What UIC does

UIC (Urban Improvement Company) is a St. Louis-based design-focused integrated practice founded in 2005 by architects Brent Crittenden and Sarah Gibson, delivering services across architecture, urban design, real estate development, general contracting, and carpentry. The firm operates through a family of brands: UIC Development Services and UIC Design-Build as the flagship practice, UIC Homes for custom residential construction, Refine by UIC for renovations, UIC Flats for apartment rentals, and Blackbird Construction for construction services. UIC employs 11-50 staff at a 1536 Tower Grove Ave headquarters in the Botanical Heights neighborhood, with a new 110,000sf Liggett-Myers Tobacco Building HQ under development at 4140 Park Ave.

The company's business model combines project-based design-build contracts with longer-duration real estate development, including direct ownership and rehabilitation of urban infill properties. Customer segments span residential homeowners (custom contemporary homes, renovations), commercial developers (adaptive reuse, mixed-use, tenant improvements), educational institutions (City Garden Montessori, Lafayette Preparatory Academy), and specialty hospitality/retail tenants (Olio & Elaia, Climb So Ill, Clementine's Creamery, Sherpa). Distribution is direct, primarily regional (St. Louis metropolitan area and Missouri), using a sales-led engagement model with referrals, competitive bidding, and earned media from a visible project portfolio.

Over two decades, UIC has guided more than $15M in investment in the Botanical Heights neighborhood redevelopment alone, delivering 40+ new homes, dozens of apartments, charter school facilities, award-winning restaurants, and commercial spaces. In 2025, UIC announced a merger with Bush Construction, consolidating regional construction and development capabilities at expanded scale. Pricing is project-specific, with custom homes at the upper end listed near $1.3M, and no standardized public pricing disclosed.

Name

UIC

Legal name

UIC (Urban Improvement Company)

Website

https://uicstl.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

UIC is a St. Louis-based integrated design-build practice combining architecture, urban design, real estate development, general contracting, and carpentry to deliver residential, commercial, educational, and hospitality projects across sub-brands UIC Homes, Refine by UIC, UIC Flats, and Blackbird Construction.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

St Louis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Design-Build Services: Integrated design and construction services offered as turnkey develop-design-build solutions for residential and commercial projects
2. General Contracting: Construction management and general contracting services for projects where design is completed and ready for construction bid
3. Real Estate Development: Property development, acquisition, financing, and redevelopment of urban neighborhoods including residential homes, apartments, and commercial spaces
4. Home Building: Custom residential home construction through UIC Homes brand
5. Renovation Services: Renovation and remodeling services through Refine by UIC brand

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

UIC is a design-focused integrated practice delivering architecture, urban design, real estate development, general contracting, and custom carpentry services. The company operates a family of brands (UIC Homes, Refine by UIC, UIC Flats, Blackbird Construction) that together offer end-to-end develop-design-build solutions for residential, commercial, institutional, and neighborhood-scale projects primarily in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

Product overview

UIC (Urban Improvement Company) is a design-focused integrated practice offering development, design-build, and general contracting services. The company operates a portfolio of sub-brands including UIC Homes (custom home building), Refine by UIC (renovations), and UIC Flats (apartments), all supporting the flagship UIC brand devoted to development and design-build services. Services span architecture, urban design, real estate development, general contracting, and carpentry for projects ranging from small renovations to large commercial developments and neighborhood redevelopments.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• UIC Homes: Home building brand focused on residential construction and custom homes
• Refine by UIC
• UIC Flats
• Blackbird Construction

Products and services

• UIC Development Services
• UIC Design-Build
• UIC General Contracting
• UIC Homes
• Refine by UIC
• UIC Flats
• UIC Carpentry

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $15 million in neighborhood investments guided in Botanical Heights, transforming it from one of most eroded urban neighborhoods to award-winning mixed-use district
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• Bush ConstructionmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026UIC has officially merged with Bush Construction, combining design-build expertise and expanding service capabilities. This represents a significant consolidation of regional construction and development capabilities.
• Garden District CommissioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNot-for-profit redevelopment group formed by Missouri Botanical Garden. UIC partnered with Garden District Commission to forge new plan for Botanical Heights, stabilizing existing building stock and implementing historic rehabilitation and infill building strategy.
• 4140 Park Ave TenantsminorOthersNew headquarters at Liggett-Myers Tobacco building will house UIC offices along with other tenants including incubators, co-working spaces, and creative/artistic businesses
• GadellNetminorOthersIT firm tenant in UIC-developed Lunar Tool Building office space in Botanical Heights
• SLAM! AgencyminorOthersCompany headquarters tenant in Botanical Heights redevelopment area
• Switch and Monkey-Do ProductionsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with Switch and Monkey-Do Productions on AB-InBev Tour Center redevelopment concept, with UIC focusing on site design and building architecture
• Missouri Advisory Council on Historic PreservationminorOthersCEO Brent Crittenden serves as council member, providing community leadership and regulatory engagement
• Luminary Center for the ArtsminorOthersCEO Brent Crittenden serves as board member

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Paric Corporation: St. Louis-based design-build and construction management firm serving commercial, multifamily, senior living, and institutional clients. Comparable regional integrated builder competing for the same local project pipeline.
• KieranTimberlake: Architecturally-led firm integrating design, research, and fabrication, with a similar philosophy of bringing design and making under one roof. Comparable design-focused, integrated practice structure.
• McCarthy Building Companies: St. Louis-headquartered design-build construction firm operating across commercial, healthcare, education, and institutional sectors. Most direct competitor in the St. Louis market and the regional benchmark UIC is likely benchmarked against post-Bush Construction merger.
• Holland Construction Services: Swansea, IL-based design-build general contractor active in the greater St. Louis metropolitan area across commercial, education, and multifamily construction. Direct regional competitor for integrated design-build delivery.
• Lake|Flato Architects: San Antonio-based architecture studio known for integrated design practice spanning residential, commercial, and community-scale projects. Similar mid-size, design-led firm with strong regional identity.

Broad incumbents

• Swinerton: National employee-owned general contractor with deep design-build practice across commercial, residential, and mixed-use developments. Comparable integrated delivery model at much larger scale.
• HOK: Global architecture, engineering, and planning firm where co-founder Sarah Gibson previously worked. Provides the architectural-services reference point and the talent pool UIC draws from for senior hires.
• CannonDesign: Large integrated design firm where CEO Brent Crittenden previously worked. Comparable integrated practice model with national reach across healthcare, education, and commercial sectors.

Regional players

• Mackey Mitchell Architects: St. Louis-headquartered architecture firm with comparable local footprint across civic, educational, and residential projects. Direct regional peer competing for institutional clients in the same metro.
• Christner Inc. St. Louis-based architecture and interior design firm with a long-standing regional practice. Comparable local architecture peer with overlapping education, civic, and commercial client base.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/uicstl
• Facebookfacebook.com/uicstl

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about UIC