ROYAK OAK - A new residential tower dubbed the Fifth Royal Oak stands tall in this city - and in the opinion of the property developer, so do the union workers who built it.

"It helps when you work with a great group like (general contractor) Turner Construction," said John Hanna of Chrysos Development & Management Co. "And the same holds true for the workforce. They did things right the first time. It was a privilege to work with such high-caliber people."

At 18 stories, the Fifth Royal Oak is the tallest building for miles around, in this hip suburb north of Detroit. Offering sophisticated layouts, nice finishes and unobstructed views, the property was opened late last year and occupants are steadily making a home out of the 78 units in the tower on the northwest corner of Fifth Street and Washington Avenue.

There is space for retail on the first floor, and enclosed, climate-controlled parking on floors 2-6 for tenants. Floors 7-18 offer tenants unobstructed views and "an architectural masterpiece that offers unprecedented, innovative and sophisticated layouts, details and finishes," to take a page from promotional materials.

But the same promotional materials offered something we rarely see: union craftsmanship as a selling point. One media release quoted Jack Hanna (John's dad):

" 'Working on this building has been the best project of my career, where everyone had their heart and soul involved,' said Chrysos founder Jack Hanna, adding that Turner Construction said they have 'never had a job run so smoothly' and attributing much of the project's success to the skilled, trained and dedicated union tradesmen who worked on the building."

About 800 Hardhats worked on the project. Turner, their subcontractors and the building trades "are a great group of people. The breadth of their knowledge of construction is second to none," John Hanna said.

Turner's assistant superintendent on the project, Blane Rick, said it was "a real pleasure" working on the Fifth. "Dealing with the subcontractors and tradespeople - there was just a lot of professionalism here," he said.

Each unit has sound-deadening concrete ceilings, solid-core entry doors, and inset private balconies. Built on a relatively small footprint, the Fifth is anchored by 32 concrete caissons that are 150 feet deep. Individual units range from 1,070 square-feet to 1,908 square-feet, and prices range from $265,000 to $530,000.

"I've been around on windy days and there are no whistles from any gaps," John Hanna said. "The drywall is straight, the joints are tight and the finish work is great. It's obvious that everyone on a personal level did the best job they could. People on this job cared.

"I wanted to reach out to you guys. For my dad and I this is personal in nature. The tradespeople here shared our passion. I just wanted to thank them for going above and beyond the call of duty on a daily basis."

THE FIFTH ROYAL OAK residential tower stands 18 stories above downtown Royal Oak. The developer had a lot of nice things to say about the people who built it.

A HANDFUL OF building trades workers are still working at the Fifth. Here Bryan Sitzler of Glaziers and Glassworkers Local 357 and Madison Heights Glass caulks a window in a bedroom.