Case Studies February 2019

You could say the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino placed a safe bet in the hands of Thomas Falvey and the T.N. Ward Co. team headed up in Atlantic City by Executive Vice President John Devecchio. A large one, to be sure—the resort chain entrusting them to wager $1 million per day over the span […]

A mechanical engineer with a master’s from the University of Texas and undergrad credentials from Pune University in his native India, Sameer Kapileshwari raised eyebrows among his colleagues when he left a plum private-sector position to direct and manage facilities in academia 17 years ago. “My friends would ask why I’d go to such a […]

He started in the company’s commissary group, working after school and weekends in a kitchen while attending the University of Tennessee. In 1980, he was given a purchasing job at corporate headquarters. A few years later, he moved to facilities and quickly scaled the ranks to facilities management director overseeing all company locations. So when […]

From the moment Karen Hodson walked into CM Group’s former San Francisco office, she knew the vibe was all wrong. Conference rooms unnecessarily clustered in the center demanded the most attention, making the open-concept desks surrounding them feel scattered and sparse. Adding to the effect, the office was just too big for the number of […]

Quite the dovetail between the company’s mission and that of its director of real estate and facilities. “From the CEO on down, we live by the motto ‘Making classrooms better places for teachers and students,’” the affable and enterprising Jim Finco tells Blueprint in January. “So I guess my motto would be ‘Making the workspace […]

Eli Porter, owner of the Florida-based company Porter Contracting, has decades of experience to draw from to help him hold tight to his standards in the booming Florida real estate market. Still, his youth spent playing sports sticks with him. The importance of being a team player, for instance, has left a lasting impression and […]

Architecture is a complex, involved profession, but Lyndsay Bennett has been captivated by it since childhood. With her father working as a contractor, at an early age Bennett began drawing pictures of houses similar to those she saw around her neighborhood. “I was always looking at construction and home design magazines,” she says. “My dad […]

Ed Wauters recalls the disappointment he and his team felt last year when LMC Corporation was not awarded the renewal of a large contract it had held for five years. As he explains, the client tried out partnerships with several of LMC’s larger, big-name competitors. “Sometimes,” Wauters says with a laugh, “you just have to […]

In-demand finished lots for homebuilders are on the drawing boards, a busy Kelsey Stone tells Blueprint in late 2018. Lots that will be ready for construction, and have water, sewer and road access. Homebuilders, Stone explains, don’t always develop their own land. Here, in and around the Texas Hill Country, many have shifted to a […]

Growing up in the West German capital of Bonn, in the uncertain years before and after reunification, Matthias Muckle marveled at the city’s multicultural verve: the kaleidoscope of faces on every street, the mix of gothic and postmodern architecture, meeting families from foreign embassies on early evening strolls with his parents. Today, he still yearns […]