By Jessica Busch  |  jbusch@cumming-group.com

Cumming today announced a merger with Lehrer, LLC, expanding the breadth and depth of the company’s expertise and enabling it to provide unmatched owner advisory services to its growing East Coast client base.

The merger will combine Lehrer, LLC with Cumming’s operations in Boston, New Jersey, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Miami, resulting in a new Cumming division called Lehrer Cumming. The new division will focus on providing project management and related services throughout the eastern U.S. and will operate under the day-to-day leadership of Peter M. Lehrer, CEO at Lehrer, LLC. Gavin Middleton, former COO of Lehrer, LLC, and Derek Hutchison, Cumming’s EVP in New York, will serve as Executive Vice Presidents for Lehrer Cumming. Finlay Cumming, founder and CEO of Cumming, will provide overall leadership for the entire company.

By joining forces, Cumming’s total head count increases to approximately 700 team members across 31 offices, and its NYC team expands to 80.

“Our decision to merge with Lehrer, LLC enables us to provide the unmatched value and personalized service of a boutique company, while at the same time offering clients greater access to expert resources across a significant geographic footprint,” said Cumming, CEO of Cumming.

Peter Lehrer co-founded his first company, Lehrer McGovern, Inc., in 1979. Lehrer McGovern, a construction management firm that consistently ranked among the top such companies in the United States, later merged with Bovis Ltd., an international construction firm. As Chief Executive Officer of all U.S.-based Bovis Ltd. subsidiary companies, Lehrer was responsible for managing a staff of 2,000 that completed billions of dollars of work annually. He then founded Lehrer, LLC, a construction advisory firm that has served the New York market since 1996, and which has earned itself a sterling reputation for helping clients deliver high-profile construction projects.

“Cumming and Lehrer, LLC both have proven track records of consistently adding value to some of Manhattan’s most complex projects, and the joining of our teams will provide our collective client base with even more experience-driven resources to help achieve their development goals,” said Hutchison.

Lehrer, LLC projects have included the Whitney Museum of American Art, Columbia University, Rockefeller University, Barnard College, the expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, the redevelopment of LaGuardia Airport, JetBlue Terminal 5 at JFK, 15 Central Park West, Bloomberg Headquarters at 731 Lexington Avenue, and 220 Central Park South.

Cumming’s diverse portfolio includes an array of work in the healthcare, education, commercial, hospitality, retail, entertainment, and high-end residential sectors totaling more than $150 billion in project value. Major regional and national projects and clients include Waldorf Astoria New York, The Witkoff Group, Kaiser Permanente, Facebook, Google, and many others.

“I have had a long and successful history working with the Cumming team, and this merger provides our clients with even greater depth,” said Middleton. “Combining our expertise and resources with Cumming allows us to meet and exceed the expanded needs of our current clients.”

“It will also provide important growth opportunities for the Lehrer, LLC staff,” added Lehrer. “We couldn’t ask for a better operational and cultural fit.”