Repeat business is hallmark of growing design firm

Real Estate Weekly, Sept 18, 1996

"Seventy-five percent of what we do is repeat business, taking on new jobs both large and small, for clients with whom we've been working for years," says Ted Moudis, AIA, founder and principal of Ted Moudis Associates. "The pursuit of a brand new client is certainly exciting, but there is nothing as fulfilling as being called upon to handle a new assignment by a customer to whom we've proven ourselves and earned trust through past performance."

Developing long-lasting, trusting relationships with clients enabled Ted Moudis to flourish even at a time when most real estate and design-related businesses faltered.

Formed at the heart of the real estate recession, New York-based Ted Moudis Associates has grown from a 20-person shop to its current size of 40 professionals who design and direct the construction of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of work each year.

A habitual staple on Interior Design Magazine's list of Design Giants, Ted Moudis Associates continues to defy the challenges of the economy and the real estate market by delivering sound and attractive design solutions - on time and on budget - for clients.

"The key to maintaining fruitful, long-term relationships with clients and contacts in the market is to deliver on your promises, to follow-through on every detail and every commitment," Moudis explains. "The firm is staffed with the highest quality of people in every position. Our system of teamwork enables us to be incredibly thorough in terms of both the big picture and tiniest detail. Our clients rely on the Ted Moudis Associates team to make sure that every detail is finished to the exact specification."

Many of the country's most important businesses have grown to rely on Ted Moudis Associates. Among the firm's roster of clients are such prestigious names as Smith Barney, Dow Jones, Societe Generate, Eastman Kodak, Chase Manhattan Bank, Tiffany, Waterhouse Securities, Instinet, Great Lakes Reinsurance, Associated Press, P.F. Collier and Herzog Heine Geduld. In addition, Ted Moudis Associates has completed more than 100 individual stores for the Speedo division of Warnaco.

"Ted Mouddis is clearly one of the most professional people I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with, and he is the thermostat that sets the temperature for the entire organization," says Dennis Marino, president and CEO of Sherwood Securities, for whom Ted Moudis recently designed a 43,000 square-foot office with a 200-position trading floor in Jersey City. "There is a responsiveness throughout the organization that enabled us to create, through a cooperative effort, a trading floor and executive space that fulfilled our needs and desires."

According to any number of Ted Moudis Associates' clients, the personal interest and direct supervision by the firm's principals and senior level designers is among the firm's most compelling features. Says Michael Weinberg, executive vice president of Smith Barney, "One of the key benefits I find of working with Ted Moudis Associates is that if there is ever a problem or a question, I can go right to Ted and get an answer back; he's really on top of everything his people do."

And Mr. Weinberg should know. Over the last five years, Ted Moudis Associates has directed the design and development of numerous facilities, including a 280,000 square-foot operations and printing center at the Brooklyn Army Terminal, and the redevelopment of Smith Barney's entire 320,000 square-foot 34th Street facility.

"Ted personally oversees our work, and I know I'm not the only client who notices this. He remains accessible and involved. Even as his firm grows, he continues to deliver the same excellent service," Weinberg says.

Among the other virtues Weinberg extols is the fact that Ted Moudis is always available - and at his desk - to take calls as early at 7 a.m. Says Moudis, pointing to the numerous phone lines lit up after 7 p.m., "We're here early and we're here late. We foster a professional environment where members of this firm know that their contributions make a difference. This has paid off in that people are here working, making these important contributions, every day as early at 7 a.m. and well into the evening." The result of his management philosophy and tradition, he says, is greater client satisfaction as well as greater productivity.

Moudis set the ground rules for Ted Moudis Associates in 1990 after a 15-year career as architect and partner at another New York design firm. A lifelong New Yorker, (originally from Queens and now a resident of Manhasset with his wife and two children), Moudis says he is inspired by the energy and power of New York City's corporate environment. Yet he is ruled by the sensible and aesthetic demands his clients' needs make for the successful design of their interiors. For this, his clients are grateful.

"Ted Moudis is very conscientious with respect to his clients' needs, as sensitive to the emotional needs of the client as well as the space modification requirements. Ted actually takes time to discover how to fulfill the client's architectural needs in conformity with the client's human needs," says John Herzog, chairman of NASDAQ trading giant Herzog Heine Geduld, for which Ted Moudis Associates designed all corporate facilites. Most recently, Ted Moudis Associates performed full design services for Herzog HeineGeduld's 100,000square-foot installation with a 200-position trading room at Newport Tower in Jersey City, as well as the expansion and redesign of the firm's 40,000 square-foot office at 26 Broadway.