2 minute read
Chapter 7 Design Firm to the Deal Makers
Harvest Partners, New York, above
and right. PHOTOGRAPHS: Garrett Rowland.
Cambridge University Press.
PHOTOGRAPH: Garrett Rowland.
they would require. The pre-builts and turnkey spaces MKDA excelled at were precisely what these companies needed to accommodate their technology-driven growth. Technology was, indeed, moving at a dizzying pace; once again, the designer’s penchant for being ahead of the curve was paying off.
“Milo was a proponent of innovation and if it was out there, he wanted it for the company,” says DeSiena. “He was the one making sure we were on the cutting edge of anything technological. He was always forwardthinking—one of the top innovators in the industry.”
Continuing to work with major landlords around the city, like Vornado Realty Trust, Silverstein Properties, The Shorenstein Company, Blackstone Real Estate Advisors, Capstone Realty Advisors, Waterman Interests and Rockrose Development, and in partnership with them for such clients as TD Bank and Springs Global, MKDA grew exponentially. Jeffrey and Michael took over leadership as partners in the late 1990s, as their father began to scale back on his business and design activities.
At that time, MKDA had more than 20 landlords as clients with whom they worked on a continuing basis. Today, that number is between 35 and 40.
Many clients came out of the hedge fund sector, which Michael saw early on as a good fit for MKDA from a design and business point of view. The firm was more of a boutique operation than its competitors—something it shared with the hedge funds.
Hedge fund managers were not typically corporate types. They were independent thinkers, younger, and each was something of a one-off.
“Every hedge fund has its own mission and set of partners—individuals, some a little quirky, all bright and thinking on different levels,” Michael says.
Michael liked the challenge of trying to draw a bead on the different personality types who, while in finance, were not your typical bankers in gray suits. “It required a bit of psychology to understand what we were dealing with,” he recalls. “I’d look across the table at them and wonder what was in their heads.”
This is where the entrepreneurial mindset encouraged at MKDA pays off. The team is like hedge fund managers in this way, not corporate and not only about the bottom line. They are creative thinkers who can provide hedge fund managers with what they want: a unique identity that distinguishes them in their field. It’s a trend also beginning to take hold among corporate types who, likewise, want the veneer of a boutique firm, something unusual, to attract top talent.
“They want to create a different work environment as a way to attract the best people,” Michael explains. “We want them to grow, and we have the luxury of designing an environment that will help do that.”
Cambridge University Press, above
and right. PHOTOGRAPHS: Garrett Rowland.
New York offices of the global financial firm Winton Capital.
PHOTOGRAPH: Garrett Rowland.
BrownShoe showroom, Manhattan. PHOTOGRAPH: Adrian Wilson.
