HOUSTON-Stone Construction LLC, a builder of retail, office and industrial projects in the area, has acquired Harden Constructors Inc. The merger will focus on the design and construction of mid- to large-sized commercial projects and the development of office parks.

Chris Hotze, president of Stone, tells GlobeSt.com that he’s seeing proposals and projects increase in the Houston area. “One of the first things you’ve seen is that the plans for development that were put on hold in 2010 have now been brought out to the forefront,” he says.

Garry Harden, president of the self-named firm, said in a statement that his firm’s concrete tilt-wall construction and Stone’s technology will be a good match. Stone uses computerized building information models for each project, a new process gradually being accepted across the construction industry. “The BIM process will ultimately change the way buildings are put together,” Hotze says.

Clients for the firms include Exxon, Guaranty Bank, Kroger, Rice University, Siemens and the US Department of Energy. Hotze started his firm in 2008, with one of his first projects helping out the Dominican Sisters of Mary Immaculate Provence, which saw five of their convents damaged by Hurricane Ike that year.