5M Livestock: A 140×320 Covered Arena in Oxford, FL

Delivered Through Pandemic-Era Steel Price Escalation We Absorbed

Building Overview

Rapid pandemic-era steel price escalation hit this project mid-build. We absorbed the increase rather than pass it back to the client.

That decision is what defines this case study.

The 5M Livestock roping arena is a 140×320 pre-engineered metal covered riding arena in Oxford, Florida, built for longtime horseman and rancher Steve Munz. The facility had to do two jobs at once: host competitive team roping at a level that could support events and hold up to the daily rhythm of a working ranch.

The dimensions, clear span, and eave height were engineered around team roping specifically — horse acceleration lanes, rope throw clearance, and the footing integration that competitive roping demands — while the layout also accommodates horse stalls, livestock pens, storage, training zones, and spectator viewing for event days.

The Challenges

Rapid Pandemic-Era Steel Price Escalation

Pandemic-era steel markets moved faster than any pricing cycle we had navigated before. A quote that held at the start of a project could be 20 or 30 percent off by the time fabrication came up. On a custom build like 5M, where specialized framing and site-specific dimensions drive a significant portion of the material cost, that kind of movement has the power to derail a project entirely.

The standard response in the industry was to pass the increase back to the client as a change order. We did not take the standard response.

Dual-Purpose Programming That Could Not Compromise Either Use

The arena had to support competitive team roping at a level that could bring events and the daily working routine of a ranch. Those two uses do not always stack cleanly. Competitive roping requires specific clear span dimensions, eave heights that allow full rope throws, and footing integration tuned for horse acceleration. Ranch operations require stall layouts, livestock pen placement, storage, and training zones that support the property on ordinary working days.

Get either one wrong and the facility serves one master at the expense of the other.

Multi-Team Coordination Across a Specialized Build

The project involved Steve directly, Coastal, the general contractor, structural engineers, the fabrication team, and the erection crew. A custom facility of this scale only holds together when everyone is working from the same information and the handoffs between phases are tight.

On a standard build, coordination gaps create delays. On a specialized build, they create rework — and rework on a roping arena means pulling back structural elements that are expensive to pull back.

Seasonal Deadlines That Could Not Move

Event season was the deadline, not a soft target. A roping arena that is not ready before the season starts costs revenue that cannot be recovered until the following year. Procurement, fabrication, erection, and interior buildout all had to hit their dates.

The Solutions

On pricing, we made the call that matters most on a case study like this one. When pandemic-era steel escalation hit, we absorbed the increase rather than pass it back to Steve as a change order. The financial decision was not trivial. Neither was the decision on Speed Williams, where we covered a third-party foundation error. Both decisions came from the same place — if the default response costs the client money, the right response is often the one that costs us money instead.

That is what separates a transactional materials supplier from a partner, and it is what made Steve a client who keeps coming back.

On the dual-use programming, we engineered the arena specifically for competitive team roping first — the clear span, the eave height, the footing integration — and worked the ranch operations layout around those non-negotiable specs. Stall placement, livestock pen configuration, training zones, and storage all got laid into the floor plan after the roping requirements were locked. That sequence matters. Reversing it produces a ranch building that roping cannot be done competitively in.

On coordination, we ran communication tight across every party. Steve had direct access to our team at every stage. Procurement was sequenced against the GC’s schedule so materials landed when the site was ready for them. Structural decisions cleared through engineering before they reached fabrication.

On scheduling, we pulled procurement forward. Materials were secured and sequenced ahead of the GC’s on-site phases, which gave the construction team ahead-of-plan runway for interior buildout and arena surfacing. That buffer is what let the facility go into event season with the fit-and-finish dialed in instead of the last coat of paint still drying.

The Result

The 5M Livestock roping arena was delivered on time and within budget, despite the pandemic-era pricing environment it was built inside. The facility hosts competitive team roping events and supports the daily working ranch operations Steve has run for decades. The dual use works because the design made room for both on day one, not after the fact.

Steve has brought us additional projects and put our name in front of other operators in the equestrian and ranching community in the years since. That is the version of success that matters on a case study like this one. A facility delivered through a market that was working against everyone is one measure of a steel building partner.

A client who trusts us enough to keep calling is the one that matters more.