Raymond Smith joined Watershed Partners in October 2002 to provide a New York presence and local contact for the expanding list of Watershed clients in the tri-state area.
His first assignment for Watershed Partners was the year long renovation of Ian Schrager's Paramount Hotel on West 46th Street. Mr. Smith provided daily on site supervision of multiple contractors, coordinating renovation of the guest rooms with hotel operations so that the hotel could remain open while all the rooms were renovated. That was followed by in depth project management work on projects in New York City for David Barton Gym, L’Oreal, Frette and Polo Ralph Lauren. In 2005, Raymond was again tapped to manage an Ian Schrager project, this time overseeing the construction of a condominium building attached to the historic Gramercy Park Hotel.
In the winter of 2006, Raymond was introduced by Barteluce Architects to New Jersey car dealer/entrepreneur Paul Miller, who was planning a new 74,000 square foot “Glass Guggenheim” BMW dealership in Wayne New Jersey. Raymond spent the next twenty months orchestrating every aspect of this complex project, leading the project team through site logistics, permitting and construction challenges brought about by the unusual design. The project opened weeks ahead of schedule and under budget. Raymond has since done ongoing work for Paul Miller on a dealership renovation and new project feasibility.
Raymond returned to the heart of New York City to take the lead in Ralph Lauren’s most aggressive new store development in a decade: a new ground up building at 72nd and Madison to replace the existing Polo Sport store. This project involves demolition of an existing fifty year old structure while maintaining the façade of the adjacent one hundred year old brownstone, followed by construction of a new Ralph Lauren flagship store from footings up. The new 35,000 square foot, five story building will incorporate the design of an 18th century French chateau in order to complement the existing Landreigh Building across the street.
Mr. Smith has a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management from Wentworth in Boston, MA. He has over seventeen years of varied construction experience in New York City working with Morse Diesel International, Bovis Lend Lease and (for the last seven years) with Watershed Partners.