A New York City-based construction company is looking to take a greater bite out of the Big Apple and New England region.

Schimenti Construction, a firm with over 250 employees, recently reported a substantial backlog of work combined with a healthy pipeline mix across the retail, hospitality and commercial sectors. Due to the strong footing, the company shared plans with Construction Dive to continue to expand projects in these sectors.

To do this, Schimenti recently hired Jim Scarpone as its new director of business development. The former director of business development for Boston-based Shawmut Design and Construction is a member of VMSD’S advisory board, Shop! Association board of directors, Innovating Commerce Serving Communities and Retail Design Institute’s New York chapter.

The move places Schimenti in great position to take advantage of Scarpone's more than 20 years experience in both the New York metro and New England markets. Some of his track record of winning and delivering major flagship projects in those markets include:

• Puma store on Fifth Avenue, New York.
• The NBA Store on Fifth Avenue, New York.
• Forty Five Ten boutique at Hudson Yards, New York.
• Victoria’s Secret on Fifth Avenue, New York.
• Dyson electronics store on Fifth Avenue, New York.
• Nespresso boutique in Boston.

Schimenti has specialized in the retail and hospitality sectors over the past three generations. Those are exactly the industries the company wishes to expand during this growth period, said Scarpone.

“For example, [growth sectors include] luxury retail, hospitality, fast casual restaurants, chef driven concepts, hotel restaurants and amenity spaces,” said Scarpone. “On the commercial side, these include landlord repositioning work, building lobbies and amenity spaces.”

That’s because retail, restaurants and health clubs are experiencing a growth spurt coming out of the pandemic, according to Scarpone. He also points to the “need for commercial landlords to create reasons for their tenants to come back to the office” and “the need for hotel operators to upgrade and modernize their properties” as major trends Schimenti will look to take advantage of.

Schimenti optimistic on retail, hotel sectors despite overall pullback

Nevertheless, starts in commercial construction plunged 20% in May due to sharp pullback in office and retail activity, according to Dodge Construction Network. The mostly private sectors of the building market, such as offices and retail, continue to struggle, said Richard Branch, Dodge chief economist.

Amazon recently demolished nine of its Virginia office buildings to make way for a data center campus. Meanwhile, more public and private developers are evaluating how to transform vacant office buildings for new uses, which would inevitably lead to conversion or demolition, said Jessica Morin, director of U.S. office research at CBRE.

But Scarpone remains optimistic these sectors will bounce back, especially in the New York metro area and New England region.

“I’ve spent the last 20 years of my career based in these two markets and Schimenti has established a solid foundation in both the New York and New England regions,” said Scarpone. “There is room for use to expand across the sectors we serve.”