How H+O Structural Engineering Signed $850K With a Developer From Its Lead List
About Project
A structural engineer who waits for permits shows up after the job is awarded. H+O now sees Greater Boston projects 12 to 24 months earlier, and a developer flagged in its lead portal signed $850K in new work with the firm.
About H+O Structural Engineering
H+O is a Boston structural engineer with a sharp offer: a risk-free peer review that finds hidden cost in a building’s structure. Principal Rens F. Hayes IV runs business development himself. “You’re looking at the marketer and the sales team,” he says.
That offer lands best while a building is still in design. Rens brought in Columnline to find those projects every week, so his team reaches out instead of hunting.
- Company
- H+O Structural Engineering, Boston
- Industry
- Structural engineering for multifamily, mixed-use, and life science buildings
- Size and scale
- A leading multifamily structural engineer in New England
- What Columnline runs
- A weekly early-signal lead engine for Greater Boston developers
- Tools it works with
- Planning approvals, state environmental filings, Chapter 40B permits, land records, email
Before
- Rens tracked projects himself, between marketing, a podcast, and a newsletter
- Many projects surfaced near permit
- A project name, with no clear person to call
- No record of which leads paid off
After
- An AI employee scans planning, environmental, 40B, and land records weekly
- Signals arrive 12 to 24 months out, land buys up to 36
- A dossier with the developer behind the LLC, contacts, and a first email
- The team rates each lead, and the ratings shape next week’s list
The Problem
Early Development Signals
Problem
The permit set is where the job is already won
Structural engineers draw the permit documents, so a public permit means the engineer was picked long ago. H+O needed to meet developers at the planning board, the state environmental filing, or the land purchase.
“If you line me up with all the developments I’m not designing, that’s a bigger market. No one else is chasing.”
Solution
A weekly watch on the earliest development signals
Columnline built and runs an AI employee that reads the records where projects first appear in markets like Cambridge, Somerville, Everett, Malden, and Newton. It filters for H+O’s sweet spot (4 to 8 stories, 50,000 to 200,000 square feet, repeat developers), finds the developer behind each LLC, and drafts a first email that leads with the peer review. Rens forwards the list to his team, and their ratings tune what comes next.
Development Signal Listener
Watches Greater Boston development records every week and delivers developer dossiers ready for outreach.
“I think this is a good lead, good timing... we just signed a $550,000 deal with them. And another $300,000, and I think we’re getting most of their future stuff.”
Results
$850K signed with a developer from the lead list.
- $850K in signed work ($550K and $300K) with a developer flagged in H+O’s lead portal, with most of its future work in sight.
- Two strong leads confirmed in one review.
- Projects show up 12 to 24 months earlier: at planning approval, environmental review, or land purchase.
- A 653-unit project marked to chase in that same review.
- 9 new developer dossiers in one week, each with contacts and a first email.
Outcome
The outcome
In one review, Rens went through the lead portal name by name. One developer on the list had just signed $550,000 and $300,000 in work with H+O, and he expected most of their future projects. A 653-unit project went on the chase list too.
Next steps
What’s next
Rens wants to more than double H+O’s book of work in 24 months. Next up: senior housing, his expansion focus, and letting Columnline send the outreach too.
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