Gary was honestly a godsend!
He took on a very difficult project, and overcame several legal, structural, and regulatory obstacles, to bring my project to permit approval. The project was to renovate a 100+ year old, 3-story building, through the aforementioned obstacles, in a city as tough as SF - so it was no easy feat!
Gary navigated working with multiple stakeholders: me, my partner, the structural engineer, and a multitude of government officials. He's a very good listener, so he quickly understood the project's direction and was able to provide ideas and brainstorm in a way that was easy and fun to work with him. He also knows the building, planning, and historical codes incredibly well - so his abilities to mix his knowledge with his skills of listening and brainstorming translated into coming up with super helpful and strategic SOLUTIONS to ensure compliance with codes that the city APPROVED.
I also enjoyed having healthy debates with him. As an opinionated home-owner who actually knows nothing about codes, I had opinions that he -very professionally- told me were not accurate, which I was incredibly appreciative of. When I was wrong, he offered his expertise in a humble and tactful way, and made me see that the route I thought to take may not be the best route. Knowing you're working with someone smart, knowledgeable, capable, emotionally intelligent, strategic and who can help steer you in the right direction was so incredibly valuable.
Also - and this one is especially important - when he said he'd do something, he did it, by the date promised, and with great attention to detail.
If you have the opportunity to work with Gary, do it; I promise you won't be disappointed! read more