License: CGC1528872
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Turnkey General Contractor — From Ground Break to Certificate of Occupancy

Building trust through communication.
Delivering excellence from the ground up.

Most construction projects in Southwest Florida involve a stack of separate contractors — a site work company, a foundation company, a framing company, a drywall company. Each has its own contract. Each has its own schedule. And when one of them is late — which happens — every contractor behind it absorbs the delay, charges change orders for standing time, and points at the contractor ahead of them as the reason.
Universal Trax was built to eliminate that dynamic. Brian Cox started the company doing site prep work and spent 20-plus years building the horizontal side into a full-service site work operation covering land clearing, grading, excavation, drainage, and foundation prep.

Building trust through communication
He then merged his vertical construction operation — led by Brady Herndon, who runs Turnkey Contractor , HOA & Property Management , Site Development ,Land Clearing ,Grading,Excavation,Framing, Drywall, and stucco — into Universal Trax under one Florida CGC license (CGC1528772). The result is a ground-to-finish contractor that self-performs both sides of a construction project from the same company, under the same license, with one point of contact.

The proof is the Habitat for Humanity work. Over 20-plus years and two county organizations — Lee/Hendry and Collier — Universal Trax has handled the full scope on residential builds: land clearing, foundation pad prep, footings, stem wall, backfill, pad pour, truss hanging, drywall, stucco, septic, driveway, culvert, final grade, and sod. Every phase under one CGC license. That’s not a capability claim — it’s a 20-year track record.

“We want to be a one-stop shop. Ultimately we want to start at groundbreaking and hand over the keys to your door. We like to start with somebody, build a rapport with that person, and be their contractor. We’re looking for the return customer.”
— Brian Cox, Owner — Universal Trax of South Florida

One Contractor. One License. Start to Finish.

Here is what that looks like in practice. Universal Trax shows up on Day 1 to clear the site. The same company grades it. The same company excavates and installs drainage. The same company preps the foundation pad. When the site work is done, the vertical division picks up — framing, truss installation, drywall, stucco. One schedule, internally coordinated. When site work runs into a permit delay, Brady knows about it the same day from the same company — not through a general contractor playing telephone between two separate subs.
For developers and owners, this changes the math on a project in a few specific ways:
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One contract covers both divisions — not separate site work and framing contracts with separate negotiation
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One certificate of insurance — not multiple COIs from multiple subs to track and manage
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One lien waiver at closeout — not separate lien releases from every sub on the project
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One point of contact for schedule questions, change orders, and field decisions
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Internal coordination between site work and vertical divisions means no charge-backs between subs when the schedule shifts
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One CGC license — CGC1528772 — covers the full legal and liability scope of the project
ground to finish construction southwest florida completed residential building universal trax

Our Full Scope — From Dirt to Done

This is what Universal Trax can deliver under one contract. The scope table below shows both divisions. Not every project uses all of it — some clients need site work only, some need vertical only, some need the full sequence. All of it is available from one company.

If a scope item is not on this list — MEP trades, civil engineering, permitting — Universal Trax does not self-perform it, but we coordinate with the right licensed trades as part of the project management scope. We don’t pretend to do everything. We are direct about what we do and what we bring in.

HORIZONTAL — SITE WORK DIVISION
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Land clearing & vegetation removal
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Rough grading & cut/fill earthwork

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Stormwater drainage & culvert installation
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Underground utility trenching
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Foundation pad prep with suitable fill
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Excavation — bulk earthmoving & pond
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Finish grading to engineered elevations
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Erosion control installation
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Driveway cuts, drive aprons & parking pads
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Sod installation & final site restoration
VERTICAL — CONSTRUCTION DIVISION
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Structural framing — wood and metal stud
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Truss installation
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Drywall hang and finish
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Stucco grade and finish
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Commercial tenant improvement work
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Post-remediation reconstruction
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Insurance rebuild framing and drywall
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Interior trim and finish coordination
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Septic system coordination
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Final punch and closeout
Developers and Owners — One Contractor, Start to Finish

Who We Work With

The ground-to-finish offer resonates differently depending on who’s reading it. Here is how it works for each of the three audiences that land on this page.

Developers and Owners — One Contractor, Start to Finish
If you own land and want to build on it — a commercial building, a residential development, a mixed-use project — Universal Trax can take the project from bare ground to a building ready for MEP rough-in and finish work. You deal with one contractor, one contract, and one schedule. When Brian Cox says a phase will be done by a certain date, it gets done by that date. That’s not a company value statement — it’s 20 years of repeat clients who kept calling back because it was true.

Brian Cox built his business on a simple operating principle: his word and his handshake mean something. When a client has a need, they get action. Not a callback next week. Not a change order before the work even starts. They get a crew on site.

General Contractors and Project Managers — A Site Work Sub Who Doesn’t Need Managing
Not every project wants a turnkey arrangement. Some GCs and project managers have their own framing and finish crews and just need a reliable site work sub who shows up, does the scope, and doesn’t create problems for the trades coming behind them. Universal Trax works in that model too.

What GCs tell us keeps them coming back: we communicate. Brady Herndon provides a projected schedule with every proposal. The field crews call when something in the ground doesn’t match what’s on the plans — because it sometimes doesn’t, and the GC who finds out about it from the owner instead of the sub is in the worst possible position. We don’t operate that way.

Property Managers and HOAs — A Single Licensed GC for Community Site Work

HOA boards and property management companies have a specific version of the same problem. The erosion control company isn’t licensed for the drainage work. The landscaping company isn’t licensed for the culvert repair. Every capital improvement project triggers a new vendor approval process for a contractor who may or may not have the credentials the management company requires.

Universal Trax is a single licensed GC that can handle the full range of site work that HOA communities need — lake bank restoration, erosion control, stormwater drainage repair, post-storm cleanup, and capital improvement projects. One vendor approval, one COI, one lien waiver process. We’ve completed a $1.8 million FEMA-funded lake bank restoration project at Babcock Ranch. That’s the credential HOA boards and property managers are looking for.

Why One Contractor Wins Every Time

The construction industry runs on the assumption that specialization is better — a framing company that only frames, a site work company that only does site work. And for large commercial projects with a dedicated GC managing the full schedule, that can work. For the mid-scale commercial and residential development that makes up most of the Southwest Florida market, the coordination cost of managing multiple single-trade subs usually isn’t justified by any quality benefit.

Same-Day Response

No Coordination Gap Between Site Work and Vertical

The most expensive moment on a construction project is when the site work crew finishes and the framing crew shows up to a site that isn’t ready. Maybe the final grade wasn’t quite right. Maybe the foundation pad needs one more pass. Maybe there’s drainage work that wasn’t completed. The site work sub says it’s done. The framing sub says it isn’t. The owner is paying both of them to stand around while the dispute gets sorted out.

When Universal Trax runs both divisions, that conversation doesn’t happen. The vertical division lead knows what condition the site is in before they mobilize because they’re in the same company as the horizontal division. If it needs another pass, it gets another pass — no change order, no dispute, no delay billed to the owner.

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Schedule Accountability Without the Finger-Pointing

Brady Herndon, who runs the vertical division, puts a projected schedule in every proposal. His crews are active on multiple projects — residential builds, commercial tenant improvements, institutional work at FGCU — and he manages the schedule across all of them. Brian Cox is involved at the ownership level and knows what’s happening across every active job on both sides. When a client calls to ask where something stands, they get an answer from someone who actually knows.
Real Proposal

Documentation That Holds Up

Universal Trax is a registered vendor with Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry, and Pasco counties. We’ve completed government-contracted work for the City of Fort Myers, the City of Bonita Springs, FWC, and FDACS. Our insurance documentation, lien waiver process, and license verification are all in order — not something that needs to be chased down before a project can start. For developers and owners whose projects go through bank financing or institutional review, that matters.

The Habitat for Humanity Project — Complete Ground-to-Finish Proof

The full-scope ground-to-finish case study for Universal Trax is the Habitat for Humanity residential build program. Not one project — a 20-plus-year sustained relationship with two separate county organizations, Lee/Hendry and Collier, producing residential homes that people live in every day.

The complete scope Universal Trax has performed on these builds — every phase under CGC1528772:

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Septic system installation — coordination and installation per county requirements
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Driveway cut and culvert installation — access point construction from road to lot
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Final grade — finished site grade per drainage and landscaping plan
Ground-to-finish building scope we handle includes:
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Footings — concrete footing installation per structural plans
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Block and concrete stem wall — CMU block and concrete pour to finished stem wall height
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Backfill — fill placement around foundation per plans
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Pad preparation and pour — sub-slab prep and concrete slab installation
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Truss hanging — roof truss setting with temporary and permanent bracing per MII
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Drywall hang and finish — boarding, tape, float, sand, and texture throughout interior
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Stucco grade and finish — brown coat and finish coat on exterior wood-frame construction
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Drive apron and parking pad — concrete apron and finished parking area
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Sod installation — finished lawn areas to completed residential standard
Brian Cox started Universal Trax

Universal Trax has performed the complete ground-to-finish construction scope on Habitat for Humanity residential builds across Lee/Hendry and Collier counties over a 20-plus year relationship with two separate county organizations. Every phase from site clearing through sod installation was performed under Florida CGC license CGC1528772 by the same company — Brian Cox’s horizontal site work division and Brady Herndon’s vertical construction division working as one operation. These are occupied homes. The residents don’t see the site prep or the framing — they see the drywall, the stucco exterior, the finished driveway, and the lawn. That’s what ‘from the ground up to the finished wall’ looks like when the work is actually done.

🏗 Case Study: Habitat for Humanity — Lee/Hendry & Collier Counties — Full Ground-to-Finish Scope

Service Area — Turnkey Construction Southwest Florida

Florida CGC license CGC1528772 covers statewide work. Contact us to discuss project scope, location, and timing.

Universal Trax provides turnkey and ground-to-finish construction services across Southwest Florida. Both divisions are active and taking on new projects. Service areas include:

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Fort Myers and Lee County — primary market for both horizontal and vertical divisions
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Cape Coral — commercial vertical work active
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Naples and Collier County — Habitat for Humanity work confirmed in both divisions
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Bonita Springs and Estero
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Lehigh Acres
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Punta Gorda and Charlotte County — Babcock Ranch work completed
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Hendry County and La Belle — original site work territory
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Pasco County and broader South Florida on larger commercial scopes

Frequently Asked Questions — Turnkey Construction Southwest Florida

What does turnkey construction mean?
Turnkey construction means a single contractor handles the full project from groundbreaking to a completed, ready-to-occupy building — the owner receives the keys to a finished product. For Universal Trax, that means one company handling site clearing, grading, excavation, drainage, foundation prep, framing, drywall, and stucco under one Florida CGC license. You don’t manage the site work sub and the framing sub separately — you manage one company.
What is the difference between a turnkey contractor and a general contractor?
A traditional GC manages subcontractors who perform the actual work — they coordinate between the owner and the subs but may not self-perform much of the scope. Universal Trax self-performs both site work and vertical construction directly under one license rather than managing a stack of subs. Fewer coordination gaps, one contract covering a wider scope, and a single point of accountability from first clearing pass to finished wall.
Can Universal Trax handle a full commercial development from site work to finished building?
Yes. The horizontal division handles land clearing, grading, excavation, drainage, and foundation prep. Brady Herndon’s vertical division handles framing, drywall, and stucco. Both operate under CGC1528772. For commercial developers who want one contractor from groundbreaking to occupancy in Southwest Florida, that’s what Universal Trax provides.
Why is a single contractor better than managing multiple subs?
When site work runs long — permits, weather, material delays — the framing sub’s schedule gets compressed. The site work sub says it’s done. The framing sub says it isn’t. The owner absorbs the cost of that dispute. When one company runs both divisions, schedule shifts are handled internally — no finger-pointing between separate contractors because it’s the same company. One contract, one phone number, one accountable party from first clearing pass to finished wall.
Does Universal Trax work with developers who only need site work?
Yes. The horizontal site work division takes on site work-only contracts — land clearing, grading, excavation, drainage, and foundation prep — independently of the vertical division. Developers and GCs with their own framing and finish crews can work with Universal Trax for the ground work only. The full turnkey capability is available when the project calls for it. It’s not required.
What is the largest project Universal Trax has completed as a turnkey contractor?
The most complete ground-to-finish scope is the Habitat for Humanity residential build program — site clearing through sod installation, every phase under CGC1528772, across 20-plus years and two county organizations in Lee/Hendry and Collier counties. That’s the track record. Not a single project — a sustained two-decade working relationship built on delivering exactly what was promised, every time.

Get a Turnkey Project Estimate

If you’ve got a project that needs site work, vertical construction, or the full scope from groundbreaking to finished building — tell us about it. We work with developers, GCs, property managers, and owners directly. Send us the project scope and location and we’ll get back to you with a real answer fast.

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