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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Architect Firm Grows by Acquisition

After cutting staff to survive the recession, CSA Architects is in rebuilding mode, bringing in additional employees and moving to new offices to accommodate them. Daniel Clinger, CSA founding principal and director of design, said the Woodland Hills firm is up to 14 employees after hitting a low of five when the economy struggled. Four of those employees came in last summer after Sam Marshall dissolved his Malibu interior design firm, Marshall Projects. The deal struck between Clinger and Marshall was unusual in that no money exchanged hands – only employees. “It was really something mutually beneficial so we did it that way,” Clinger said. CSA was co-founded by Clinger and partner Richard Spina in 1993. The firm specializes in hospitality projects but has worked on such diverse designs as the Air Force One Pavilion at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, private aviation facilities in Burbank and San Bernardino, retail developments in China and multifamily residential buildings throughout Los Angeles. Bringing in the Marshall Projects employees served up new work in the restaurant sector. The firm is in various phases of design work for five locations of startup artisanal pizza chain MidiCi. CSA designed MidiCi’s first location, which opened in June in Sherman Oaks. For that prototype, there is an olive tree in the middle of a circular seating area; wooden trusses in the ceiling; and a free-form, serpentine shape to the bar where diners can have beer and wine along with their pizza, Clinger said. “The bar layout will be similar at each location and the way everything goes together,” he added. Hiring employees was made easier by CSA having moved to a new space on Ventura Boulevard a year ago from another location in Woodland Hills. The new office with high ceilings and plenty of natural light suits the firm’s needs and results in better productivity, Clinger said. “While we do most of our work on computers, it is nice to have open space to work in,” he said. – Mark R. Madler

Mark Madler
Mark Madler
Mark R. Madler covers aviation & aerospace, manufacturing, technology, automotive & transportation, media & entertainment and the Antelope Valley. He joined the company in February 2006. Madler previously worked as a reporter for the Burbank Leader. Before that, he was a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago and several daily newspapers in the suburban Chicago area. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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