MVP Entertainment Breaks Ground

As the economy continues it's slow flattening, Maverick is holding its own on new projects as well as some great potential projects for the near future.

This past week in a highly covered media event, MVP Entertainment broke ground on construction. I was honored to be a part of the festivities in Baltimore at the Hunt Valley Town Center in Northern Baltimore County. MVP is a partnership between Marc/Laura Rosen and the Baltimore Ravens Linebacker Ray Lewis. As television cameras and reporters looked on, Ray Lewis unvieled our renderings and plans for this 63,000 square foot facility. We look forward to this venture opening in the Spring of 2010 with expansion of the concept into other major cities with other MVP athletes and celebrities.

In other exciting news, Maverick will hopefully announce two new projects in the Northern Orlando suburb of Lake Mary. One of the projects will be a restaurant/retail venture in the out lot of the new Westin and the other is a potential destination resort/hotel concept in conjunction with the Gary Player organization.

As far as new updates on on-going projects....Muviville in Fredericksburg, Virginia is well under construction with the building nearly enclosed and taking shape. The three new Houston, Texas Pete & Shorty's remodels are ready for permit - we should be ready for the first beer and burger by the end of the year. Marker 92 in Cape Coral, Florida is nearly finished as well.

We did create a new design for a Muviville in Newport News, Virginia. We very much hope this project moves forward. Attached is our preliminary rendering.

Last but not least, on the home front - all is well. Both Sinclaire and Hank are enjoying their new schools - Hank continues his golf and Sinclaire continues her acting. Karla is doing fantastic - but really looking for our kitchen renovation to be over! Next month we are taking a long weekend trip to McLeansboro, Illinois to visit family and are looking forward to seeing everyone there!

As for the quote....

"I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places." - Henny Youngman

Raymond R. Schaefer, AIA/NCARB/IIDA

President / Founder

Maverick Architecture & Design, LLC

I know - it has been long time...

Well, it is July 13th and it has been months since my last post. This post may be long as I have so much to discuss.

The first item of note was the Hospitality Design Conference in Las Vegas in May. Tim Cushman and I presented a session about the trends in the Hospitality business. It was of course great to see Tim. The presentation went very well and we would be happy to speak again - we both have such congruent thoughts on Hospitality.

I was lucky enough to take a 5 day trip to London at the end of June/beginning of July as part of the PathNorth group. I spent the days getting to know some of the United States most influential political, business and civil rights leaders. We also had the pleasure of getting to know many of the same sorts of leaders from the UK. We had dinner in Churchill's war rooms with his grandson, we enjoyed Wimbledon with Stan Smith, we discussed world issues at Oxford Christ Church College with some of the world's brightest minds and we dined in the House of Lords with several members of the Houses of Lords and Parliament. It was a trip to remember.

As a family, we have traveled to Hilton Head Island and are planning another trip to the beach in the coming weeks. Karla and I spent a few days in Chicago with Manny Garcia watching the White Sox beat the Cubs. Hank continues to excel at golf - as a playing member of the US Kids Golf Tour, Hank has placed in the top 3 in each of his five tournaments to date. This past week he placed first with a front nine 42 - not bad for 7 years old. Sinclaire auditioned in an open call a few months back for Treasure Island - she was awarded a lead role as Captain Smollett. The play just ended it's run - and she was terrific. Karla has been busy with Maverick and keeping the summer fun for all of us - she is the BEST!

As far as projects go...we continue to busy (I'm knocking on wood!). We continue with the development of East Park with John Gray, Muvivlle in Fredericksburg, Virginia is under construction and the MVP project in Baltimore for Ray Lewis is just going in for permit. We are working on a beach residence in Apalachicola, Florida and another Muviville project - this time in Newport News, Virginia. On a fun note, Maverick was able to put together two of our best clients and friends (Lags and Srinath) so they could re-develop 3 Ruby Tuesday locations in Houston, Texas. These units will be new Pete N Shorty's - a concept I have loved for many years in Clearwater and Iowa.

My friend and client Michael Graves seems to be recovering well from his auto accident, but John Gray - another close friend has just gone through a similar situation. We hope he has a speedy recovery as well. On another note, a friend and colleague Andru Ramker recently endured a family loss - he is definitely in our thoughts.

We have welcomed back Marianne (now Poulter) from her honeymoon! She and her husband (David) spent time in Italy and Greece after their Youngstown, Ohio wedding last month. We wish them the best of luck. Now she is back to the fun at the office!

I will try to do better with the postings......and now for the quote:

"Keep friendships in good repair, you never know when they will need you and you them."...Sir Winston Churchill.


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

Maverick Pushes into 2009

As the economy continues it's downturn, Maverick continues to thrive with great clients and a great staff. I know many of our colleagues throughout the industry are not as fortunate, but we do see signs of renewed growth and development.



As far as company news, Splitsville in Arlington, Texas will officially open the doors next week - Wednesday March 4th. This will be the 3rd unit in this expanding concept - a unit that is uniquely situated in a suburban market, is a free-standing building and even has the world's first permanent outdoor bowling lane.



Milan's in Boyton Beach, Florida is now in it's second month of operations and from all accounts the restaurant is receiving great reviews. We continue to progress well with Muviville in Fredericksburg, Virginia. This 12 screen movie theater with a full Splitsville and VIP Premier level movie balcony is scheduled to kick-off construction in May.





We have also recently completed design work for the next Stump's Supper Club. We first worked on this concept in Channelside in 2000, this unit will be located adjacent to a new Muvico theater in CocoWalk in Miami. This time around, the name will be Lucky 7 Supper Club and Bowl-a-Rama.



We are currently working on a market concept and 40,000 sf of ballroom/private dining design work for Tarpon Pointe in Cape Coral. Construction on these areas as well as the previously designed Marker 91 restaurant should begin in June of this year.



On the new project front, Maverick has been awarded - and begins work this week - on MVP Entertainment. This 63,000 square foot entertainment complex will create a unique, family friendly yet upscale destination in Northern Baltimore.



On the personal side of life, our family was happy to welcome Shelley and Russell Allen from McLeansboro, Illinois to our home over the Daytona 500 weekend. The 500 became a little wet toward the end! Sinclaire was officially accepted to Trinity Preparatory School in Orlando - we are very proud of her! Hank continues to excel at golf, is giving basketball a shot and really is doing well at school. Karla and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary a few weeks ago - I'm looking forward to another 16 years with my best friend.



Lastly, I would like to wish one of my best friends - Michael Graves - a speedy recovery. Michael was in an accident several weeks back and is recovering from back surgery.



"Son, if you really want something in life, you have to work for it. Now Quiet! They're about to announce the lottery numbers." Homer Simpson




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