FORGE PROJECTS - Key Persons
Mr. Crowell provides strategic Development Management, Project and Program Management, advisory and planning services for complex Projects and Programs such as master-planned developments, mixed-use developments, residential, hospitality, corporate offices, retail, institutions, adaptive reuse, and real estate portfolios. Mr. Crowell provides clients with strategic and delivery services including: feasibility, best and highest use analysis, organizational structuring and restructuring, and process mapping, site analysis/selection, team development, procurement strategies, contract structuring, and project delivery solutions.
During his 40+ year career, he has been responsible for successful delivery of more than 150 major high profile programs and projects totaling over 100 million square feet in the United States, The United Kingdom, the Middle East, and China. He brings discipline to goal setting and decision-making throughout programming, pre-construction, procurement, and design phases. His work reflects a mastery of processes with high degrees of integrated technology, complexity, and quality.
Mr. Crowell has provided an array of building industry and real estate advisory services to a blue chip client base that includes cultural and higher education institutions, governmental entities, real estate developers, major financial institutions, multi-national corporations, global consulting firms, and healthcare systems.
Dave was educated as an Architect; and has been a Construction Manager, Contractor, Design-Builder, Owner's Representative, Management Consultant, Project Management Consultant, and business owner. This provides him with a unique 360 degree perspective in the building industry for all building types and contractual delivery methods. One truly unique factor is his ability to understand his clients goals and objectives as if they were his own and manage projects to achieve his clients success.
As a founding member and COO of the highly influential and successful Rise Group, Mr. Crowell led Rise's best practices initiative overseeing formalization of in-house technical services. He instituted, developed, and led the firm's ongoing training, education, mentoring and cooperative education programs; including courses delivered in partnership with the Illinois Institute of Technology and Northwestern University. He brings this expertise to Forge and will leverage his extensive experience to build the firm into the top service provider in its class.
Dave is a frequent speaker, panelist, and writer on building industry topics.
Eric Eichler has 23 years of experience managing design, engineering, construction, and development projects in the Chicago, Los Angeles, and European markets. He has spent the past 13 of these 23 years delivering high-quality institutional projects for Universities, religious institutions, schools, and other non-profit organizations.
Eric has significant expertise in conceptual budgeting, planning, design management, construction management, scheduling, and procurement & administration of architecture, engineering, construction, professional services, and FFE contracts. His experience has given him a solid understanding of how to execute successful construction projects and a deep knowledge of construction costs. Eric is well-respected professionally in the architecture, engineering, and construction communities as a collaborator who excels at synthesizing input from large groups of stakeholders to deliver quality projects within challenging budget and schedule constraints.
Eric founded Forge in 2017 after serving as Senior Project Manager at the University of Chicago for