PROJECT EXECUTION AND PLANNING

Our Consulting Team

The nature of the development business is such that USDG relies heavily upon the services of a range of third party consultants. These firms provide us with the capability to undertake a wide range of assignments on a timely basis. While we have worked with numerous architectural firms, construction companies and other consultant organizations, the firms that we would anticipate engaging for the proposed work would include:

Kohn Pedersen Fox

Recognized as one of the most respected architectural design practices in the world, Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) is a prestigious international architectural firm with studios in New York and London and a growing presence in Shanghai. They are Park Fifth’s design architect. With an international perspective on local projects, KPF’s extensive experience ensures design excellence that creates uplifting spaces for people and responds to community, context and environment. KPF has won more than 200 awards. Its work has been widely exhibited and is the subject of fourteen monographs.

Turner Construction Company

Turner is the leading builder in the U.S., as ranked by various local and trade publications in the major segments of the building construction field.  During 2006, Turner completed $8.6 billion of construction. Established in 1902, Turner is the only builder offering clients a nationwide network of offices. Since 1964, Turner has worked to shape the skylines and communities of Southern  California. Some of the most significant skyscrapers in Los Angeles were built by Turner, including the U.S. Bank Tower, the tallest building in the western United States, Southern California Gas Company Tower, Arco Towers and Wells Fargo Center.

DLA Piper Rudnick

In the United States, DLA Piper has 1,500 lawyers and offices in 23 cities, including every major business center across the country. Their core practices are: corporate and finance, intellectual property, litigation, government affairs,

real estate, and tax. They represent many of the world’s leading companies, including multinational, Global 1000, and Fortune 500 enterprises in a wide range of industries, as well as emerging businesses, banks and other financial institutions, and professional firms.

Robert Smiley & Associates

The Smylie firm specializes in the registration of residential projects with both the State and Federal governments. As a former Deputy Commissioner of the California Department of Real Estate, Mr. Smylie is well versed in the procedures required to both obtain initial approvals, as well as how best to meet the on-going requirements.

Mollenhauer Group

Mollenhauer Group is a professional consulting firm serving the land and  property development industries. Their specific expertise is in the areas of civil engineering, surveying and mapping, construction surveying, subdivision mapping, and high-definition laser scanning. Serving the greater Southern California region continuously since 1924, Mollenhauer has established a reputation for solid professionalism, technical excellence, innovative solutions and, most importantly, an unwavering commitment to customer service. Clients include government agencies and municipalities, property owners, private developers, architects, attorneys, and title companies. The breadth of the firm’s portfolio – reflecting a strong diversity in project type, scale, cost and complexity

– is testament to its long-tenured staff and their extensive body of knowledge and expertise.

Hirsch Bedner Associates

Hirsch Bedner Associates (HBA) is heading up Park Fifth’s interior design and is a world leader in hospitality interior design for today’s most sophisticated world traveler and homeowner. From continent to continent, each Hirsch Bedner interior is the result of a unique and sensitive response to location, architecture, and client vision. Chairman and CEO Michael Bedner and his partner, Howard Hirsch, revolutionized hospitality design by creating an entire new professional discipline. Guided by a philosophy of creating a sense of place, HBA is the largest and most experienced hospitality interior design firm in the world.

Flack + Kurtz

Flack + Kurtz is a multi-faceted engineering firm that has completed significant projects with internationally-acclaimed architects for the world’s largest corporations, developers, and institutions. They are known for imaginative thinking, high service levels, resourceful application of new technology, and innovation. Flack + Kurtz continues to be the leader in providing complete engineering services in mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, security, information technology and architectural lighting design. They have a staff of  over 350 in their offices in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Las Vegas, Washington DC, London, and Paris and have permanent affiliations in Hong Kong and Sydney. Flack + Kurtz has consistently ranked as one of the world’s top engineering firms in “World Architecture”.

Choate Parking Consultants

Established in 1998, Choate Parking has a passion for their profession and a commitment to provide a level of parking consulting services that meets their clients’ needs and exceeds their expectations. Rick Choate, the Principal of the firm with over 25 years of experience, is solely dedicated to parking planning and design. He understands the role experience, talent, enthusiasm, and attention to the client’s needs plays in delivering parking solutions in the field. As a firm, they prefer to have hands-on Principal involvement with all of their clients’ projects and maintain experienced professionals on staff with the development experience and focused leadership necessary to guide clients throughout the design and construction process.

Meléndrez

A Los Angeles-based landscape architecture, urban planning and urban design firm dedicated to improving the quality of life in the urban environment, they provide their clients with design solutions that are high quality, user-focused and transformative. The firm’s work has been recognized by ASLA, the Los Angeles Business Council, and both the Los Angeles and California Chapters of the American Planning Association. Notable projects include: Staples Center, Paseo Colorado, Pacific Design Center Renovation, Sunset + Vine and The Concerto at 9^th & Figueroa.

Veneklasen Associates: Acoustical Consultants

Founded in 1947, their hallmark is technical diversity derived from decades of experience in combination with a priority on customer service. They have a reputation for intelligent, innovative and cost-conscious solutions earned through a legacy of thousands of projects worldwide. Veneklasen specializes in architectural acoustics, noise and vibration control, audio-visual systems and environmental noise.

PlanNet Consulting

Founded on the concept that organizations value unbiased expertise when confronted with technological decisions, PlanNet Consulting helps organizations select the right technologies and get the most out of them. The company’s primary focus is on critical systems infrastructure and supporting the full project life-cycle around their AAIM Methodology – Assess, Architect, Implement and Migrate. PlanNet provides technology consulting and leadership in the following areas: Audiovisual technologies, communications technology, data centers, managed services, physical infrastructure and security.

Chris Dikeakos Architects, Inc.

Chris Dikeakos Architects, Inc. (CDA) is an award-winning, Vancouver-based architectural firm specializing in high-rise residential complexes and is Park Fifth’s Executive Architect. Along with over 7,500 residential units completed or in process, CDA has also completed the first residential high-rises in Orange County, and has under construction what is currently the tallest residential high- rise in San Diego (The Electra). Among other building types, CDA has extensive experience with Hotels, Urban Planning and Mixed Use facilities. CDA will be the architect of record for the project.

Nabih Youssef & Associates

This internationally-recognized structural engineering firm, with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Irvine, provides their clients with specialized structural and earthquake engineering consulting geared toward architecturally- intensive building projects. NYA has significantly contributed to the development of Earthquake Engineering Codes and Standards, seismic base isolation, and value-engineered strengthening concepts. Working as a tightly integrated team, highly qualified engineers, designers, analysts, and experts with the latest

building codes and standards perform advanced research and analysis. Some of NYA’s more notable landmark projects include the Los Angeles City Hall, Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral, the J. Paul Getty Museum Villa, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the new San Francisco Center, and the Hotel and Residences at LA Live.

Schirmer Engineering

The Schirmer name is synonymous with high-quality engineering and technical services, and they hold a reputation as the fire protection industry’s most widely respected firm. The foundation of their leadership is their staff of highly-skilled and client-oriented professionals, the majority of whom are registered professional engineers, architects and certified technicians. With a diverse range of educational backgrounds, a wealth of project experience and a general commitment to excellence, their team is equipped to handle any fire protection, life safety, risk control or security system challenge. With regional offices and  risk control representatives conveniently located in major cities throughout the United States and abroad, Schirmer offers unparalleled fire protection, code consulting, risk control and security consulting services.

Laschober + Sovich

A professional design consulting firm founded in 1960 with expertise in the design of foodservice facilities and an active member of AIA/LA. They serve all segments of the foodservice industry, consulting to architects and planners in the design of functional installations and systems for efficient holding, preparation, processing, flow and handling of food and beverages. The firm maintains a staff of professionals with over 200 cumulative years of experience in all facets of project design and they pride themselves on meeting performance schedules.

Van Deusen and Associates

Van Deusen is dedicated to meeting clients’ needs for vertical transportation consulting services. In addition to their NJ headquarters, they maintain branch offices conveniently located to major client markets, and are continually looking to expand their geographic capabilities. Twenty-six years after its founding, the company has worked on more than 10,000 projects, earning recognition as one of the world’s finest independent specialty consultants.

Curtain Wall Design and Consulting, Inc.

CDC is a consulting engineering firm with a focus on the design and optimization of curtain walls. Established by Bob Johnston in 1973, Curtain Wall Design and Consulting, Inc. has grown into the largest independent curtain wall design firm in the world. CDC offers the highest quality exterior cladding services to clients through their many offices across the United States and around the world. CDC brings a combination of experience, innovation and value that is unmatched in its field. Whether supplying quality drafting work for smaller companies or designing unique systems for major corporations, CDC’s uncompromising commitment to providing the best to its customers has kept it at the top of its field for over 30 years.

The Rogers Group

Founded in Los Angeles in 1978, The Rogers Group has grown to be one of the leading public relations and public affairs firms in the U.S., and one of the largest headquartered in the West. Their diverse roster of clients includes major corporations, government agencies and non-profit organizations located throughout the country. The programs they manage run nationally, regionally and locally. They are also privately owned, which enables them to focus their energies on their clients. They make a strong commitment to giving back to the community, providing pro bono services to local organizations and encouraging their employees to donate their time and talent alongside them.

Hamon & Associates

Hamon & Associates is a Los Angeles-based, full-service agency founded in 1988. Within a small hands-on structure, they offer their clients large agency expertise and know-how. With the diverse marketing and creative backgrounds  of their team members, they approach communication as a multi-faceted discipline. They are as responsive as they are creative – an important combination in helping clients take advantage of critical opportunities. Their capabilities include strategic planning, online and offline advertising, media planning, interactive services, design, collateral, promotions and direct  marketing, which have enabled them to successfully represent such diverse clients as Singapore Airlines, Logitech, Thermador, The Grove, and the Hotel Bel Air.

Vertical Properties, Inc.

Vertical Properties specializes in providing expert marketing, sales, and sales management services to developers of urban and resort condominium projects. They offer clients award-winning marketing expertise backed up by hands-on involvement and daily oversight by the most knowledgeable and experienced condominium sales directors in the industry. Their principals have marketed and sold over 20,000 new condominium units and resort properties valued at more than $5 billion. With a primary focus on the marketing of large-scale condominium projects and condominium conversions in urban market areas, Vertical Properties provides a comprehensive menu of services to developer clients and their financial partners. These services include pre-acquisition market analysis, site acquisition, project planning and design consulting, marketing plan creation and implementation, sales staffing, on-site sales management.