2013 is here!

As 2013 is now here, we are all wondering what happened in the second half of 2012!  It went by in a blur as we were incredibly busy with great projects with great clients!

We did add another new talented staff member in early fall, Zachary Collins has joined us from Southern Illinois - we are excited to have him as a part of Maverick - and I'm sure he is happy about being away from the Midwest winters!

On the Project front, we have had many projects open - these include:

*  Splitsville at Downtown Disney - Orlando.  This 60,000 sf three story entertainment facility has opened to much fanfare and success.  Professional photos will be forthcoming soon.
*  Royal Pig Pub - Ft. Lauderdale.  One of the most successful projects to open recently and one that looks great - if we do say so ourselves.
*  Italio - Boca Raton.  The first of many in the national expansion, this fast casual Italian eatery is also doing very well and the food is beyond good! 

On the construction front, we have several new projects underway as well:

*  Nona Blue - Lake Nona - Orlando:  This high end tavern concept is set to open in mid February.
*  Italio - Winter Park - Orlando:  The second unit is well under way and is set to open in mid February.  Additionally, units in Orland Park, Illinois and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida are under way.
*  The Walt Disney Company hired Maverick to help them create a new concept preview center for their developments - this 3,000 sf concept room is nearing completion.
*  Cerene - Nassau, Bahamas:  We begun this multi-phased destination day trip resort in the fall and several of the components are already under construction in this faced based island retreat.
*  Hooters - New York City:  The high profile location across from Madison Square Garden has begun demolition with an opening set for early fall 2013.
*  Lexus of Denver is about 3 months or so from opening.  The progress is looking amazing.

We have been very lucky with the new projects underway on our "boards".  These include:

*  We are in the beginning stages of a large multi-concept development in Las Vegas - Twenty3's will be spectacular and trend setting.
*  Concepting for a local Cuban iconic eatery - YaYa's.  We are looking for a national positioning with this neighborhood joint.
*  The Cerene project will be a continuous, long term project as this island retreat will be continually developed over the next 5 years!
*  We are looking at new Hooters' locations in Countryside, Illinois - Hialeah, Florida and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
*  Love Field - Dallas, Texas.  We are developing a mixed use private aviation terminal, multiple car dealerships, hotel, restaurant and retail components to the heart of the City of Dallas.

As you can see  - we are excited about the prospects if 2013.  As I always say - we do great work because of the amazingly talented staff that works with me as well as the wonderful vision of our clients.

Now for the quote...."The only place success comes before work is in the Dictionary."  Vince Lombardi

Raymond R. Schaefer  AIA / NCARB
President / Founder
Maverick Architecture & Design, LLC

Summer is Here!

Now that May is nearly over, we look toward the summer.  Summer begins our busiest time of the year - so concepts can be created and permitted - thus allowing an opening just in time for the holiday season of late November and December.

We have also added another team member to the Orlando office.  Andrew Hamilton is a welcome addition and is now getting his feet on the ground after just graduating with his graduate degree in Architecture from the University of Florida.  Everyone is excited to have him joining the firm.

On the on-going project front:

*  Splitsville Downtown Disney is well under construction.  We will be posting the final renderings of the interior and exterior shortly.
*  Italio Boca Raton is nearing completion and the Winter Park, Florida freestanding prototype is nearing the completion of drawing phases. 
*  Royal Pig Pub in Ft. Lauderdel opens in a matter of weeks - we will have photographs of that within a month as well.
*  Nona Blue in Lake Nona, Florida is entering the final stages of the drawing phase - we look forward to a late fall opening for this restuarant for Bill Bona and Graeme McDowell.
*  City Fire in the Villages Brownwood development is starting the construction phase and engineering phase.
*  The Lexus porotype development in Greenwood Village, Colorado is nearing 30% completion of construction.  The building will start taking shape soon.
*  Hooters at 33rd and 7th avenue in New York City is in the final drawing phase - a great location across from Madison Sqaure Garden.

Projects just being put on our boards:

*  Autotainemnt projects in Sacramento, Kansas City, Houston and Dallas are all ready to go.
*  A new national fast casual sushi concept.
*  Redevelopment of Hooters in downtwon Chicago and in Port Richey, Florida.
*  A retail concept in Downtwon Disney - Florida.
*  Several outlets of the Italio concept throughout the US.
*  Redevelopment of Park Plaza Gardens - a Winter Park, Florida restuarant institution.


The next blog post will have some new photos and renderings of projects - as well as a commentary on the state of the restuarant business from where we stand as concept creators.  The economy seems to be inching back to normal for some consumers - while certain parts of the coutnry still seem to be looking for the light at the end of the tunnel.

And for the quote of the day....

"I'm just preparing my impromptu remarks."  Winston Churchill.

Raymond R. Schaefer, AIA / NCARB
Preseident / Founder
Maverick Architecture & Design, LLC

Looking for Talented Staff!

As we are moving closer and closer to the beginning of Summer, the Maverick team is looking to add two new members to our Orlando office. Ideally, the positions would require one to five years of experience in the Architectural field. At this point we are looking for Architecturally trained individuals with US experience and US Architectural degrees. Hospitality experience is a huge plus - or at least a desire to make this specialty your passion. If you are interested, please email a resume and cover letter to rschaefer@maverickarchdes.com.

and for the quote of the day....

"you can observe alot by watching"....Yogi Berra

Raymond R. Schaefer, AIA / NCARB / IIDA
President / Founder
Maverick Architecture & Design, LLC

What's New at Maverick

Now that we have reached mid-March, I thought it would be a good time to update everyone on new happenings around the office. First, we were very happy to welcome a new and talented designer to our Orlando office. Meghan Hoffmann, from the Baltimore area has joined our team as of yesterday!

On the project side! We have new projects as well as on-going construction news:

The Splitsville at Downtown Disney is under construction...we anticipate a fall opening!

The Royal Pig Pub in Ft. Lauderdale is well into construction as well - with an opening planned for mid May.

On the boards....Italio Modern Italian Kitchen locations throughout Florida as well some potential sites in Chicago, Texas and Tennessee, TableOne in Ponte Vedra Beach-Fl, Park Plaza Gardens in Winter Park-Fl, CityFire in the new Brownwood development in The Villages-Fl, ZaZa New Cuban Cafe and Primal Pizza in New York.

New to the office is the flagship Hooters location in New York City - across from Madison Square Garden, a new mixed use development at Love Field in Dallas, Texas (2 car dealerships, an FBO for private jet owners as well as a high end retail development), the first US Flying Pan Crepe concept in Old Hyde Park Village in Tampa-Fl among other great national projects.

And for the quote of the day....

The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not. - Mark Twain

Raymond R. Schaefer, AIA/NCARB/IIDA

President / Founder

Maverick Architecture & Design, LLC

Time for Thanksgiving

As we approach the end of 2011, it is time to look back and to look forward. We have been a part of some terrific new concepts that are now open, some concepts that will be opening soon and some exciting new ideas planned for future development. We are lucky as an organization to be happy and healthy, our families being happy and healthy and collectively continuing to strive to be a positive influence on the Hospitality business as a whole.





The restaurant and hospitality business as a whole is largely recovering well. There are still some weak segments and demographics, but generally the good operators and good concepts are re-invigorated to move into the coming years. With all down times in the markets, the weak concepts / locations tend to fall by the way-side. Other concepts deeply discounted to the point that they now feel irrelevant to the consumer in the emerging trends and concept availability. We see an influx of money into the hospitality segment, money put behind quality operators and concepts. We no longer will be in the quick, easy franchise market or concepts that make money because of location. The consumer has changed how they spend their money in our segment - they value the overall experience even more than ever. This can be seen in the sales trends within the larger segment groups - high end concepts are strong, high quality fast-casual is strong while the cheap and easy groups are falling along with the chain dinner house groups.





In life there are so many things that affect our day-to-day stress levels - economy, jobs, world issues and on and on....our job as Architects and Designers along with our clients is to provide an outlet for our guests. Whether it be for 30 minutes or 2 hours, we are a place where people can spend a bit of their hard earned money and provide a positive experience as well as sustenance to themselves or their family. We want them walking away with a smile - from the food, the service, the lighting, the chair, the music, the uniforms, the bathroom, the access and every small detail in between - we added to them getting away from life or celebrating a grand event that day.





Where do we go from here? That question has some simple answers....do great work in great locations - now is the time to be exceptional. We are working on projects at Disney, working on great new fast-casual concepts, working on revitalizing existing brands to be ready for the next 20 years, working on allowing guests to purchase how and where they want in retail formats and most importantly creating concepts based upon the guest - not on how the designer can get published. Our goal is for the client to make money and be successful - we know that if a client is making money - the guests are coming and coming back!





And for the quote from the best show ever on TV - Cheers....





Sam: What are you up to, Norm?


Norm: My ideal weight....if I were 11 feet tall.








Raymond R. Schaefer, AIA / NCARB / IIDA


President / Founder


Maverick Architecture & Design, LLC

August is off and running!

As I get back into the office from a family vacation, it is a good time to bring everyone up to speed on the happenings here at Maverick. We have had the opportunity to re-connect with Jennifer Ambrose from Chicago's O'Sketch Studios -she has helped us update our website! Hopefully you can take the time to see some of our newest projects as well as see some new renderings and photos in the main page flash. The office is very busy and we are very lucky to be producing great work because we have great clients. Here is project summary:



* Splitsville is going to Disney! Splitsville has signed a lease and we have begun work on this multi-level bowling and food extravaganza in Downtown Disney here in Orlando. We are planning on a late 2012 opening! Maverick will provide Design and Architectural services for this exciting new location.

* We are working with Mr. Ayman Boules to create the next generation of Salad Buffet concepts - the first one is slated to be opening in Orlando as well.

* We are nearing the completion of Construction documents for the first "Dancing Pig Pub" in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. You can see a bit more of this project in the Gallery of projects on the website.

* On the Autotainment front, we are thrilled to continue our work with Michael Graves on Kuni Lexus Denver, GM Sacramento as well as some exciting new Oklahoma dealerships for BMW.

* We are currently working on two separate fast casual concepts - one Cuban and the other Italian. the Italian concept will announce it's first two locations within a few weeks. We think this will be the next hot concept in the US - followed closely with the announcement of the Cuban concept location as well. The Cuban concept will blend the historic "Diner" with a new Cuban fast casual operation - unique and exciting.

* We are beginning a phased, all-encompassing renovation / global concept refinement for The Addison" in Boca Raton, Florida. This location once housed the office and residence of Addison Mizner.

* Our friends at The Celebration Town Tavern are nearing a deal to open the next Town Tavern here in the Orlando area - please stay tuned for the formal announcement. We will provide full service design and architecture for this new locals spot!

On a personal note, Sinclaire begins shooting this weekend of a new movie she was cast in - we are very excited and proud of her! Hank just finished competing in the USKG World Championships at Pinehurst #8 in North Carolina - he did great job for this week-long event. Karla continues to be the best! (wife, mom, accountant and friend to all of us!)

In general, the business of restaurants and bars seems to be increasing. While we are cautiously optimistic about the economy, we know that our work needs to be even better than before to provide great service to our customers and their guests.

lastly, for the quote.....

"Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes." - Frieda Norris.

Raymond R. Schaefer, AIA / NCARB / IIDA

President / Founder

Maverick Architecture & Design, LLC

Spring is Here! At least in Florida.

It is a wonderful Saturday morning here in Florida. The sun is about ready to come out and it will be a perfect 80 degrees with a nice warm breeze. I seem to be having trouble keeping up with the blog recently - probably because we have been busy! It is a truly remarkable we have been able to stay somewhat even during the tough economic times - we have been truly lucky to have such great clients with great vision.

So what have we been up to? First, one of my good friends and mentors, Manny Garcia (Founder of Pebbles, Manuel's on the 28th, Harvey's, longtime Burger King franchisee & board member, on and on) asked us to help him create a new dining concept for Orlando and beyond. The result is City Fire. Reviews have been great. Here are some quick photos.

In other news, we are currently working the following great projects:
* The Rock - Denver, Colorado (a cool pizza and bar concept from Seattle)
* John's Incredible Pizza - Woodland Hills, California (a very successful high energy and quality driven kids games/restaurant concept)
* Lexus of Greenwood Village - Denver, Colorado (a new prototype car dealership for the future).
* Disney - we are currently working on four projects within the gates of Disney properties here in Orlando. Unfortunately, I cannot disclose the projects - hopefully in the next 30 days we will be able to make them public!
* The Flying Pan - San Juan, Puerto Rico (a continuation of creating the crepe cafe concept for the Americas)
* Hooters - my good friends from Clearwater are having us do some preliminary work on a new Beach concept in conjunction with the World's most recognizable surf shop retailers as well as a new flagship Hooter's across from Madison Square Garden in New York City.

I promise to stay on top of the Blog! Be back within a week or so!

Lastly, for the quote of the day...from the great Steven Tyler on American Idol..."I could agree with you - but then we would both be wrong."

Raymond R. Schaefer, AIA / NCARB / IIDA
President / Founder
Maverick Architecture & Design, LLC