Urban Improvement Construction LLC

As CEO of UIC, I have oversight over all of our business units and focus a good deal of my time on development and real estate investments. I am a licensed architect and received a Master of Excellence in Architecture from the Berlage Institute in the Netherlands and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Kansas State University. Prior to co-founding UIC, I was fortunate to work with some exceptional architects and firms including Zaha Hadid, MVRDV, DSDHA, Mitchell/Giurgola Architects and Cannon Design. I do my best to be active in the community and serve as a council member on the Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and a board member of the Luminary Center for the Arts. Outside of work, my passion is spending (non-work) time with my wife and partner Sarah and our three daughters, including coaching their youth soccer teams.

One of my favorite parts of our core values at UIC is “Inspire Trust & Have Fun”.  Fun is an understatement – It’s been a kick working at UIC since 2013!  Originally from south central Missouri, I received a civil engineering degree from the University of Missouri - Rolla, and have lived and worked in St. Louis since the turn of the century (the 21st century). I maintain a professional engineer’s license and enjoy finding new solutions to the challenges that inevitably arise when one digs a hole or opens a wall. My background is exclusively design-build construction, with management experience in industrial/office/training facilities, cold storage warehouses, rehabilitation of historic school buildings, home-building and home remodeling, and structural concrete. I love working with people that laugh, and where there are sweet things to eat. Speaking of sweet things, I have a teen daughter that’s into singing, acting, and track, and an ageless beauty of a wife who makes me smile and feeds me well, as long as I do a good job renovating our 110-year-old Tower Grove home. Outside home life I stay busy with my church, work with service organizations, and design and build wacky theater sets.

In addition to managing the day to day business operations of the Residential division at UIC, I take a hands-on approach in ensuring that each of our projects is a success and I’m closely involved every step of the way; from initial design through construction. 

Prior to joining UIC, I received my Masters in Architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago and managed the design and construction of multi-million dollar homes in the city’s Lincoln Park neighborhood for nearly 7 years. 

In my spare time, I am constantly kept on his toes by my 2-year-old daughter and I love spending time outdoors, especially on the golf course.    

At UIC I function in a variety of roles as President and Designer for the REFINE division. I work directly with homeowners to assist in all facets of residential renovation and construction. Originally from Kansas, I graduated from University of Missouri-Columbia, then skipped town to head to NYC where I attended Parsons School of Design and was employed as a visual and interior designer by Baker Furniture. Since moving back to St. Louis in 2007, I have been working in the city as a residential designer at Niche Home Furnishings + Design for Lawrence Group. Outside of the office, I spend as much of my time playing as possible via cycling, hiking, running, laying in hammocks and frequenting playgrounds with my, er, energetic son. Currently, I’m surviving my own home renovation and look forward to having an urban farm in my backyard in the near future.

As the Design Principal at UIC, I have designed and built everything from a small renovation to a neighborhood – and I enjoy working at all of these scales. One might say I get a little too excited about selecting cabinet hardware and a beautiful plumbing fixtures, but I am equally enthusiastic about the prospect of engineering a beautiful / sustainable/ functional workplace, home, climbing gym... or envisioning an urban framework for a square mile of the city. Each of these design problems requires vision through a creative lens in order to imagine not just beautiful spaces, but how they will be built, how they will age, and how they will be funded. These multi-scaled and multi-faceted problems make my heart go pitter-patter – as do my three multi-scaled and multi-faceted daughters who test the elasticity of my creativity daily. See...everything is a design problem!

Additional to these passions, I suppose I should also mention that I would not be so excited about design had I not had the amazing opportunities to explore the Western Hemisphere with my partner, Brent, and had the chance to work with some great architects at The Office For Metropolitan Architecture in the Netherlands, The Polshek Partnership in New York, and The HOK Planning Group (St. Louis). I also teach graduate and undergraduate design studios at Washington University in St. Louis.

As a Project Manager for the Development Team at UIC, I conduct the cost certification process for Historic Tax Credits and NPA Tax Credits. I spend the majority of my time analyzing numbers and documents for outside auditors. I was born and raised in South City, love the neighborhoods, architecture and the people. My love for the city guided me to St. Louis University, where I earned my degree in Business Administration with concentrations in Entrepreneurship and Finance. Soon after graduating, I obtained my Real Estate License and starting working for The Kroenke Group as a Commercial Real Estate Analyst. My time at The Kroenke Group allowed me to create connections and learn some of the ins and outs of real estate. Outside of work, I enjoy cycling, playing soccer, watching the Premier League (Come on you Toffees!), and enjoying friendly banter with friends.

My 20 years in construction has given me the experience to provide oversight for all phases of a UIC construction project, from field supervision to procurement and client management.  I have worked on diverse project types around the St. Louis area including schools, skilled care facilities, single- and multi- family housing, indoor rock climbing gyms, and public monument installations. In my spare time, I work as a Firefighter/EMT for the Pacific Fire Protection District. 

As Contract Administrator and Customer Service rep for UIC, I have the benefit of working with our customers before, during and after the construction process. A good portion of my time is spent preparing and coordinating the flow of documents throughout the building process. This allows opportunities for me to meet with our customers, providing a nice transition into my Customer Service role where I am the direct point of contact for warranty and service needs. I received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from St. Louis University and worked in my family’s construction company for thirty years prior to joining UIC in November, 2013. My free time is occupied volunteering at my church and spending time with my husband and our three children...ideally on skis.

As General Counsel for UIC, I handle all legal aspects of both commercial and residential development. Apart from providing legal counsel on a broad range of topics and issues, I also give business and operational input and guidance from inception to completion of the project development process. I was born and raised near Chicago, then moved to St. Louis for law school and have lived here in the City ever since, where I have grown to love the neighborhoods, architecture and people. Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my wife Katie and our four young children, Isabelle, Charlie, Ollie and Augie.

As Project Architect at UIC, I oversee the design, documentation, and construction administration of our REFINE projects. From design concept through construction completion, I work closely with our clients to help make their dream a reality. I look at every project as a puzzle that comes with its own set of pieces and enjoy the challenge to bring them all together to create a thoughtful design.

I graduated from Tulane University’s School of Architecture with a Bachelor and Master of Architecture. I am a licensed Architect with over 10 years of experience with a focus in the housing market. My work has included multi-family and senior housing, historic renovation and adaptive reuse, and single-family new construction, renovations, and additions.

Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my wife and chasing after my three daughters. When I am not doing that, I usually have a renovation project of my own that keeps me busy.

As contract administrator for UIC, I help keep projects rolling by keeping paperwork flowing and support project managers in a variety of ways.  Whether I am issuing contracts or change orders, analyzing project budgets and project health, communicating with clients or vendors to ensure proper execution of all project documentation, or providing job progress communication to clients,  I keep the paper and administrative tasks out of the project manager’s hands so they can ‘take care of business.’

Prior to my role at UIC, I was an office manager for an apartment rental company in St. Louis and prior to that, I was a kindergarten teacher for nearly a decade.

When I’m not at work, I enjoy exploring personal development, being active by lifting weights, hiking, playing racquetball and getting outside to play on nature’s playground, traveling, attending live music events around St. Louis or taking road trips to see shows, and spending time with friends/family.

As an Architectural Designer at UIC, I work on custom home projects from design through construction. Prior to joining UIC I worked for two years at Studio Daniel Libeskind in New York City and Pieratelli Architecture in Florence, Italy.

I am French and Israeli, and graduated from the Bezalel School of Art and Design in Jerusalem with a BArch degree. During my time at school I was very fortunate to spend semesters in Ahmedabad, India, and Paris France. Before university, I also served in the Israeli Air Force as an air traffic controller for three years.

Outside of work I spend my time rock climbing, biking, or in the wood shop working on my next furniture project.