Joel Rittvo, AIA
Director of Design

As Innovation Project Development's director of design, Joel Rittvo is responsible for helping move projects from feasibility to reality. With a strong background in architectural management, Joel translates marketing and pro forma data into detailed space programs and pre-design budgets. He advises in the selection of project team members including architects, engineers, contractors and special consultants. Joel acts as an extension of an owner's existing internal staff in managing and coordinating the design and construction process.

Joel came to Innovation Project Development with over 25 years of design, construction and project management experience. Over that period, he has seen the development process from all sides: having worked within architectural firms in the traditional architect's role; consulting directly to contractors and public oversight and regulatory agencies; holding end-to-end responsibility for projects as an owner's representative; and most recently working specifically for developers in project and construction management. Joel has worked on challenges as small and specialized as the installation of an MRI suite in an existing historic structure, to projects as large and programmatically complex as Foxwoods Resort Casino's $750 million major expansion.

Joel's unique background gives him the ability to review construction documents and arrange project procedures to assist owners and developers in safeguarding their project budgets and schedules. Most importantly, Joel Rittvo brings to an endeavor the ability to anticipate and troubleshoot contingencies and assure that the project will be managed properly.

After graduating with a degree in architecture from Princeton University, Joel spent his early professional career working for architectural firms in New Orleans, the Florida panhandle and northern New Jersey. He later formed Rittvo Consulting, Inc. to supplement the capabilities of internal construction departments and serve as owner's representative on development projects. Several successful projects later, he was approached by the largest not-for-profit long-term care corporation in New York State to become their Director of Project Management.

Over the course of his career, Joel Rittvo has counted the following among his clients: Federal Express, United States Postal Service, Bell Atlantic/Verizon, Lehman Brothers, Liz Claiborne, Inc., Phillips Nizer Attorneys, Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament, Veterans Administration Medical Center Authority and other hospitals, school boards including Orleans Parish, Walton County Florida and Morris Plains NJ, The Canadian Pavilion at the New Orleans World's Fair, The Hallmark Residence at Battery Park City, and most recently Harrah's Cherokee Casino, Foxwoods Resort Casino and Foxwoods Development Corporation. In addition, Joel has done work with The Innovation Group for several years.