Michael Maitland joins Maverick

It has been several weeks since my last blog - boy time flies when you're having fun and working hard! The entire Maverick team has been incredibly busy working on new projects, travelling and seeing our projects coming to life. A few items that have been happening...

* Michael Maitland has joined our Team in Orlando. Michael has a tremendous background in the Architectural field - primarily as a lead Architectural Designer for many prestigious firms. It is a pleasure to have the added talent in our office which will be a bonus for our clients and our projects.
* Kelli, Marianne and Jacqueline visited the HD Boutique show in Miami Beach last week - while on this trip - they hit a few parties, visited some new restaurants and took time to visit the nearly completed Splitsville in South Miami.
* Since I mentioned Splitsville South Miami, the project is currently going through final inspections and should be ready for training and opening within the next few weeks. The VIP party is scheduled for October 20th - I will be sure to blog about the party.
* In other Splitsville news: Arlington, Texas is now officially under construction! This 24,000 square foot free standing unit with a 3,500 square foot exterior patio complete with the first permanent exterior bowling lane in the US - will be sure to change the landscape for suburban American entertainment. Dallas Park Lane Splitsville is nearing the issue of a building permit and construction start within the next few weeks and a new lease has been signed for The Rim in San Antonio, Texas. Maverick continues to provide full service design and Architecture for all of the new units - projects which we love working on because of great clients and a great concept.
* Splitsville and Muvico are entering into an agreement to produce the first "Muviville" in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Maverick has been contracted to produce all of the Design development drawings for the interior and exteriors of this combined effort. We are having a great time developing the next generation of movie theater with "premier" seating along with a two level Splitsville concept focused not only on the over 21 crowd upstairs - but the family bowling facility operated and designed as only Splitsville can!
* Milan's Italian Kitchen in Boynton Beach, Florida has now received a building permit and is under construction!
* Harmoni Market in Longwood, Florida has now been officially submitted for a building permit!
* Working alongside John Gray, Maverick is progressing well with the conceptual design/design development of a boutique hotel and six restaurant concepts in East Park Village in Southeast Orlando - I'll be sure to keep updating on this - it is a fantastic site with again another visionary client.
* We have teamed up again with Mr. Michael Graves to re-develop a Ford Dealership - this time in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for Mr. Joe Cooper - we are well under way with this campus - like design approach.

Over the past several weeks - I have travelled quite a bit including:

* A trip to Boston and New York City with the Splitsville group - we had a chance to again enjoy Tim Cushman's O Ya in Boston, have a nice dinner at Chelsea Pier aboard the Hooter Patrol 4 yacht and talk a little business in between!
* A trip to Chicago with John Gray, John Gabrovic and Manny Garcia doing research for the East Park Village concepts. It was a lot of fun - but most importantly productive as we shape the new concepts. Beyond enjoying the company, I was able to say hello to Rick Roman and Nick Pyknis (owner's of the Signature Room at the 95th and longtime great friends). The only negative was hearing Manny Garcia sing the praises of the Cubs and his life-long friend Lou Piniella - but since my team (the White Sox) is the only major league team in Chicago - I didn't have much patience!
* A trip to Hiawassee, Georgia for the yearly Splitsville Owner's retreat to discuss the future of the company - some work, some great mountain air and a little Karaoke at the local night spot made the trip more than memorable.
* Throw in a trip to Charlotte, Dallas and a weekend getaway to Ft. Lauderdale - and to say the least the past few weeks have been busy.

We will be sure to post photos of Splitsville South Miami as soon as we get them as well as some of the exciting new concepts we are working to move forward within the next several weeks.

At home, Sinclaire turned 10 years old with a party at home with friends and a giant blow up waterslide. Hank played in the Town Tavern Championship Golf outing recently - at six he saved our team in the best ball scramble format. Unfortunately, he broke his arm recently and is now taking an 8 week break. Now both he and Tiger Woods are re-habbing from injury! Karla is busy keeping the Maverick finances in order as well as volunteering at school (which means she should be ready for the White House like Sarah Palin).

"It's like Deja vu all over again", Yogi Berra.

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