GREC Architects

GREC Architects is a Chicago practice working across multifamily, mixed-use, hospitality and adaptive reuse, with a portfolio weighted toward dense urban sites in the city and a national conversion practice built on top of it. The firm is design architect for the $162 million conversion of 500 North Michigan Avenue, a 1968 office tower originally designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, into 320 apartments. The project turns vacant floors three through 23 into residential space, adds a 25th floor of amenity space with a rooftop pool, and delivers 64 affordable units alongside 256 market-rate apartments on the Magnificent Mile.

The GREC studio occupies Suite 300 at 645 North Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago, reachable at 312.661.1500. The team page carries roughly eighteen bios covering architects, interior designers, planners and studio staff.

Two managing principals run the practice. David Ervin trained at Virginia Tech, moved to Chicago in 1989, was a charter staff member at DeStefano+Partners and became a GREC principal in 1999; he has led work for United Airlines and McDonald’s Corporation and is licensed in Illinois and New York. Greg Randall studied at the University of Wisconsin with a certificate from Ricardo Bofill’s Taller de Arquitectura in Barcelona, earned his Illinois license in 1987 and joined GREC in 2004; he holds licenses in five states. Principal Ryan Von Drehle has been with the firm since 2002 and manages studio standards and documentation processes. Principal Dennis DeCapri holds both an Illinois architecture license and an Illinois contractor license, and previously ran the construction side of Piedmont Group.

The portfolio leans toward hospitality, mid- to high-density residential, commercial and mixed-use developments, and corporate interiors. Named projects on the site include Ace Hotel Chicago, Hoxton Hotel Chicago, One Bennett Park and EMME, all in Chicago. Under Randall’s direction the studio has taken commercial, resort and residential commissions across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Professional affiliations run through the staff bios: AIA membership, the International Interior Design Association, the Urban Land Institute and the US Green Building Council. Associate Principal Leah Raab, a University of Michigan graduate with experience on more than five million square feet of built space, is an Illinois-licensed architect and a LEED accredited professional. Several staff came up through internships and returned full time, including designers who joined after studying in Chicago on visiting programs.