When Merritt Properties needed to turn a vacant office suite into a purpose-built indoor cricket training facility, they called Unity Power Services to design and build the electrical systems from the ground up. Working shoulder to shoulder with the general contractor and engineer, our team delivered a permit-ready design, sport-grade lighting, and a full power and controls package for the roughly 10,000-square-foot space in Sterling, Virginia. The project passed final inspection on time and on budget, from the first site walk on March 25 to final sign-off on May 27, 2025.
Client Introduction
Merritt Properties is one of the Mid-Atlantic’s most respected commercial developers. Founded in 1967, Merritt Properties is a prominent commercial real estate developer and manager with a significant footprint across Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida. As a fully integrated developer, Merritt offers an expansive roster of in-house capabilities backed by more than 50 years of leasing, property management, land entitlement, site development, and interior design and construction expertise.
Merritt is exactly the kind of partner our team loves to serve. They understand the planning side deeply, and their superintendents keep the field moving with a clear schedule and steady momentum. That partnership lets our crews arrive ready, work efficiently, and keep the project on pace toward the tenant’s move-in date.
The Challenge
Merritt had leased a single-story office suite that needed a complete transformation. The incoming tenant, SS Cricket Academy, wanted to gut the existing offices and build an indoor cricket training facility with batting-cage practice nets, a small office, a kitchenette, and a bathroom area.
That vision carried real electrical stakes:
- Sport-grade lighting the players can trust. Cricket is fast, and athletes need to track a quick-moving ball cleanly. The space required uniform, high-visibility lighting well beyond ordinary office levels. Recreational and net practice generally calls for 300 to 500 lux, and cricket uniformity ratios are typically tighter than any other major sport.
- Legacy high-voltage power to re-purpose. The suite carried a high-voltage feed from the prior tenant that had to be safely re-worked for a completely different use.
- Energy code compliance. Lighting, controls, and distribution all had to meet current energy code, with permits and inspections through Loudoun County.
- The change-order trap. In design-build tenant work, assumptions made without field experience surface later as costly change orders. For a developer moving toward a tenant move-in date, that risk threatens both the budget and the schedule.
The stakes were never only technical. A stalled build-out delays occupancy, and delayed occupancy delays the day the tenant can open their doors.
The Solution
Unity Power Services brought a consultative design-build approach that puts an experienced electrician at the center of the design, not just at the end of it. This is where our team adds value that a traditional handoff cannot.
We led with a real site survey. On March 25, our team walked the building with the general contractor and the engineer, planning everything together. We set lighting to sit at the same height as the bottom of the air diffusers, and we located bathroom switches one stud away from the door frames so the GC could frame and drywall cleanly for inspection. We climbed to the rooftop to identify the RTUs to tie into, then traced the feeder wire in the electrical room until we confirmed the correct breaker. Small details, revealed early, prevent big problems later.
We directed the engineering, rather than the other way around. Traditionally an architect hires an electrical engineer who draws the systems without an electrician in the room. Our approach flips that. We provided a budget price from the floor plans, then a proposal to design and install the full system. Then we directed the engineers to lay out circuitry and controls and stamp a permit-ready set of plans, grounded in how the work would actually be installed in the field. The result is a design that meets the intended purpose, exceeds code, and is right the first time.
We re-architected the power. Our team built out a new transformer and low-voltage panel from the existing high-voltage feed, then engineered clean distribution to every lighting control while meeting energy code. We ran the four-inch conduit from the junction box to the high-voltage panel, set and torqued the transformer, and tied in the lighting panel.
We designed the sport lighting and controls. Fixtures were hung on strut and threaded rod, routed around ducts, and set with the bottom of the lights twelve feet from the floor for even coverage across the training space. We wired the emergency lighting, exit signs, and egress lighting so the facility stays safe and code-compliant for every player and coach who walks in.
We honored Merritt’s specific controls standard. Merritt uses one shared exhaust fan for multiple bathrooms. Our team programmed the controls so that switching on any bathroom light activates the shared exhaust fan, without turning on the lights in the other bathrooms. It is a small, thoughtful detail that keeps the building consistent with how Merritt runs its spaces.
Two Master Electricians anchored the crew in the field, giving the project the problem-solving depth to adapt the moment anything came up.
Results at a Glance
- ~10,000 SF vacant office suite fully converted into a functioning indoor cricket training facility
- On time and on budget, from first site walk (March 25) to passed final inspection (May 27, 2025), roughly nine weeks of field work
- Passed Loudoun County inspections, including a mid-project ceiling close-in inspection and a passed final inspection
- Zero client-driven change orders, thanks to front-loaded, field-verified design (please confirm with Brian)
- Sport-grade, energy-code-compliant lighting and power delivered, with full emergency and egress lighting
Detailed Results
SS Cricket Academy opened as a fully operational indoor cricket training space, giving the tenant a year-round, weather-independent home for training, camps, and events on retractable practice nets.
The work held up under inspection at every stage. Our team reached a clean ceiling close-in, capped and verified all exit signs and emergency ballasts, and confirmed the lights tested good before drywall went up. In the final push, we installed outlets throughout the space, programmed the low-voltage lighting controls with the controls manufacturer, and methodically troubleshot a few field puzzles. We corrected two circuits that had been reversed, traced a bathroom fan switch that had simply been left off, and resolved a phase-voltage reading at an HVAC unit before the inspector arrived. On May 27, the facility passed final inspection.
That kind of steady, safety-first execution is the heart of how we serve. Safety is not something we keep quiet about. It is the standard we hold ourselves to on every rooftop, every panel, and every circuit, so the people who use the building are protected long after we pack up our tools.
The predictability also ties directly to Merritt’s leasing engine. Our team works alongside Merritt’s project managers on the back end of leasing, so once a space is leased, the electrical fit-out stays on top of the move-in target. That helps the tenant get in and get running, and it helps Merritt do what they do best, creating homes for businesses.
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Purcellville, VA 20132
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Amazing Feedback About Our Services
William Hurst
"Unity Power did an outstanding job in replacing two of our outdated electric panels in our home. I would recommend them without reservation for completing any electrical work. In my view, they are the best electrical contractor I haver seen. I trust them totally."
Time Leads Me
"Brian and his teams are the best I've ever worked with!! Unity Power takes great care of our neighborhood and I couldn't be more pleased with their service."
Mike Parker
“Outstanding service and very professional. I don't often need electrical work, but the next time I do, I'm calling Brian and the team at Unity Power!”
Stephen Raddie
“Very friendly and professional. They were very quickly able to send someone out, the next day, and were knowledgeable when they arrived”
Louis & Linda
“Great experience all around. From fitting us in the schedule to completion of the work, the Unity team was consistently courteous and professional. Highly recommend.”
Strategic Insights
This project shows a simple truth for general contractors and developers. The earlier a knowledgeable electrician joins the design conversation, the fewer surprises reach the schedule and the budget. When engineering is directed by people who install the work in the field, assumptions get caught on day one instead of turning into change orders in week six.
For developers like Merritt, whose business depends on turning leased space into thriving businesses quickly, that difference is measured in occupancy dates and peace of mind. Nearly every tenant turnover requires at least a lighting upgrade, so a design-build electrical partner who can move from floor plan to permit to energized space, safely and on schedule, becomes a genuine asset.
The same approach fits almost any specialized fit-out, from medical suites to data rooms to sports facilities. Whatever the space, our team is here to serve, and we are ready to help owners and facility teams get it right the first time.
Ways we can help:
- Design-build electrical, from floor plan to permit-ready stamped plans
- Consultative site surveys that catch field conflicts before they cost money
- Sport and specialty lighting design with energy-code-compliant controls
- Safety-driven installation backed by Master Electricians and full inspections