Peter's personality is unique. He is patient, soft-spoken, thoughtful and generous. We've found…read morehim to be a very good fit for us from an architectural standpoint. He appreciates nuances in character and personality (of his clients) and knows how to incorporate these traits into what he designs. He does lack occasional attention to bookkeeping detail (like getting our email addresses and dates correct), but we never found this to be a bother. He is exceptionally accurate with what he does for a living and so far, we've found his network of builders to be very similar. We plan on using him for our landscape design as well. I will update this as our project moves along. Some questions I'll try to answer include: 1. Timeliness 2. Managerial skills 3. Adeptness at getting permits and projects approved 4. Functionality of space designed 5. Translation of ideas from paper to real life (we'll try to gauge how builders respond to his design ideas). So far, my wife and I have been extremely pleased.

If I could give a lower rating than one, I would. We had hoped hiring an architect would save us…read moretime and money, spending our hard earned money in the best ways possible while utilizing a professional who has the experience to guide us in this process and make it enjoyable. We thought we were doing the right thing, but unfortunately we chose the wrong person. Hiring Peter Cooper proved to be the exact opposite of this in EVERY way. When we first met, we gave him a budget and discussed our needs. He noted it was a challenge but was warm and bubbly and told us everything we were after should be able to be achieved within reason. We were sold a pipe dream in that the first two quotes I received from builders (one from his 'most economical' suggestion) were over 50% higher than the top of our budget. Yes I realize numbers cannot be known, and builders will vary but as a professional if you ignore my budget or cannot even come within 10-20% of it with a professional guess, I believe it's time to retire. He took ZERO responsibility for this and keep referring to his 'agreement' which just tells me this is a common theme with him and I assume many are just scared to stand up to him because he is supposed to be the pro. He deflected any and all responsibility and even had the audacity to claim "that budget was never made clear to me at all" which of course was a total lie. In fact, he was the 'unprofessional' when I challenged him to the fact that he wasn't meeting our needs. I was baited and switched...and he threw me out of his office (actually he walked out in a huff like a coward and left me there, a true child in an elderly frame of a fraudster). Peter also hand draws everything, which may have been state of the art in the 70s, but as a consumer, I am not trained to understand these drawings and making revisions becomes a much longer process and of course much more expensive from a time stand point as well as the fact he has to outsource having the final documents drawn up in CAD for a builder and permits to actually used. I had read an article of the questions to ask and architect before you hire, and one of those questions was "do you personally use CAD or some sort of computer aided software" and to avoid those that do not. I should have gone with my gut there and I hope someone reading this won't make the same mistakes I did. I learned a $2000 lesson today, please do more careful research than I did before choosing an architect for your building plans.

Jim consulted with me several times on my gut renovation project and provided expert advice. He…read morebrings expertise from two decades of experience to the table, and also his work is of impeccable quality. I saw a passive house he was gut renovating in Park Slope, and it was absolutely stunning! Jim knows how to preserve historic details while bringing the design into the modern era in a tasteful, classic way. He exudes calmness and wisdom and is a pleasure to be around. Full disclosure in that I ultimately had to choose a less experienced architect because Jim's fee, although completely reasonable given his level of skill and expertise, was a bit out of our price range.

Jim was great to work with. We did a semi-gut renovation in 3 bedroom/2 bathroom apt. The quality…read moreof his work and suggestions were exactly what we wanted based on my husband and my feedback. Jim is very detailed and each week during renovation, we had him manage the project with the contractor to ensure the final output was done properly. Most Manhattan apartments are not symmetrical, so the early stage on doing things a certain way goes a long way on the final look. He understands plumbing, and electrical well to communicate to our contractors. He referred us to a HVAC engineer. When it came to interior design, we had Sarah who provided feedback and suppliers information. She was also very helpful. Jim knows the DOB process well and helped us resolved many issues even during covid and DOB rule changed in 2020 and 2021. We also had him manage the project with the contractors. The contractors don't have the same design eyes and were a bit sloppy and forgetful so it was imperative to have Jim help us. Urban charges by the hour and provided an accurate estimate of the cost. Make sure what projects he's working on so he can allocate time properly. In the beginning with the design drawing schematic, it took a while cause he was on a couple of brownstone projects but overall still have a very positive experience with Jim. He was responsive.

Nicholas Contracting did our split-level gut renovation recently. We could not have been happier…read more Brothers Nick, Mario, and Anthony and their crew of regular workers brought a level of craftsmanship to our project that just isn't seen anymore. Nick came highly recommended from two neighbors and a local friend who'd used Nick & team for not only their primary home but for their vacation home, as well. Nick or Mario are on site every day work is happening, and they run a tight ship - thorough, quick, and clean. This was our first renovation, so we weren't always able to articulate our requests in contractor-speak. Nick was especially adept at interpreting what we were asking for, and he was a problem solver who could figure out a way to make our "while we're at it..." requests happen without ever involving our architect. And he has a memory like a trap -- you think your "hey what if we..." questions are being humored, but he makes all of those things happen or gives you a valid reason why it couldn't. Whether it was huge mechanical projects like plumbing or electrical or intricate projects like tiling and molding, they approached it like the professionals and craftsmen they are. Mario took personal pride in his artistic tile layouts, even surprising us with a pattern in a notch in our shower. (We love it, and it tied the room together.) Being first-timers, we were frequently overwhelmed with the number of decisions we had to make, from dozens of wood flooring options to hundreds of tile options and dozens of appliances to plumbing fixtures. Nick was able to help us narrow our decisions, but when we just couldn't decide, he would make a final suggestion for us and we were always happy with his suggestion. Nick's network of trusted vendors was always spot-on, and they all know and trust Nick and vouch for his team. The end result was beyond our expectations. And Nick has responded to every question or request since finishing the project quickly and professionally. We recommend Nicholas Contracting without reservation.

From the owner: We can handle any job big or small. We do all phases of construction from beginning to end. We…read morespecialize in quality and service to all of our clients and have been doing so for many years. Call us to see how we can help you with your next construction job.