S/L/A/M Collaborative, the national architectural firm based in Glastonbury, Conn., on March 6 completed its acquisition of five Heery architectural design practices from CBRE. The terms of the purchase were not disclosed.
The practices—focused on healthcare, sports facilities, and justice—are now known as Heery Design, a SLAM Studio. CBRE had owned Heery International, a project management and design engineering firm based in Atlanta, since October 2017 when it acquired the business for $57 million from Balfour Beatty. After the deal with S/L/A/M, CBRE retains full ownership of Heery’s interior design and engineering businesses that are integral to its project management services.
About 70 of Heery’s employees are coming over in this deal, joining 210 S/L/A/M professionals. Heery’s healthcare practice is located in Denver, Iowa City, Iowa, and Philadelphia. Its justice practice is in Orlando, Fla. And its sports design practice is in Atlanta. Heery Design offices associated with these practices are also part of this acquisition, along with the firm’s architectural book of business.
“The professionals joining S/L/A/M in this transaction are returning to a traditional design firm that values creativity, and is passionate about design,” said Richard T. Connell, FAIA, S/L/A/M’s chairman, in a prepared statement. Those professionals include Heery Design’s managing directors Russ Sedmak, Mike Holleman, and Douglas Kleppin, AIA, LEED AP.
S/L/A/M’s design portfolio includes healthcare, education, corporate and sports facilities. The firm provides integrated landscape architecture, structural engineering, interior design and construction services, with offices in Connecticut, New York, Atlanta, Boston, and Los Angeles.
A source knowledgeable about this deal, who spoke on background, said that a third party representing CBRE had approached a handful of firms, including S/L/A/M, at the beginning of 2018 about their interest in acquiring parts of Heery. This source said that CBRE was primarily interested in finding a buyer willing to acquire all five of the practices it wanted to shed.
This source adds that what CBRE is holding onto from its Heery purchase is a “much larger” piece than what it is selling to S/L/A/M.
Related Stories
Giants 400 | Sep 8, 2022
Top 115 Hotel Sector Architecture + AE Firms for 2022
Gensler, WATG, HKS, and Stantec top the ranking of the nation's largest hotel and resort sector architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Senior Living Design | Sep 8, 2022
What’s new with AQ: The top trends in active adult living
Today's 55-or-better buyers are ready to design their lives and their homes as they see fit. With so much growth on tap, builders and developers must stay apprised of trends related to home, environment, and culture of 55+ communities.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Sep 8, 2022
Chicago Bears unveil preliminary master plan for suburban stadium district
As the 2022 NFL season kicks off, the league’s original franchise is fortifying plans to leave its landmark lakefront stadium for a multi-billion-dollar mixed-use stadium district in northwest suburban Arlington Heights.
| Sep 8, 2022
The Twin Cities’ LGBTQ health clinic moves into a new and improved facility
For more than 50 years, Family Tree Clinic has provided reproductive and sexual health services to underserved populations—from part of an old schoolhouse, until recently.
| Sep 8, 2022
U.S. construction costs expected to rise 14% year over year by close of 2022
Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis (CBRE) is forecasting a 14.1% year-on-year increase in U.S. construction costs by the close of 2022.
Giants 400 | Sep 7, 2022
Top 95 Industrial Sector Architecture + AE Firms for 2022
Ware Malcomb, Stantec, Haskell, and Macgregor Associates Architects top the ranking of the nation's largest industrial facility sector architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2022, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
| Sep 7, 2022
Use of GBCI building performance tools rapidly expanding
More than seven billion square feet of project space is now being tracked using Green Business Certification Inc.’s (GBCI’s) Arc performance platform.
| Sep 7, 2022
K-8 school will help students learn by conducting expeditions in their own communities
In August, SHP, an architecture, design, and engineering firm, broke ground on the new Peck Expeditionary Learning School in Greensboro, N.C. Guilford County Schools, one of the country’s 50 largest school districts, tapped SHP based on its track record of educational design.
| Sep 6, 2022
Herbert V. Kohler, Jr. (1939-2022) An incomparable spirit
Dynamic leader and Kohler Co. Executive Chairman Herbert Vollrath Kohler, Jr. passed away on September 3, 2022, in Kohler, Wisconsin.
| Sep 6, 2022
Demand for flexible workspace reaches all-time high
Demand for flexible workspace including coworking options has never been higher, according to a survey from Yardi Kube, a space management software provider that is part of Yardi Systems.
