Costas Kondylis
Architecture and design firm Costas Kondylis and Partners has dissolved. Three of its former partners, Alan Goldstein, Steven Hill and David West, have created their own group, Goldstein, Hill and West Architects, as partner Costas Kondylis begins his own firm, Kondylis Design.
Alan Goldstein said that “the firms were going in different directions” and that “Kondylis is pursuing a certain interest that he has.” He added that the decision was made final last Wednesday night.
Kondylis, however, cited different reasons for the group’s fracture.
“The market dictated the split,” Kondylis said. He said that 50 percent of the firm’s business dropped in the last year and that, while the firm’s clientele had remained loyal, the amount of work that those clients brought in diminished, and was not enough to sustain the partnership.
Kondylis is best known for his involvement with many of Donald Trump’s buildings, including the 72-story Trump Tower.
Despite their different interpretations of the split’s cause, both Goldstein and Kondylis were adamant that the dissolution of their partnership was amicable and that the employees were split evenly among the two groups. Kondylis said he plans to try to maintain a strategic alliance with his former partners, and added that if the market rebounds, he will try to involve them in future projects.
For his part, Kondylis said that his new firm will focus more on design and will be more “master plan oriented.” He said he hopes at some point that he will be able to help developers with their real estate deals.
Kondylis acknowledged that the split involved layoffs, but declined to specify how many employees were let go. He assured The Real Deal that the public can expect a press release in a few days, elaborating on the number of people lost in the split.
Earlier this year, architecture firm Philip Johnson/Alan Ritchie Architects sued Costas Kondylis and Partners, its long-time collaborator, for $163,855 in unpaid architectural fees and other expenses, which The Real Deal reported.