Hamilton Anderson Architects leverages work on MGM Grand into national exposure

MGM Grand took a gamble on a small local firm when it opened its temporary Detroit casino back in 1999. Ever since, its relationship with Hamilton Anderson Associates has escalated to the point where the architecture firm has grown to 130 employees and has opened an office in Las Vegas. Now, the little firm that could is hard at work on CityCenter, a 76-acre mixed-use Vegas development billed as the largest privately financed development in the country.

HAA was founded in 1994 by architect Rainy Hamilton and landscape architect Kent Anderson. They moved from Hamilton's house into a Harmonie Park office that same year, where the firm has remained ever since. Their first move in 13 years is set for next spring, when they will relocate to the First National Building. The new office will be 10,000 square feet larger than their current 25,000-square feet digs and occupy the second and third floors of the office tower.

HAA had a growth spurt in the mid-1990's to about 50 employees, big enough to get noticed by MGM. It was hired as a "sub- sub-contractor" on the casino's build-out of its temporary Detroit location, remembers Hamilton. That work pumped the firm's numbers up to about 90.

By the time MGM was ready to begin work on the permanent casino, they felt comfortable enough with HAA to award them the lead role in a joint design partnership -- with SmithGroup -- for the $800 million complex. That, along with the CityCenter and other various MGM jobs in Sin City, has boosted the ranks to the 130 figure that exists today. "Our work has really blossomed," says Hamilton. "MGM has been a great client for us."

But don't think for a moment that MGM is HAA's only client. They've won awards from the National Association of Minority Architects for the last three years in a row, for the Detroit School of Fine and Performing Arts, Youthville and the Southwest Public Safety Center.

Although it's too soon to tell how the MGM Grand campus will impact the amount of work that HAA lands locally, the firm is optimistic. "I would say that, because it has been such a departure for what exists in Detroit, that it's raised the bar and raised expectations for entertainment and hospitality projects," says vice president Tom Sherry. "We were in a leadership role in that project, which certainly caught people's attention. People look at us a little bit differently."

Sources: Rainy Hamilton, Tom Sherry and Heather Thomas, Hamilton Anderson Associates
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh