MVE Hires Savopoulos, Promotes 25

IRVINE, CA-Locally based MVE & Partners, an architecture planning and design firm, has hired Marios Savopoulos as a principal to lead the development of the firm's mixed-use placemaking studio. In addition, the firm has promoted 25 employees, including 19 promotions to the associate position, three to associate partner, two senior associate partners and a director of Asian operations.

Savopoulos joins more than 100 professionals in the firm's Irvine headquarters. His responsibilities at MVE will include cultivating new business relationships, and he joins a team of principals that includes Richard Castillo, Jeff Larsen, Ken Nilmeier and Darin Schoolmeester.

Savopoulos brings more than 25 years of experience in mixed-use design and planning, including lifestyle and high-end retail, entertainment, theater, office and hospitality. Most of his career has been spent forming trendsetting destinations, combining restaurant, hotel, office, specialty retail and multifamily residential components to create communities. Prior to joining MVE, he served as senior principal at Perkowitz + Ruth Architects, where he founded the P + R Placemaking Studio.

“Marios' extensive experience in diverse project types will drive the growth of our place-making studio, defining a new direction for the mixed-use communities we design for our clients,” says Rick Emsiek, partner, president and COO at MVE. “We are expanding the definition of multi-use by incorporating office, entertainment and hospitality into residential and retail projects, with Marios leading us to the next level of innovation.”

Promotions abound at West Coast architecture firms this week. As GlobeSt.com reported earlier, landscape architecture firm EPTDesign has promoted Scott Horsley and Claire Latané of the Pasadena office and Ian Morris of the Irvine office to senior associate. These three team members have been an essential component to the company's growth and reputation.