Open letter from a client

To whom it may concern:

I have had the distinct pleasure of working with Mark McConnel, AIA for almost three decades and through countless projects as both a City Councilman and Historic Preservation Tax Credit Consultant. We have worked together not only in our home town but in various states including Florida, Texas, and Oklahoma and localities as diverse as Manhattan and Deland. I know Mark as well as any professional can know another and it is without reservation that I offer this recommendation.

Mark McConnel undertakes difficult preservation projects without hesitation and sees them through to the bitter end with dedication; he even became a Class-A general contractor so he could perform restoration work when no acceptable contractor was available. Whether it is the complete architectural design and construction or only the direction and compliance with Secretary of the Interior Standards, Mark very professionally administers each type of project. His research is thorough and timely, the latter being very important to our firm when we are involved in Historic Tax Credit projects.

I know that Mark has never had a project denied by the National Park Service or any state SHPO for Tax Credit purposes or section 106 review; this fact alone makes him unique in the preservation world. “There is always a way” are words he lives by and we have seen this on every project from the million-square-foot Colgate-Palmolive project where he listed the entire district and handled the compliance paperwork on each building, to the Warehouse Row Business Center where he converted a 24,000 square foot dry goods warehouse in a flood plain into a high technology center for us.

Please accept my endorsement of Mark McConnel for whatever type of historic preservation project you are considering

Sincerely,

Brian Wishneff

President and former City Councilman