Chicago-based real estate and design/build firm Clayco has announced the acquisition of architecture, interior, and urban design company Lamar Johnson Collaborative.
Here is the complete press release.
Chicago—Clayco, an integrated design-build firm headquartered in Chicago, announced today it has purchased Lamar Johnson Collaborative (LJC), an architecture, interiors, and urban design firm serving corporate, developer and institutional clients.
LJC will become a branded business group alongside Clayco’s existing architecture and design practice, BatesForum. LJC CEO Lamar Johnson, FAIA, will provide leadership for the overall design business within Clayco.
“Integration with Clayco—from its real estate development to architecture, engineering, and construction groups—allows LJC to provide clients both a full complement of services and to take the inefficiency and risk out of the design and development process,” said Johnson.
LJC has developed a practice characterized by diverse projects for respected Chicago firms, including Sterling Bay’s renovation of 600 West Chicago, the Triangle Square project at Elston and Webster and a new headquarters for the John Buck Co. at 151 North Franklin.
“We look to LJC for an entrepreneurial approach executed by an experienced team,” said Scott Goodman, founding principal of Farpoint Development. “Joining an entrepreneurial industry leader like Clayco is a natural extension of LJC’s outlook.”
Clayco CEO Bob Clark added, “Lamar has an outstanding and respected reputation within the design community. This merger will further deepen Clayco’s integrated delivery platform by adding team members with strong design capacity as well as Lamar’s leadership skills.”
The merger will create an integrated practice with more than 225 professionals with offices in Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco, Springfield, Mo., and Rogers, Ark.
