About

The business side of inspiring arts projects

 

Arts organizations work hard to bring inspiration, beauty and joy to the communities they serve. But despite the value they add to life, these groups must be very careful in funding the building projects to house their performances and exhibitions.

Venue provides expert estimating and cost control services to liberate organizations to pursue their passion and realize their grandest artistic visions.

Client Composition

 

  • Cultural Organization Owners 50% 50%
  • Architects 25% 25%
  • FEASIBILITY/CULTURAL ARTS CONSULTANTS 25% 25%

Why Venue is the Obvious Choice

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Flexibility of Service

  • Service tailored to meet the client’s and design team’s requirements
  • Listen to the client’s needs, which can range from a one-time order-of-magnitude initial estimate, to total cost control services throughout the design and construction stages

Reliable and Thorough

  • Provide detailed, user-friendly, venue construction costs
  • Based on real experience with real costs
  • Feedback on how decisions made during design and construction will impact the client’s bottom line

Long-Term Relationships

  • Not just a short term estimating service but a long term cost management partnership
  • Service oriented and focused on ensuring the client’s needs are satisfied
  • Collaboration/teamwork is key to a successful outcome for all

Experience Counts

  • Years of solid experience by highly qualified professionals

  • Specific experience for unique projects

  • Consistency of results

Competitive Fee

  • Based on the level of information provided, and required, by the client

  • Efficiency of service yields efficiency in fee

The Venue Team of Experts

Sean Ryan, Principal

Mobile: 813.500.9126 | sean.ryan@venue-consulting.com

Sean’s forté is client/design team liaison and project cost control, together with business development responsibility for Venue.

Background and Experience:

Sean Ryan, FRICS, a Principal of Venue, is an accomplished Cost Consultant credited with many highly successful performing, visual, educational, entertainment arts and museum projects under his “cost control” belt, spanning a 40 year career. 20 years have been on performing and visual arts projects internationally and in the US spread over 37 states and 80 cities.

Projects vary in scope from a $10 million renovation project to a $1.2 billion masterplan study, and everything in between.

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:

  • 1976: Qualified as a Quantity Surveyor in Construction Management and Economics from The Dublin Institute of Technology
  • 1990: Inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS), a worldwide cost consultant professional organization based in London
  • 1994: Inducted as a member of AACE International, a US based organization promoting cost planning
  • United States Institute for Theatre Technology Inc. (USITT) Annual Conference
  • American Institute of Architects (AIA) Architecture Exchange East Conference

Steve Ryan, Principal

Mobile: 813.500.9993 | steve.ryan@venue-consulting.com

Steve’s forté is facility estimating and cost control, together with technical cost management supervision of all Venue projects.

Steve Ryan

Background and Experience:

Steve Ryan, BS, QS, LEED AP, a Principal of Venue, is an accomplished Cost Consultant credited with many highly successful performing, visual, educational, entertainment arts and museum projects under his “cost control” belt, spanning a 35 year career.

Nearly 20 years have been on performing and visual arts projects internationally and in the US spread over 37 states and 80 cities. Projects vary in scope from music, theatre, opera and multi-use facilities with construction costs ranging from $10 million to $375 million, and everything in between.

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Steve originally hails from South Africa
  • 1985: Qualified as a Quantity Surveyor in Construction Management and Economics from the University of Cape Town.
  • 1986: Moved to London to further his quantity surveying career
  • 1996: Moved to the US
  • 2009: Became an accredited member of the U.S. Green Building Council with the designation LEED AP
  • Stays involved with professional organizations by attending cost management related conferences

Nakoto Rentz

Mobile: 813.478.1091 | nakoto.rentz@venue-consulting.com

Nakoto is a Senior Cost Consultant, responsible for guiding design teams to design projects to budget. 

Background and Experience:

Nakoto Rentz, CGC, an Associate Principal of Venue, is an accomplished senior Cost Consultant credited with highly successful performing arts projects under his cost control belt, spanning a nearly 25-year career. He joined Venue in 2013.

In 1997, Nakoto began his construction career working for a multinational construction management & general contracting firm, as well as a family-owned Florida based commercial/residential general contractor.  He gained hands on experience on projects ranging from hospitals and public schools, to houses of worship and single-family residences.

Nakoto has collaborated with design and construction teams for projects in the US and has assisted, in varying capacity, design and construction teams on over 50 complex projects to budget, ranging in single project size of $10 million to over $100 million.

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:

  • 1998: Bachelor of Science in Construction Engineering Technology (BS), Florida A&M University
  • Certified General Contractor State of Florida
  • Nakoto’s duties include establishing project budgets at all design stages, cost control, value engineering, local market cost research, and contractor/construction manager bid and GMP validation.

Cathy Byrd

Mobile: 813.293.4663 | cathy.byrd@venue-consulting.com

Cathy is a Senior Cost Consultant at Venue, responsible for guiding design teams to design projects to budget.

Cathy Byrd

Background and Experience:

Cathy Byrd is an accomplished Cost Consultant credited with highly successful performing arts projects under her cost control belt, spanning a 35 year career.

Cathy has worked in the construction industry since 1980, primarily in the commercial segments, with a heavy emphasis in complex renovations and historic restorations. She entered the construction industry as an estimator in the subcontracting trades while attending the University of Colorado majoring in Mechanical Engineering and minoring in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science.

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Studied for Bachelor of Science (BS) in Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado
  • Certified General Contractor State of Florida, current
  • LEED AP through the U.S. Green Building Council
  • Registered Certifying Agent for the Florida Green Building Coalition
  • Qualified Green Building Verifier for the National Association of Home Builders
  • Nominated as one of the 10 Most Influential Women for a Sustainable Planet by the Mayor of the City of Tampa
  • Cathy’s duties include establishing project budgets at all design stages, cost control, value engineering, local market cost research, and contractor/construction manager bid and GMP validation

Charlie Jelke

Mobile: 610.308.3703 | charles.jelke@venue-consulting.com

Charlie is a Cost Consultant at Venue, responsible for guiding design teams to design projects to budget.

Charlie Jelke

Background and Experience:

Charlie Jelke is an accomplished Cost Consultant credited with almost 15 years of experience in estimating and 3 years of cost consulting in the commercial construction industry.

In 2006, while Charlie was still in high school, he began his construction career in cost estimating for his family’s steel fabrication business. From there, he moved to steel subcontractors in the Philadelphia area where he gained hands-on experience in both cost estimating and project managing for awarded projects from start to finish.

Charlie transitioned to cost consulting in 2018, budgeting projects for aviation, offices, labs, and hospitals ranging from a few million to upwards of $7 billion.

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:

  • 2013: Bachelor of Science in Energy, Business & Finance (BS), Penn State University
  • Charlie’s duties include establishing project budgets at all design stages, cost control, value engineering, local market cost research, and contractor/construction manager bid and GMP validation.

JOSE GARCES

Mobile: 832.864.7369 | jmgarces@venue-consulting.com 

Jose is a Cost Consultant at Venue, responsible for guiding design teams to design projects to budget.

Background and Experience:

Jose Garces is an accomplished Cost Consultant credited with highly successful projects under his cost control belt, spanning a 5 year career.

In 2018, Jose began his construction career working for an engineering firm. He gained hands on experience on design and engineering projects ranging from $100k to $20M.

Jose has collaborated with design and construction teams for projects in Colombia and the US and has assisted, in varying capacity, design and construction teams.

 

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering (BS), Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia, 2021
  • Jose is a Cost Consultant at Venue, responsible for guiding design teams to design projects to budget. His duties include establishing project budgets at all design stages, cost control, value engineering, local market cost research, and contractor/construction manager bid and GMP validation.