Member Spotlight: Colleen Nigro
Colleen Nigro is a licensed architect and Managing Principal and Shareholder at REMIGERDESIGN. Colleen, along with her business partners Courtney Howard, Denny Crain, and Mike Favazza, lead a team of talented architects, interior designers, and planners who work on projects all over the country that range in scale from ground-up and additions to renovations and FFE coordination. RD’s focus is on corporate, industrial, multi-family, and retail projects, but their portfolio is diverse.
Colleen’s past experience includes healthcare, corporate interiors, Pre-K education, and industrial projects at an architecture firm in Chicago for 10+ years. After her family left Chicago for Wausau, Wisconsin, she gained experience working for a Design-Build-Develop firm working on medical office buildings, clinics, financial institutions, hotels, and a YMCA. Colleen is passionate about bringing the owner’s vision to life through design and problem-solving.
Q: When did you decide to get into the commercial real estate industry? Was it always your focus?
A: My dad was an architect, and although he told me never to follow in his footsteps (partly joking after one too many P&Z and/or neighborhood meetings went south), I still did. I began a five-year Master of Architecture program immediately out of high school. I loved the idea of going into a field that was artistic and technical, left- and right-brained, analytical and creative. As far as commercial real estate, I have always been most interested in buildings where people work, shop, meet, assemble, travel, visit, etc., vs. single-family residential.
Q: What are some of the things you love about your job?
A: I get to do or learn about something absolutely different every day. Each client has a specific vision. Each corporate client has a distinctive culture. Each industrial client has a different product they make. Each building has a unique site. Each day brings a new challenge. I also love collaborating with coworkers, clients, consultants, and/or fellow CREW members in the industry to make things happen.
Q: What is your CREW-St. Louis origin? When did you join? Why did you become a member?
A: I joined in July 2019 right after I moved back to my hometown and after I joined the REMIGERDESIGN team. I had heard of CREW in Chicago where I started my career, but I was never a member. My business partner (at the time my boss) encouraged me to join CREW to meet others in our industry.
Q: What was the first CREW event you attended and what were your impressions?
A: I attended a New Members Happy Hour. I knew no one, but I felt immediately welcomed, and conversations were fun and insightful on our industry in St. Louis. I think my second or third event was an August Dine Around where I met a property manager/owner who not only became a client but a great friend!
Q: Please name a few of the projects you’ve been involved in, specifically in the St. Louis area that you are proud of.
A: I am proud to have been a part of the Diode Dynamics, TransChemical, DriveCentric, and The Flats of Dorsett Ridge Projects.
Q: What other associations or volunteer activities are you involved with?
A: Women in Architecture (AIA) member
St. Stephen Protomartyr Picnic – Chair with my husband
Baseball coach for two of my son’s teams
Baseball/Softball Director for St. Stephen Protomartyr
Holly Hills Special Business District Infrastructure Committee Member
St. Joseph Housing Initiative Volunteer
Q: What else would you like your fellow CREW-St. Louis members to know about you?
A: Many of my best friends are from Architecture School and now live all over the country and world, but I am very happy to have had the opportunity to move back to St. Louis with my husband, Rich, and to be raising our three boys in the same neighborhood where I grew up. St. Louis is very special.