Cullen Construction Management

Cullen Construction Management is a Chicago firm providing owner’s representation and construction management, working for the client rather than holding trade contracts. That distinction defines the practice: the firm manages budget, schedule, procurement and contractor performance on behalf of owners and developers who want independent oversight of a general contractor’s work. It handles projects across commercial, residential, hospitality and mixed-use development. Cullen is construction manager on The 1901 Project, the $7 billion redevelopment of the 55 acres of surface parking surrounding Chicago’s United Center. The privately funded district broke ground in June 2026 with a first phase exceeding $500 million covering a 6,000-seat music hall, a 180-key hotel, retail, two parking garages and rebuilt streets.

The firm is led by Shaylyn Cullen as president with Chris Hume as executive vice president, and is certified WBE, DBE and BEP. Thirty-one people work from 566 West Adams in Chicago plus offices in Austin and Denver, with active projects across twenty-four states. The running totals are more than 300 projects, over $2 billion in budgets managed and more than five million square feet built, and the firm has appeared on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies.

The service list goes further than owner’s representation alone: preconstruction and due diligence, cost estimating, construction monitoring, contract compliance and management, program management, and equity monitoring. That last one is specific to projects carrying minority and women business enterprise participation requirements, and it is a discipline most general contractors would rather hand to somebody else.

Named work includes Trinity High School in River Forest, West Lake Quarter in Minneapolis, the 1000M apartment tower in Chicago, and HUB Tucson Park Avenue student housing.

The firm calls its method a boots-on-the-ground approach, meaning senior staff on site making calls in real time rather than reporting from a distance. The number that tests the claim is repeat business, and the firm puts that at roughly ninety percent of its work.

Stated values run: celebrate the individual, we are partners, we are entrepreneurial, we love what we do, we take pride in delivery.