Cinthia Mendez – H&A Holdings: Communication Key to Success in Multi-Family Construction
We recently sat down with Cinthia Mendez, Asset Manager with real estate investment firm H&A Holdings. ETI is currently on its third project with H&A, and we wanted to catch up with Cinthia to discuss some of the benefits of working with the ETI team.
Mendez says ETI President Ivan Tello has played an instrumental role in the current project. The project, the latest collaboration between ETI and H&A, is a 4-unit multi-family apartment renovation in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago.
“Ivan’s intimate knowledge of the multi-family construction market in Chicago really caught our attention,” says Mendez. The majority of H&A’s assets are in California; the firm’s involvement in Chicagoland area developments is a recent change. “We’d met with a few other contractors in the area and ETI was the one company that really stood out.”
When asked to specify, Mendez said that ETI management’s constant communication and availability is what ultimately won them over. “After working with Ivan and Mario on the first project, we were blown away by how accessible they were.” Mendez goes on to say, “Knowing that we could reach out at any time and have our questions answered was a big relief – especially working in Chicago for the first time.”
Being a newcomer to the Chicago multi-family market comes with challenges, and Mendez believes ETI helped H&A overcome those challenges seamlessly. “The current project had a few difficulties with permitting,” says Mendez. “So that made us extremely nervous about our timeline. But ETI put us at ease with consistent communication and follow-up to get over that hump.”
“One of the best aspects about working with a construction firm like ETI is that they are solutions-focused – they are inventive and can strategize savvy ideas on how to keep projects moving forward,” says Mendez.
When asked if Mendez plans on working with ETI again in the future, she said, “Yes – absolutely. ETI has completely exceeded our expectations. We would definitely work with them again in the future. They make everything simple from beginning to end.”