Archinect
John deSoto

John deSoto

New York, NY, US

 

About 

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

·      Expertise in all phases of strategic capital planning, programming, design, construction and project management of high-tech IT facilities, including national broadcast television, institutional agencies, medical and laboratories.

·      Extensive Project Management experience, including property management, facilities design and construction, comprehensive building planning, re-stacking and complete renovation of multi-tenant floors. Managed strong relationships with key individuals and executive reports. Superior communication to all stakeholders.

·      Seasoned professional capable of creating and directing Facility Design Standards, Standard Operating Procedures and Planned Preventative Maintenance. Skilled in software applications of Maximo, MS Project Manager, Oracle, People Soft, SKIRE Unifier, Real Estate BMS and cost estimating.

·      Critical environmental troubleshooting capabilities for reducing risk, exposure and interruptions to building operations. Standardized processes across departments and throughout projects to minimize associated risk and cost. Conformance to all standards and practices, enabling transparency of construction management activities.

·      Background in implementation of Life Safety Maintenance Practice with adherence to NYC Building Codes, FDA- Title 21, FDNY- NYPD and ADA compliance’s. Gate-keeper of the Project Management and EHS policies and practices.

·      Comprehensive knowledge of Energy Conservation, GREEN Building, NYSERDA  incentives of Sustainability Development, programming and fulfillment to significantly reduce carbon footprints and enable operational cost savings. From energy studies, process improvements to energy-efficient design for existing and newly constructed facilities.

·      Management and leadership methodology utilizing Six Sigma, typically surpassing project completion goals by an average of 20% on construction and reducing overall facility operations spending by 15%.

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

 

Senior Site Construction Manager – Motorola Solutions

 Cor Tech LLC – Brooklyn,  New York

1/2015 – Present

 

Project field leader at PSAC2 Bronx NY. $2.0 Billion 525,000 sf Public Safety Answering Center for NYC’s DoITT- FDNY and NYPD new 911 program. Engineering and implementing the emergency mobile radio communications facility. Responsibilities include pre construction cost estimates, vendor and subcontractor bid preparation, procurement of technical equipment, logistics for site deliveries, weekly management reports and punch lists. SOW and MOP preparation, program coordination and review with NYC Agencies for budget RFI’s and project schedule review.  Planned design room layouts with value engineering and design options.  Monitor the critical path installation milestones of the data center, radio command unit workstations consoles and a multi story rooftop microwave antenna farm.

 

 

JDS Architecture- Facilities & Project Management PC                                                                        12/ 2013- 1/ 2015

  • 120,000 SF $6.5 Mil.  30 acre ground up pharmaceutical building with high-spec exacting standards. Clean rooms, under Federal Standard 209 and processing areas of high value materials and handling protocols. Process piping systems, purified water and clean air systems. IT smart layout design. Implemented safety and security measures via regulatory agencies.  Worked with HED and City zoning code requiring Zoning Board of Appeals, Site development, photometrics, approval of County land Use NSF, FDA Title 21, certification and ASTM’s pharmaceutical application standards – Joliet Illinois.
  • EFCU-Branch Credit Union- Rockefeller Center- Design build of a 5,000 SF bank and offices- supervised all construction- Standard Classification for Bank Active Standard ASTM F1090. Security, expediting , IT Tech and digital support Audiovideo, HVAC, Life safety and tenant build out to work letter and lease agreements, move in and close out.
  • High end residential project- Lake George NY- 7,000 SF- $2.5 million design build of a custom waterfront home for a families' goal. Full interior design, a geothermal HVAC system, home theatre, FEMA P-320 safe room, land development bulkhead –ASCE, storm water runoff and erosion stabilization. Coordination with environmental and county agencies. Project under construction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Senior  Facilities Project Manager – Construction & Real Estate

 NBCUniversal-Comcast – New York, New York

11/2011 – 12/2013

 

  • Major Broadcast cable network $180 million multiphase upgrade of 30 Rockefeller Center.  Direction of architectural, engineering, construction management, facilities, real estate design and construction administration of over 1.2 million SF.  Projects included the build out and relocation of the Oxygen Network, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams Studio, The New Today Show Studio; renovation accomplished in a 3 month design- build schedule, relocation of 700 employees into  annex space for the  30 Rock building renovation project life cycle. Re-stack and facility upgrade of four 35,000 SF floors at 1221 Ave of the Americas for NBCU-Sales. Projects were successfully accomplished to meet critical on air dates, executive management deliverable and budget.

 

 

Architectural Sr. Project Consultant –  Special Projects

 New York Presbyterian Hospital –  RTSPC Pinnacle, New York, New York

 

 

10/2009 –11/ 2011

 

·      Infrastructure program director for 2 hospital campus sites over 5 million sf. and $150 Mil capital improvement. Upgrade

of ER, elevators, HVAC, electrical and system wide code compliance. Construction administration and monitoring of the operating budget and approve expenditures; interacting closely with Finance and Purchasing Departments

·      Managed the Medical Center’s Environment of Care Subcommittee. Ensure hospital compliance with all regulatory standards and guidelines for CMS, DOH, Department of Buildings, New York Fire Department, EPA and Joint Commission. Phased installations with integrated project delivery.

·      Successful completion of Technical Construction Projects for Conversion Partners & Ultimate Medical Academy.

·      A 100,000 SF installation in Tampa Florida and a 8,000 SF NYC Headquarters for a Major Medical Corporation.

·      Construction management of a 15,000 SF Architectural and Engineering project for the complete project life cycle of Monster Global. An $8 million Data Center located in Boston was commissioned on schedule and completed under projected budget.

 

 

Senior Architectural Project Director

 St. John's University – Queens, New York

9/2007 – 10/2009

 

·      Responsible for a $150 million Capital Reconstruction Master Plan of the St. John’s Queens Campus.

·      Designated Team Leader for more than 25 facility engineers, designers and contract consultants.

·      Spearheaded the strategic planning, preparation and coordination of all construction administration activities along with the Provost and University Faculty. Implemented building infrastructure upgrades for sports, church and academic facilities while reducing the CO2 -carbon footprint by 25%.  Managed construction of the Pharmaceutical College new laboratories with USP 797 Guidelines.

·      Supervised all ADA, NYC Building Code, and NYFD Life Safety compliance requirements throughout the campus.  Supervised Project Management/Documents Management System and controlled the security access to documents and data.

·      Successfully completed a 70,000 SF, $17 Million University Library as construction manager. On schedule and 15% under the GMP budget. Other projects include a Multi unit dormitory complex and a new Student Academic center.

·      Achieved Special Recognition by the President and Trustees for project cost savings being re-appropriated to University Capital Improvement. This project garnered LEED and NYCERA energy rebates resulting in an additional $200,000 savings to the University. Received the coveted “Presidents Faculty Award” for directorial accomplishments.

 

Senior Facilities Construction Manager

 NBCUniversal – New York, NY

8/1994 – 9/2007

 

·      Managed the architectural engineering, design and construction administration of over 1.2 million SF at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.  Major network, control rooms and broadcast operations projects for HDTV and Digital Conversions.

·      Accomplished on air construction scheduling and coordination with technical newsroom divisions and studio operations. Directed users of work flow and day to day document management functions.

·      Chaired progress reviews and weekly budget meetings with outside architects, engineers and contractors.  Control and appropriation of all Capital Funding for Infrastructure. Coordinated all NY State and NYC building permits and variances.

·      Achieved successful negotiations with 40 vendors and consultants, procured contracts with Construction Managers and trade unions.

·      Supervised the design and construction of the NBC-GE Medical Facility.  A 10,000 SF. State of the art center featuring critical care centers, x-ray suites, laboratories, and administration areas.

·      Designed and directed the MSNBC News Division Complex, a 200,000 SF. facility with a $52 Million budget. Project was a fast-tract, completed under budget, yielding a 10% construction cost savings. (Published in Wired Magazine, IFMA Facility of the year award)

·      Directed, construction administration of the CNBC Building Annex, a 70,000 SF., $18 Million development project which required the conversion of several broadcast studios from analog to digital HDTV. Directed the new NBC IT Center, including new equipment rooms with power room expansion and redundant UPS utilizing 500 KVA generators.

 

Director of Construction Administration

 DMC Services – Boston, Massachusetts

1/1990 – 8/1994

 

·      Directed a department of 12 staff and field engineers at the New York Power Authority field office for Long Island.

·      Spearheaded the energy analysis program and implemented construction admin. to over 25 state and county municipal buildings and school districts.

·      Supervised energy audit GREEN conservation measures with Infra Red, BMS, HVAC and complete building envelope analysis, demonstrating an average savings of 25% to customers’ gas – electrical utility bills and CO2 Reduction.

·      Achievement Award for “Most Energy Efficient Installations in 1990-91” from NY State Department of Economic Development.

·      Commendation acclaims from Nassau and Suffolk County Executive Offices for supervision of the field operation teams.

·      Effectuated business retention of over 20 companies poised to leave Long Island, thus retaining over 300 local jobs. Published in the Long Island Business News.

 

EDUCATION

·      The Cooper Union NYC, Bachelor of Architecture (Full Scholarship)

·      The American Academy, Rome, Italy. (Dean’s List selection to study abroad from Columbia Graduate School of Design and Cooper Union)

 

ADDITIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Project Architect Experience

 Davis-Brody & Bond, Stephen B Jacobs & Associates, and the Switzer Group. Representative projects include:

 

·      The Yale-New Haven Medical Center— new construction

·      The Owens Corning Building (Published in Architectural Record)— new construction

·      MIT Sports Hockey complex (Published in Architectural Record) — new construction

·      The Peninsula Hotel, NYC

·      Various multi-unit mid-rise apartment complexes and State Landmark buildings in New York City (Published in Building Design & Construction)  I 30 Barrow Street, NY, NY-

 

Professional Development

·      New York University, Certificate Program in Construction Management

·      Six Sigma, Certified Green Belt

  • Certified Red Cross CPR and AED
  • OSHA 10 Certified

Teaching

·      Faculty Member of The Institute of Design and Construction, Brooklyn, NY

Affiliations

·      Member of The American Institute of Architects (AIA)

·      International Facilities Management Association (IFMA)

·      US Green Building Council 

Elsewhere:

Education 

The Cooper Union, New York, NY, US, BArch, Architecture

Architecture- Art

Sep 1975 - May 1981
 

Awards 

Nominated facility manager of the year, Nomination

Nominated facility manager of the year 2014- NYC Chapter IFMA

2014
 

Areas of Specialization 

Skills