Client–Centered Awards and corporate philosophy aside, the true measure of a good remodeler rests with clients, who are undoubtedly the best marketing tool.
To service the client and to remain efficient, MDB, which has eight employees — including Simon and Clark — formed several companies that operate underneath it. They include Metropolitan Architecture, which handles design and engineering work, and Metropolitan Services, for carpentry and labor work.
In addition, Metropolitan Development Group (not under MDB, but rather an independent LLC) comprises a group of partners, including Simon and Clark, who are responsible for all land and property acquisition. It hires MDB to be the construction manager and to provide design and construction to the developer.
Each company has its own set of clients outside the relationship with MDB, and each has different partnerships and percentages of ownership. “These are separated so that each arm will have its own level of responsibility and accountability, with all of them answering to one company,” Simon explains.
The business setup is seamless to clients, who are courted by a single contact throughout the building process from initial design development and budgeting through final warranty and service work. “We have a person on site every day, a super/lead carpenter who works under a project manager,” Simon says.
Though MDB serves upper-income buyers, it prides itself on offering innovative design regardless of budget. One project, a rehab of a 1,600-square-foot ranch house in West St. Louis County, asked for an extensive renovation with a “not overly generous budget.”
Owner Karen Grimes was thrilled with the project. “They came through with everything they promised and allowed us a lot of freedom on decisions, but made outstanding suggestions,” she says. For example, when the owners were disappointed with the rustic railings they had picked, the partners suggested powder-coating them, which solved the problem on site with little extra cost. “They were meticulous,” Grimes says. “We met every Tuesday at 6:30 a.m. to go over the project, and they never missed a meeting.” The project closed within a week of schedule.
Then there are higher-end clients such as retired NFL coach Dick Vermeil and his wife, Carol. The Vermeils became friends with the Clarks while their St. Louis town home was being renovated, when Vermeil took over as head coach of the Rams. “Jeff was good at deciphering how I wanted certain things,” remembers Carol, “and it all just came out great. … It’s the one place I’ve lived that I regret leaving,” she adds.
Important, too, was the company’s ability to stay on track. “We put pressure on them,” Carol says. “After all, football season was starting.”
Opportunities Knock Not ones to ignore new opportunities, the partners are considering a new type (and scale) of development for Metropolitan. Though they won’t release much detail yet, Simon and Clark say it will be a “$28 million mixed-use historic renovation and new construction retail, residential, and commercial project.”
It’s a mouthful, but it’s probably a natural extension of the company’s success at matching its wide and deep skill set with the odd opportunities thrown at them by growth patterns and shifting demographics.
On a personal level, the partners feel bullish about their endeavors, knowing that they’re equipped to combine project types, to push density, and to innovate simply because, with past as prelude, they know they can.
Cati O’Keefe is a freelance writer based in Cincinnati.