency in 1977. Jake’s engineering capabilities allowed the company to become one of the earliest design/ build firms by producing its own structural and civil plans in concert with local architects, making them a one-stop-shop for their clients. Today McFadden & Miller retains its position as a premier design/ builder in the DFW area.

Construction methods changed rapidly during the sixties and seventies, and the company embraced these changes, pioneering the concrete tiltwall type of construction so widely used today. The structural designs McFadden & Miller implemented were so unique to the industry that years later the McFadden & Miller “brand” is recognized and favored as an asset to any real estate portfolio.

Beginning in 1977, Jake’s sons Mark and Jon Jacobson began a phased purchase of the company, with total ownership acquired in 1986. Together, they brought the company into the computer age and expanded the client base to include the major development players in Dallas while continuing to build for a large roster of repeat customer/ users such as Home Interiors & Gifts, Clampitt Paper, and EcoLabs. Today Mark Jacobson serves as President of McFadden & Miller, with Jon Jacobson performing as Vice-President.

In an age in which most “general” contractors broker every phase of construction to the lowest bidder, McFadden & Miller actually self-performs such functions as engineering, mass grading, and concrete work, making it one of, if not the only, true general contractor left in the DFW area. This ability as well as their unique method of de-centralized project management, relying on the expertise of field managers to run projects, allows for economies, control and quality unmatched by other GC’s.

As a general contractor, the company also views its subcontractors and suppliers as valued partners, who will assert that payments are the quickest in the industry, a practice that has led to many long-term vendor relationships with commensurate pricing and performance accruing to the benefit of McFadden & Miller and its clients.

McFadden & Miller began with a philosophy of treating its clients with fairness, honesty, and consideration, and always delivering the best possible product at a reasonable price. Sixty million square feet of industrial, office, and retail product later we still embrace those ethics. We’re right-sized for jobs as small as a parking lot up to a turnkey million square foot office/ warehouse.

And you can still pick up the phone and talk to the boss, whether you’re a client, a sub, or an employee.