Meet John S. Perez | Architect, Builder & Real Estate Developer

We had the good fortune of connecting with John S. Perez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi John S., can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
The idea of starting my own business is one that I have carried with me my whole life. My father has owned his business since I was born, and that my brother and I complete access to him, and we often accompanied him on his work day. I also understand that as a business owner you can chart your own way forward, in style, schedule, and you are in control of the pace of growth of your company and career. This comes with risks and potential downfalls, but it also comes with the possibility of huge rewards, both financially, but professionally, more than anything.

When my wife and I decided to start a family, I knew I wanted to be the kind of father that could attend a school event, or be home to spend time with them during working hours occasionally, even if this meant having to work some evenings and weekends to make up for that time. Starting my own business afforded this, as well as the ability to bring my kids to work, or show them our construction sites. I wanted my kids to see me work, and understand the career I had chosen, rather than just hear about “what Dad does for a living”.

Another motivating factor behind opening my own business was the ability to provide direct value to our clients. Often when one works for a large company, or just a company that is not yours, there are layers and processes, and design decisions are often made by committee. This often slows the process down, and can turn the process of designing and constructing a house or building into a more rigid formula, and some of the magic of client-architect creative process can be lost. Owning my own business allows us to choose our clients carefully to ensure there is a flow and chemistry which will lead us to amazing ideas and results.

In the end, we all want to make a difference in the world and leave our mark. The look on a new family’s eyes when they move into their new home is priceless, and there is a transformation in the members of the family, and well as in their interaction that comes with them moving into their new living space. This makes it all worth it to me.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
What I think sets our business apart from others is the idea of integration.

In our industry, the services required to design and build a home or building are separated. Let’s say a person or a family would like to own a house. Most people deep down inside would like to have a custom home designed with intent, and customize all the aspects of living that they’ve been filing away in their mental “if I could have a say in how my dream home would look, or function” file.

A typical sequence to achieve this is:

-First, find a property: often a client doesn’t have access to an Architect to advise them of what can be built by Zoning code, and therefore if they are brave enough to buy it, they may find out that the idea of a separate living unit in the back, or perhaps the third story master bedroom they had in mind is actually not allowed by the local codes. That’s the first potential disappointment. A client at this point either accepts the reality of the limitations and proceeds, or sometimes puts the property for sale, and finds a move-in ready home to not have to deal with this process.

– Second, once the lot is acquired, the client either contacts a General Contractor or an Architect to design the house. If they contact a General Contractor, they will be immediately told that a design is needed from an Architect before the Contractor can provide any feedback regarding the overall budget. Now the client is working with and Architect, but more often than not, the Architect does not have a firm grasp of current construction costs, and let’s face it, we are Artists! The vision and creation is much more important than the cost, this is your home, give yourself some luxuries! While this approach can on occasion work for a client that has a large budget, more often than not it can get the project in trouble. The client falls in love with the design, plans are prepared for permitting and construction, and are given to contractor to price out. Except the price tag is now twice what the client had in mind… Now it’s back to the drawing board, the client now needs to pay for design revisions, they have to give up on portions of their dream home they have now seen in plans, and these amazing features now can’t be unseen, so this can lead to disappointment and a frustrating experience, since the project is now taking longer than expected due to redesigns. All this before a shovel has hit the ground. Often times now the owner has to find a permit expediter to run the plans though the city at this point.

– Third, once permits are obtained, and the project awarded to a General Contractor, construction can start. I don’t think I need to explain in length the potential pitfalls of a construction project. I’m sure the reader of this article has been involved or knows someone that has had a project where the timeline or the budget went well beyond the original estimates. The plans may not be fully detailed to the extent the Contractor expects. The Architect is needed on the job to answer some questions, but guess what? The Architect is now deep into his next project and can’t come to the jobsite until next week… all potential delays and cost overruns.

Now, I am sure there are projects in this format that have run well on occasion, but most of the time what I have described above is the typical scenario. No wonder people find an already built home, decide the pros outweigh the cons, they settle with what they dislike and move on with life.

What we offer is full service, in house Design and Build, this is what sets us apart from others. We aim to make the experience as worry free as possible. We only take on a handful of projects a year, and we work with our clients from the beginning, from site analysis and selection, all the way through design, permitting, construction and project delivery. At the beginning of the project, we present our clients with a questionnaire to get to know their likes, dislikes, what rooms they would like for their home, whether they prefer an open plan or defined rooms, proximity to the garden from certain spaces, everything we need to know to design a home for them, not for us. This will be their home, and we need to design something that makes their living experience better, and this includes everything down to special holidays where they may host large dinner parties, or the desire to read a book on their balcony in the afternoons. We then formulate a general budget so that we can design towards that number, and we don’t go chasing wild ideas that although they may be cool, they will ultimately be excluded from the final project. We then work closely with the client on the design, first sketching it out by hand in a traditional way, then transitioning to 2d line software, and then to 3d space and volume visualization. We want the client to clearly understand what their home will look like once completed. We then produce all the required technical construction and permit drawings, including Architecture and Engineering plans, we manage the permitting process, and once plans are completed we can now fully bid out the project to provide the client with a comprehensive price to build this home. Once the construction cost is approved and permits are obtained, we go into construction. We prepare detailed schedules, cost analysis and contracts t manage the construction smoothly. And remember the problem about not getting the Architect on site that other projects have? We don’t have that issue, since we are the Architect and the Builder in one, we already are on site. So communication is smooth, and it makes the project extremely efficient, and provides the client certainty in the quality and budget of the project.

We have recently ventured into Real Estate Development, specifically modern, 2 story twin townhome development. We’ve taken the years of experience we have listening to our clients’ tastes and living style, and have design these townhomes to provide what we’ve heard the market wants. Large open spaces, plenty of bedrooms, a great kitchen, master bathroom, and a pleasant outdoor space with a pool. We are getting great feedback from the market, and we are excited to be providing this product for young families transitioning from condo living to often their first home.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Most people are attracted to Miami by what they see on TV, so the on the first day I would take them to Miami Beach. I’d go to South of Fifth, get a wrap at Pura Vida or an octopus burrito at My Ceviche to go, and head over to the beach at the end of South Beach, next to the pier. I would bring masks and snorkels to check out the sea life around the rocks, and after the beach we could hang out at South Point Park. If they’re curious for more, I’d take them to Lincoln Road for some shopping and people watching.

On day 2 I would keep up the popular areas of Miami. We’d go hang out at the Design District in the morning, and have lunch at Michaels’ Genuine. For the afternoon and evening we would head over to Wynwood close by and enjoy the street art, and hang out at one of the local breweries.

On day 3 we’d head to Brickell to check out Brickell City Center, go for a walk around Brickell. If my friend smoked cigars, I’d take him to Empire Social.

On Day 4 we would go to the Frost Science Museum to see the sharks and pet the stingrays, and then we’d head over to the Perez Art Museum to appreciate some modern Latin American Art, and have a bit at Verde restaurant.

On day 5 we would transition to a more nature and outdoors approach, heading to Virginia Key for a kayak and bicycle rental to enjoy the island.

Day 6 would be a great opportunity to head down to Key West for a day trip. The scenes on the drive down is to me the most impressive part of the journey.

Day 7 we would go to Everglades National Park, to Flamingo, enjoying the hiking trails along the way down, inside the park. We might rent a kayak at the end as well, and cast our fishing rods out and try our luck at fishing.

That would show a visitor the different faces of Miami, seen from the lens of a local!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to express my appreciation and recognize my brother and business partner Benji Perez. We’ve worked for different companies, we’ve worked as employees under the same company in the past, but nothing compares to what we are now able to make happen as business partners of our company, PRZ Design + Build.

We’re totally synchronized, we know each other’s roles and can jump into each other’s shoes if needed, and we also respect our expertise. If you had to choose someone to spend your workday with, who better than your brother?! Working with him makes work feel like family fun.

Website: www.przdesignbuild.com

Instagram: @przdesignbuild

Image Credits
Manuel Costales (Photographs) Andres Restrepo (Renderings)