Joelle Byrer has a diverse professional background in both design and project management.
Her 27-year career includes working as a project designer for Robert A.M. Stern Architects and the landscape designer, Deborah Nevins & Associates. She also served as Managing Editor of Architecture Magazine, which at that time was the professional journal for the American Institute of Architects.
Immediately Prior to joining SPD, Ms. Byrer was Director of Design and Construction for Capital projects at the City of New York’s Parks and Recreation Department. She and her team oversaw $200 million of capital improvements throughout the borough of Queens. Her significant projects include the Mayoral PlaNYC initiatives and the reconstruction of the Rockaway boardwalk and parks after Super Storm Sandy.
As a Director of SPD’s Civic and Cultural practice, Ms. Byrer’s current projects include The New York Climate Exchange’s model for a sustainable campus on Governor’s Island which includes the construction two new buildings, an ecology-enhanced shoreline and adaptive reuse of historic buildings. She served as a strategic advisor for the Paris department store Printemps’ build out of their luxury flagship space in One Wall Street, which included the adaptive reuse of the Landmarked Red Room. She has been working with the New York Society Library on a phased project which includes book storage, modernized administrative offices and member’s spaces.
She also oversaw the 200,000 square-foot relocation of St. Francis College to 422 Fulton Street in Brooklyn, Opening the Edge for the Design Trust and the MCC Theater’s relocation from the West Village to their new space on 52nd street that was partially funded through the City and managed by DDC.
Ms. Byrer managed the design and construction for the first museum of posters in the United States, Poster House, which opened on 23rd Street in 2019. The project earned the prestigious AIA Honors Award in the Interiors category and received significant press coverage throughout the world.
She holds a Master’s in Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design and a degree in Art History from the University of Vermont.
Sandra Polsak is the Co-Director of SPD’s Civic and Cultural Division. Her notable projects include Samuel Friedman Theatre Renovations and Vision Factory, a new museum of digital art.
Ms. Polsak is a highly respected owner’s representative and project management executive with 45-plus years of experience who has provided collaborative, comprehensive management for some of the most complex and iconic civic and cultural projects in New York. She specializes in challenging projects: multiple stakeholders, difficult sites, complex funding, intricate budgets and demanding schedules and phasing. She has represented not-for-profit institutions, owners, and public corporations to deliver projects that meet the client’s budget, schedule, and quality goals in a collaborative manner.
Prior to joining SPD in 2022, Ms. Polsak was a founding principal of 74West Project Management, where she managed the exterior renovation of the Samuel Friedman Theatre on Broadway, and also oversaw design and construction for a not-for-profit developer of affordable housing in Hell's Kitchen, with a pipeline of 10 to 12 development projects with an aggregate value of $65 million.
For 17 years, Ms. Polsak was a Senior Project Executive at Levien & Company, responsible for projects including the complete renovation of the landmark New York City Center Theater, the conversion of a landmarked church for the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn, and construction of The Shed, the $500 million flexible performing and visual arts center at Hudson Yards.
Ms. Polsak also spent nine years at The New York Public Library, where she was responsible for design, construction, maintenance, and security for 89 diverse library buildings across three New York City boroughs. At Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Ms. Polsak was Project Director for the $160 million Rose Building for use by 11 performing arts organizations. She also served as Vice President for Development for the Javits Convention Center.
Ms. Polsak is a licensed architect with a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University.
