Building solutions for New York’s most complex properties.
Construction management, general contracting, and development.
Selected work
WHERE WE HAVE WORKED
Every address below carried a constraint that disqualifies most contractors — a full alteration agreement, a landmark designation, an occupied building, or an engineer with sign-off authority.
432 PARK AVENUE
Billionaires' Row condominium. Interior work under full alteration agreement and building engineer oversight.
15 CENTRAL PARK WEST
Repeat engagements. Floor replacement, plaster restoration, wet-blend paint, stone and grout.
10 EAST 75TH STREET
Multiple engagements including a full HVAC master plan, demolition, and structural wall repair.
LONDON TERRACE
Landmarked Chelsea complex. Interior renovation within a restricted-access building.
514 WEST 24TH STREET
West Chelsea gallery district.
62 BEACH STREET
Tribeca loft building.
4 & 99 JANE STREET
West Village townhouse work, including full residence renovation.
129 W 11TH & 241 W 12TH
Repeat West Village engagements across restoration, security, and finish work.
Design-side references
Five separate engagements for an AD100-listed interior designer — faux finishing, stone floor restoration, wallpaper, and private-quarters work. Repeat installation work for Accents of France.
Full portfolio
Project sheets with scope, duration, and value on request.
Positioning
The building is the hard part. That is what we handle.
Alteration agreements. Landmark constraints. Occupied floors. Restricted freight and noise windows. Building engineers with sign-off authority. These are the conditions that disqualify most contractors — and they are the conditions we work in every day.
Black Squirrel delivers construction management and general contracting for owners, developers, and design teams, with precision, discretion, and control. We operate selectively, so every project receives direct principal oversight.
Precision
Scope defined before a price is issued. No ambiguity carried into the field.
Control
Disciplined coordination across every trade, under the building's rules, on the schedule agreed.
Discretion
Occupied buildings, private clients, and sensitive addresses handled without incident.
Why Black Squirrel
A JOB IN A DEMANDING BUILDING HAS TWO BAD OPTIONS.
Large construction managers will not prioritize it — the job draws a junior project manager and a full overhead load. Small general contractors cannot carry the insurance, cannot produce documentation that survives a prequalification review, and have never read an alteration agreement. Neither is a comfortable recommendation to attach your name to.
The large CM firm
- Junior staffing below their threshold
- Corporate overhead in every line item
- Your project is not the one they protect
The small GC
- Coverage below owner thresholds
- Documentation that fails review
- Gone by punch list, absent on warranty
BLACK SQUIRREL IS THE THIRD OPTION
Institutional process at boutique scale. Licensed, insured, and federally registered, with reporting and close-out documentation a project manager can forward without editing — delivered by a firm small enough that the principal is on site.
UHNW & institutional
Work delivered in Manhattan's most demanding buildings.
Financial discipline
Construction expertise backed by a finance background.
Direct oversight
Principal-level involvement on every project, start to finish.
Quality & accountability
We stand behind the work and build relationships that last.
Services
WHAT WE DO
CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
Owner's-side management where a national CM is overkill and a subcontractor is not enough.
- Bid leveling and trade buyout
- Schedule development and enforcement
- Alteration-agreement compliance
- COI and lien-waiver administration
- Weekly reporting in your format
- Close-out and warranty packages
GENERAL CONTRACTING
Self-performed and managed trades across interiors at every finish level.
- Full renovations, kitchens and baths
- Demolition and structural modification
- Carpentry and custom millwork
- Plaster, stone, and specialty finishes
- MEP and HVAC systems upgrades
- Landmark-district exterior work
PRECONSTRUCTION
Defined scope. Clear budget. No ambiguity carried into the field.
- Budget development and cost modeling
- Scope definition and trade coordination
- Value engineering without cheapening
- Material allowances and selections logic
- Feasibility and constraints assessment
- Build-ready scope development
PROPERTY STEWARDSHIP
The reason clients call us back. Most contractors are unreachable by month eight.
- Annual service agreements
- Preventive maintenance programs
- Warranty and punch-list response
- Rapid response coordination
- Vendor management
- One point of contact, indefinitely
What makes a property complex
Process & engagement
HOW WE WORK
Intake & qualification
Scope, budget, timeline, decision structure, and drawings confirmed before anyone walks the site.
Site consultation
Feasibility, constraints, construction approach, sequencing, and a real budget framework.
Preconstruction
Detailed scope, cost development, trade coordination, allowances, value engineering.
Construction & close-out
Managed execution, disciplined reporting, clean finish. No loose ends, no surprises.
Engagement model
We do not issue engineered bids before scope is verified. Early-stage work is engaged and paid for, then credited toward the project if we move forward together — which protects your budget from a number built on assumptions, and our time from speculative estimating.
Consultation
60–90 minute walkthrough. Feasibility, constraints, and a rough cost framework.
Preconstruction
Detailed scope, cost development, and schedule planning.
Credited if awarded
Fees are credited toward the project when we move forward together.
Contact
Send us the scope.
Tell us what you are building and where. We will come back within a week with a straight answer on whether we are the right firm for it — and who is, if we are not.