From the South Shore to Dubai
by Glenn RittCubellis was a modest $5 million architectural design firm seven years ago. Today, it is a $50 million diversified business with an ever-expanding model that emphasizes international expertise delivered through local channels across the entire country.
The Boston-based firm’s imprint is spreading rapidly across Southeast Massachusetts, through the acquisition of a Weymouth civil engineering company, designing the Colony Place shopping mall at Route 3’s Exit 7, as well an ambitious mixed-use development at Cordage Park in Plymouth.
What had been a 50-person firm in 2001 now numbers 370 – and the growth continues. The firm is guided by a comprehensive business plan that exudes the detail and creativity of an experienced architect, applying the best practices for success to a fragmented A/E industry.
At the center of the company is 50-year-old Len Cubellis, whose roots are deeply planted in the South Shore and Cape Cod. Generations of his family have lived and worked in Buzzards Bay, while he owns private and investment properties in Wareham’s Onset Bay.
In recent years, Cubellis has captured front-page headlines with his passionate –
and some have claimed oversized – plans for CanalSide Commons, a retail/commercial/residential complex located directly off the Bourne Bridge Rotary in Bourne. Local and Cape Cod Commission opposition has whittled this project down and cost Cubellis millions of dollars and years of delay.
Had CanalSide Commons been situated on the other side of the canal, its fate undoubtedly would have been quite different, considering the rapid-fire planning, construction, and leasing of nearby Wareham Crossing at the intersection of Route 28 and Route 25. (See related story on page ___.) One needs to consider if this was yet another missed opportunity for the town of Bourne to create an economic engine for its future.
Growing across the Atlantic
The frustrations and publicity surrounding CanalSide Commons are in stark contrast to Cubellis’ steady and below-the-radar successes elsewhere across the South Shore – and far beyond – where his company’s diversified and integrated skill sets are quickly establishing a competitive edge.
“We found that we could win more business after we merged in 2000 with Bradford Saivetz Associates, a design and engineering firm with a 50-year history in Braintree,” said Cubellis. “That was a revelation. We began to fill a niche, providing developers with integrated design and engineering services across residential, commercial, and retail spheres.”
Cubellis emphasizes the word “merger” as opposed to “acquisition.” Each transaction over the last five years has underscored the need to maintain the local presence and particular character of each associate. At the same time, in a field that depends on professional talent, each new partner adds overall equity to the business model.
“I would rather own 50 percent of an ever-expanding company than 75 percent of a much smaller or stagnant firm,” said Cubellis. The key is finding the right partners in the right locations. These now include Chicago-based Mann Gin Dubin & Frazier; Virginia-based Design Concepts Architects; New Jersey interior design firm Ecoplan; GBCQ Architects of Philadelphia; SGR Architects and JLT Consulting, both in Florida; Seyffer + Koch Architectural Group in New Jersey; and Vinick & Associates in Connecticut.
This year, Cubellis ventured across the Atlantic for the first time, partnering with a Rome, Italy-based architectural firm to create Cubellis Costa International, with the first offices opening in Dubai. It is through this partnership, which evolved out of friendship with a former college classmate, that Cubellis will take its growth model internationally.
Twice a year, this growing group of equity partners and their leadership staff congregate to solidify the organization’s mission and project future growth. Cubellis maintains a dynamic map of the world, with scores of dots designating where they plan to expand next.
As he stares at the map, which is built into an evolving PowerPoint presentation, he gleefully suggests a company with 100 locations worldwide someday.
But, like any smart business person, he along with his colleagues have established a six-point mission statement that reinforces a strong corporate foundation and culture capable of supporting the influx of so much new and different talent, he explained:
• The company’s work has a profound impact on the people it serves.
• Support company designers so they can focus completely on their clients.
• Assure that the principal shareholders work directly with clients.
• Develop and support specialized “intensively-focused” teams.
• Incorporate clients directly into those teams.
• Deliver sustainable, cost-effective results unique to each client.
Think globally, act locally
Cubellis is intent to think globally but continue to act locally. The Boston-based operations are increasingly serving as an efficient managerial and corporate support infrastructure, enabling principal-led teams to focus their efforts through the hands-on management of projects, while strengthening client relationships and serving as mentors for their teams.
Underscoring all this growth is technology – especially broadband communications. “Once we realized we could share work between our Weymouth and Boston offices, it became increasingly apparent that the Internet would allow us to seamlessly connect beyond Massachusetts and we could, in effect, grow anywhere in the world,” he said.
“Markets are maturing and business is changing. National franchises and large Real Estate Investment Trusts want firms that can grow with them over large platforms, but that also understand the local landscape. Our growth allows us the opportunity to pursue national projects, but deliver and service them locally,” continued Cubellis.
To date, most of the company’s projects are local and extremely community-based. “We don’t rely on gigantic projects, but rather those that I describe as being within the ‘belly’ of America. We do plenty of work in the $5 million to $25 million range, while still being able to attend to and successfully complete smaller projects, as well as combine our teams to work on large-scale projects such as our $200 million dollar mixed-use project in Sarasota, Florida, a $250 million film production studio in New Orleans, and a $100 million dollar retail project in Northborough, Massachusetts.
Changing the model for architects
Behind the evolution of Cubellis, as the firm now brands itself, clients want the expertise and capabilities of a large firm, but require the personal attention of a principal at the local level.
“I recall vividly one experience that put the future in perspective for me,” recalled Cubellis during an interview in his expansive Boston office-loft that intentionally lacks walls or enclosed offices, creating an open architecture that encourages communication and collegiality.
“It was a sea change in my view of our firm and business plan. There was an architect from Washington, D.C. She wanted to sell her firm. She was struggling with the business. She was exhausted and helpless. Her ship was going down and she clearly felt alone in her struggle to keep her firm of 25 staff members afloat.
“I said to myself, ‘I will never allow our firm to be based solely on me.’ We are going to build a living company geared for growth – not reliant on two or three people with no succession plan.”
“From my standpoint, we have an opportunity to change the architecture and interior design model … build a different culture,” he explained. “Our industry is fragmented. Most still operate like mom-and-pop firms. Eighty-six percent of our industry is composed of firms with fewer than 30 people. They simply don’t have the internal resources – financial, administrative, human resources – to support growth.
“The key is how to consolidate without losing our core strength: intimacy. I have an architect’s passion for creating things, but not just buildings. That means forming relationships with other professionals with similar talents, cultures, and drive – so we can combine resources and access them across time zones. It’s a formula of one plus one equals at least three.”
Today, there are five senior shareholders among some 50 principals. They oversee distinct practice areas such as mixed-use, workplace solutions, retail, residential, academic and hospitality. In addition, there is a corporate-wide chief financial officer, business development leader, and chief administrative officer.
Every principal/shareholder must buy into a common vision and specific strategies that are reviewed and redesigned at the company’s semiannual retreats – and sometimes Outward Bound sessions. The events are so well-attended that Cubellis recently had to rent over 300 rooms at a beach resort on the Cape.
Despite rapid-fire growth, ultimately Cubellis, as the prime partner, remains, in his own words, “a South Shore/Cape Cod guy.” It’s why he remains stubbornly intent to develop CanalSide Commons, whether it becomes a predominantly Chapter 40B residential community – something he can do without local zoning approval – or a more modest village center project with retail and perhaps a hotel.
“CanalSide Commons will definitely move forward,” he vows. “This project is too important to the economic success and vitality of the town of Bourne to not see it through to fruition.”
He’s also committed to Onset, where he has invested personally and helped form the Onset Village Association. “I think back to 15 years ago when I first became involved in Onset – it was a community in need of revitalization. But I saw huge potential there, and that potential has now been realized through Onset’s renaissance.”
Published in Plymouth County Business January 2008
Glenn Ritt Glenn Ritt is editor and co-publisher of Cape Business Publishing LLC. He is the former publisher of Cape Cod Community Newspapers and editor of The Bergen Record in New Jersey. 
Cape Business Newsletters
Keep up with the latest issues affecting your business and your life! To sign up for any of the Cape Business newsletters, click here.