Giffels Webster

Giffels Webster has worked on Michigan land development since 1952 and runs its practice from 28 West Adams Avenue in downtown Detroit, with additional offices in Washington Township and Birmingham. The firm pairs civil engineering and surveying with community planning, landscape architecture and GIS, which lets it carry a site from entitlement through construction staking. It held the civil scope on Ford’s restoration of Michigan Central Station in Corktown, a six-year rehabilitation of a 1913 terminal that reopened in June 2024. Giffels Webster also worked on the U.S. Port of Entry for the Gordie Howe International Bridge. The firm does not publish a headcount.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge work gives a concrete picture of where this firm sits on a project. At the U.S. Port of Entry, Giffels Webster provided construction staking for light poles, storm sewer, sanitary sewer and watermain. On the Hudson’s site in downtown Detroit, the mixed-use redevelopment of the former J.L. Hudson’s department store, it handled construction staking and positional monitoring for both the block building and the tower. That is the survey crew that keeps a very large job honest, and it is a different service line from the planning work the firm is better known for.

The firm’s own framing is that it is a multidisciplinary consultancy of planners, surveyors, landscape architects, civil engineers and GIS specialists, working with public and private clients for over 70 years. That mix is the point: zoning consulting under the Clearzoning name sits next to civil engineering, GIS next to landscape architecture, so a municipality can run an ordinance rewrite and a streetscape design through one firm.

Market sectors are listed as public works, municipal, residential, transportation, education, office and industrial, parks and trails, healthcare, and mixed use. Downtown revitalisation shows up repeatedly, including work for the City of Grand Ledge following a 2022 Michigan Economic Development Corporation grant.

Leadership is publicly recognised often enough to be a signal in itself. President and Partner Mike Kozak, PE, was named a 2026 Michigan Inspiring Leader by Corp! Magazine. Partner and civil engineer Nancy Standish, PE, LEED-AP, was named a Crain’s Detroit Business Notable Leader in architecture, engineering and construction. Senior project manager Brent Kraft, PE, was named a 2026 Rising Star by Zweig Group. The firm also runs a structured internship programme and sent a delegation to NPC26 in Detroit to lead housing discussions.

Offices are in downtown Detroit at 28 West Adams Avenue, plus Washington Township and Birmingham. GIS clients use the firm for asset management and mapping as much as for design work, which is a useful entry point for a community that is not yet building anything.