Clockwise from left: Francis Reiner, Pradeep Kapoor, Kurt Vierheilig, Gregg Stopa, Charles H. Sarlo, Lloyd Rosenberg, all of DMR Architects — Courtesy: DMR Architects
By Joshua Burd
Five top executives at DMR Architects are now partners in the business, marking a new milestone in the 25-year history of the Hasbrouck Heights-based firm.
Lloyd Rosenberg, DMR’s founder and CEO, announced Monday that the executives now have an ownership stake in the design firm. After a year that saw its revenue and staff grow nearly 80 percent and 50 percent, respectively, Rosenberg said he expects the process of naming partners to become part of the culture at DMR.
“DMR’s long-term goal was to develop an organization with strong managers leading esteemed, productive teams,” Rosenberg said in a prepared statement. “Our first five partners have invested their careers in creating a special culture and performance standard at DMR which warrants notice and reward.
“The firm has committed to assessing how other high-achieving members of the team with a path toward their own career development could also gain ownership.”
The new partners include:
- Gregg Stopa, senior vice president, who has been with DMR since 1993 and is a senior project manager on assignments such as the Ocean County Community College, Bergen Community College and the Woodbridge school
- Charles H. Sarlo, vice president and general counsel, who joined DMR in 2001 and has been instrumental in providing risk management on corporate matters to Rosenberg and on project matters to the technical staff
- Kurt Vierheilig, senior designer, an 18-year veteran of the firm who leads the creative design studio and has designed projects such as the rail station at the Meadowlands Sports Complex and La Scuola, an Italian bilingual school in Manhattan
- Pradeep Kapoor, director of sustainability and project manager, who has been a member of the DMR staff for more than 16 years and assures environmental leadership and compliance for DMR projects, while managing a wide range of projects and specializing in public safety projects, health care and multifamily housing
- Francis Reiner, senior urban designer, who since 2008 has led DMR into the area of municipal planning and designed innovative redevelopment plans for Hoboken, Hackensack, Bayonne, East Orange and elsewhere
DMR, the fourth-largest architecture firm in New Jersey, expanded in each of its seven major practice areas in 2016, Rosenberg said. He and his new partners now anticipate a more diverse platform both in practice areas and geography in the years ahead.
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“DMR is answering an important question in the fast-changing business of architecture today, which is how to differentiate our value to larger and smaller clients over a wide array of engagements,” Rosenberg said. “Our company is moving forward decisively, which requires positioning ourselves to serve customers who have high expectations.”
He added that naming partners “represents an advancement in our thinking on the role of our people and the quality of the client experience we are expected to deliver.”
“We have a team that has bought into an ethic that lets us deliver a high standard of performance over a broad platform of service,” Rosenberg said. “Our new partners have made enormous contributions in that regard, and I am proud to share the firm with them.”
