Last year, California opened 10,793 hotel rooms, a record for the state according to Atlas Hospitality Group. California has 859 hotels and 125,749 rooms in various stages of planning. In Los Angeles alone, where 4,309 hotel rooms opened last year, there are another 5,327 rooms under construction.
Those projects include Soho Warehouse, a major renovation, designed by Killefer Flammang Architects, of a six-story 100-year building in L.A.’s Arts District; and the boutique Hoxton Hotel, a $30 million renovation, designed by GREC Architects, of a 10-story building along the city’s downtown Broadway corridor that dates back to 1925.
Shawmut Design and Construction is handling the construction management for both of these hotels. The growth of Los Angeles’ hospitality sector has become a driving force behind the expansion of Shawmut’s L.A. office, designed by Gensler, which recently added 2,400 sf and is now 15,000 sf.
Shawmut has been doing business in L.A. since 1995, and moved into its first office, on Wilshire Boulevard, in February 2013. It relocated to its current office, west side of the city, in February 2016. Over the past three years, revenue generated by Shawmut’s L.A. office increased by 61%, and its staff by 92% to its current level of 123 employees.
“Originally, we set up an office here to serve our existing clients that were expanding,” says Vincent Spataro, an 11-year Shawmut veteran who moved to L.A. in 2014 to help grow this office as its director. “As time went on, we’ve hired local staff and developed a local client base.”
Shawmut positions its services in California as being selective about the projects it takes on. “We aren’t the lowest-priced bidder here, so we focus more on the higher end.” Its work in the restaurant and retail sectors, for example, includes Nobu Malibu and Louis Vuitton’s Rodeo Drive flagship.
Eighteen months ago, the office launched a Luxury Homes division, an offshoot of residential construction it had been doing as a service for its commercial clients. “It’s a meaningful move for us,” Les Hiscoe, Shawmut’s CEO, told the Beverly Hills Courier. Spataro says this division manages the construction of one-off houses whose costs range from $1,000 to $2,000 per sf. “These are on another scale, and often have commercial-type systems” that Shawmut’s experience can serve, he explains.
More recently, Shawmut launched a national Interiors division, which Spataro says will bring to office design what the firm has brought to retail and restaurants.
Spataro says the future growth of his office will most likely come from hospitality and interiors. Shawmut L.A. is also looking to expand the typologies it handles to include institutional and academic projects, which have been robust areas for the firm’s New England office.
Related Stories
Design Innovation Report | Apr 19, 2023
Meet The Hithe: A demountable building for transient startups
The Hithe, near London, is designed to be demountable and reusable. The 2,153-sf building provides 12 units of business incubator workspace for startups.
Contractors | Apr 19, 2023
Rising labor, material prices cost subcontractors $97 billion in unplanned expenses
Subcontractors continue to bear the brunt of rising input costs for materials and labor, according to a survey of nearly 900 commercial construction professionals.
Airports | Apr 18, 2023
India's mammoth new airport terminal takes ‘back to nature’ seriously
On January 15, 2023, Phase 1 of the Kempegowda International Airport’s Terminal 2, in Bengaluru, India, began domestic operations. The 2.75 million-sf building, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), is projected to process 25 million passengers annually, while providing its travelers with a healthier environment, thanks to extensive indoor-outdoor landscaping that offers serenity to what is normally a frenzied experience.
Contractors | Apr 18, 2023
New York City construction fatalities, injuries rise in 2022 as activity booms
New York City’s construction fatalities rose from nine in 2021 to eleven in 2022, according to a report by the New York City Department of Buildings. Recorded injuries also rose to 554 last year after leveling off in 2020 and 2021.
Resiliency | Apr 18, 2023
AI-simulated hurricanes could aid in designing more resilient buildings
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have devised a new method of digitally simulating hurricanes in an effort to create more resilient buildings. A recent study asserts that the simulations can accurately represent the trajectory and wind speeds of a collection of actual storms.
Green | Apr 18, 2023
USGBC and IWBI unveil streamlined certification pathway for LEED and WELL green building programs
The U.S. Green Building Council, Green Business Certification Inc., and the International WELL Building Institute released a streamlined process for projects pursuing certifications for the LEED green building rating system and the WELL Building Standard. The new protocol simplifies documentation for projects that are pursuing both certifications at the same time or that have already earned one certification and are looking to add the other.
K-12 Schools | Apr 18, 2023
ASHRAE offers indoor air quality guide for schools
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has released a guide for educators, administrators, and school districts on indoor air quality. The guide can be used as a tool to discuss options to improve indoor air quality based on existing HVAC equipment, regional objectives, and available funding.
Data Centers | Apr 14, 2023
JLL's data center outlook: Cloud computing, AI driving exponential growth for data center industry
According to JLL’s new Global Data Center Outlook, the mass adoption of cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) is driving exponential growth for the data center industry, with hyperscale and edge computing leading investor demand.
Healthcare Facilities | Apr 13, 2023
Healthcare construction costs for 2023
Data from Gordian breaks down the average cost per square foot for a three-story hospital across 10 U.S. cities.
Higher Education | Apr 13, 2023
Higher education construction costs for 2023
Fresh data from Gordian breaks down the average cost per square foot for a two-story college classroom building across 10 U.S. cities.