Executive of the Month: Kimmerle, principal and senior project manager of Kimmerle Group/Urban Studio

William Kimmerle, Kimmerle Group/Urban Studio

New York, NY Since joining Kimmerle Group (KG) full time in 2010, William Kimmerle, AIA, principal and senior project manager, has become a standout among today’s “next generation” of commercial real estate professionals. A registered architect in the State of New York, he contributes a leading voice to KG’s development, corporate and institutional practices; and successfully leads the firm’s New York City Urban Studio effort, focusing on design, planning and architectural assignments with an urban disposition.

Additionally, he has led the expansion of KG’s procurement practice, Workspace, since 2011, and plays a pivotal role in heading the firm’s planning and zoning practices, providing clients with complex zoning and feasibility analysis in communities throughout New Jersey as well all five boroughs of New York City.

Since its founding in 2013, Urban Studio has become a pivotal resource for New York City-based developers and institutions, and has completed hundreds of due diligence studies for public and private institutions, universities, healthcare systems, private developers, municipal governments and state agencies throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, New Jersey and Long Island. This includes office and residential building expansions; affordable, market-rate and senior housing; transit village and downtown redevelopments; hospital and educational campuses; conversions and adaptive reuse projects; and municipal rezoning and remapping.

“Urban Studio is rooted in a dedication to combining the intentions of good public policy with market-based incentives and motivators to achieve a larger and environmentally responsive and inclusive outcome,” said Kimmerle. “We truly believe that design, when rendered with a social consciousness and an eye toward the practical realities of the market, can achieve wonderful and relevant outcomes.”

Urban Studio’s work also reflects the full range and capacity of the combined KG entities, from due diligence through complete architectural and interior design. In efforts involving KG’s Kimmerle Newman Architects (KNA) team and Workspace Inc., Urban Studio recently completed relocations for Aeropostale, Gilt Group, Crum & Forster/Seneca Insurance, as well as major renovations at the Parish of Our Savior at 39^th and Park Ave. 

Kimmerle meeting with associates at Urban Studio.

Currently, the Urban Studio and KNA teams are leading the design effort to reposition a former manufacturing facility at 47-17 Austell Pl. in Long Island City. This 136,000 s/f, with 30,000 s/f open roof terrace, renovation and expansion will include a complete, bottom-up restoration, and the incorporation of open roof terraces and amenity areas at the Sunnyside property, which sits adjacent to the NYC Subway’s revamped 7 Line.

Urban Studio and its clients benefit from KG’s three-decade track record and the involvement of an integrated, multi-disciplinary team with expertise in architecture and interior design, project management, and furniture and furnishings procurement. “Additionally, our research and academic connections distinguish us,” said Kimmerle. “We offer high-level intellectual capital and thought leadership in the areas of urban and institutional planning, city design and public policy.” 

Among its most notable projects, Urban Studio completed the study for a tower addition to 1370 Broadway, a 21-story, 1920s-era asset. The plan envisions incorporating air rights from an adjacent property to construct a nine-story addition of office space or residential apartments. The firm also orchestrated a combined master plan for Brooklyn Hospital Center and Long Island University in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, as part of a short-listed development proposal for a multi-tower redevelopment of both campuses.

Other efforts included work for major health care providers in the repositioning of urban campuses in Brooklyn, Staten Island and New Jersey. Urban Studio also has been active in examining multiple sites for the Archdiocese of New York, Catholic Charities and other philanthropic organizations in the city. Much of this work included detailed examinations of sites for housing, including continuum-of-care models for age-restricted, assisted living and skilled nursing.

Kimmerle earned a bachelor’s degree in International Studies with a minor in Architecture from Washington University in St. Louis, and a master’s degree in Architecture as a graduate fellow at the Rhode Island School of Design with traveling studios in India and Turkey, and assistantships in historic property analysis and non-profit organization operations. He is an accomplished painter and photographer who has participated in residencies and maintained a professional studio while living in Chicago, Il. Exhibition experience includes: Around the Coyote Select, Wicker Pack, Chicago, Ill.; Zella Brown Gallery, Chicago, Ill.; School of Arts Open Studios, Chelsea, New York; and several RISD-associated exhibits throughout Rhode Island. He is fluent in both French and Italian.

Austell Place, part of the revival of Sunnyside Queens and the repositioning and expansion of a 1910-era factory building to open office with extensive roof terraces for Normandy Real Estate Partners and Drake Street Partners.

Assuming a key leadership role at this early stage of his career is a challenge Kimmerle relishes; his roster of talents translates through a truly humanistic and caring approach to not only his work, but the manner and care he affords his colleagues and clients. “As a designer and an artist, William exemplifies what it means to engage with and transcend the day-to-day to create something truly special and transformative in his work. He brings an advanced visual and social literacy to our firm that brings to his role a clearly different, younger taste for development and design,” said George Kimmerle, KG’s founder and president.

His work for non-profits and healthcare organizations is some of the most rewarding work of his career to date. KG recently completed Spectrum for Living’s Ringwood Training Center for developmentally disabled adults. Working with a half dozen clients in the sector, he envisions it reaching into the dozens over the next ten years. “It is extremely rewarding to engage with clients whose needs our firm can invest in, and to interpret their requirements into buildings and spaces that push their expectations of social service environments,” he said.

Looking towards the future, he is committed to the growth and enrichment of KG’s activities, personality and expertise. With more than 25 years of history in the tri-state area, as well as serving a national client base, KG has a long legacy of success. “Our firm continues to evolve daily to meet the needs of clients and to bring increased sophistication to our work. I view my own growth as part of the firm’s ascendance,” he said.