CAFCO CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

When Row 34 opened at the Hotel Commonwealth in Boston, Cafco Construction Management was the builder, working with Defy Architecture. That is the kind of job the firm has been doing since 1988: it describes itself as a Boston construction management and general contracting company working on restaurants, fine homes, hospitality and retail, and puts its time in business at 38 years. Its name turns up where the trade press credits the builder. Boston Magazine listed Cafco as the builder on two home features in December 2024, one with Ruhl | Jahnes as architect, the other with Flavin Architects. Back in May 2017 the same magazine photographed a Cafco carpenter installing Blackbird Doughnuts' new chalkboard menu in Fenway, and a 2023 PCA Design project page names the firm as a project partner. On paper it is well established. Its Massachusetts home improvement contractor registration is active on the state registry under the company's own name, the BBB grades the Boston business A+ though it is not BBB-accredited, and BuildZoom records 65 permitted projects with a score in the 93rd percentile. Its Houzz page lists general contracting, home remodeling, additions, basement remodeling and accessory dwelling units. Before you sign, ask Cafco for two recent home projects close to the size of yours and call those owners, and ask who supervises your site day to day. The work in public view runs from a doughnut shop's menu board to whole-home renovations, and its own description leads with restaurant and hospitality construction, so pin down which part of the company would be building your project. For a Boston restaurant fit-out, a hospitality or retail build, or a substantial home renovation where decades of permitted work and an active registration matter, Cafco is a serious call. Settle scope, schedule and the name of your site supervisor before the contract is signed.