What PHB Catalyst Group does

PHB Catalyst Group (legal entity: phbCatalyst Group, inc.) is a privately held professional services firm founded in 2003 and headquartered at 138 West 25th Street in New York City. The firm provides construction management, owner representation, program and project management, general contracting, and development advisory services across commercial, hospitality, residential, cultural, historic preservation, and public sector projects. Its core offerings include Development Advisory (project valuation, feasibility studies, risk analysis, site evaluation), Program/Project Management, Construction Management (using CPM and Earned Value Analysis), General Contracting, and Consulting. Project values range from $1.5 million to $1 billion, with notable engagements including the 1 Hotel Central Park conversion, the Atton Brickell Miami, the Goldman Sachs Jersey City Learning Center, the Avatron Park entertainment complex, the Loews Miami Beach, and the Pocantico Historic Area restoration.

The firm is co-founded and led by Carlos J. Pesant and Mark Harari, both Co-Presidents, each bringing over 35 years of design and construction experience from senior roles at Bovis Lend Lease, Hilton Hotels, John Carl Warnecke and Associates, and Warner/Amex Cable Communications. Revenue is generated through professional services fees on project-based contracts, with growth driven by referrals and repeat engagements from a concentrated base of enterprise clients including Starwood Capital, Goldman Sachs, The Related Companies, Hines, and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. The go-to-market motion is direct sales-led, leveraging principal-level relationships rather than broad-based marketing. Geographic reach extends across the Northeast and Southeast US, the Caribbean (Puerto Rico, St. Kitts), and Southern Europe (Rome).

Beyond core services, PHB Catalyst has pursued structured growth through partnerships and subsidiaries. In 2008, the founders formed Triarc Catalyst Group LLC with Melvin Katz of Triarc International to enter hotel development. The firm established Catalyst Chilmark as a wholly owned subsidiary for construction management and build-out services, and partnered with Valmiki Capital Management to create the BuildFarms investment vehicle backing the EcologiCiti Sustainable Urban Food Centers initiative. The firm employs 11-50 people and has no disclosed funding rounds, parent company, or institutional investors.

Name

PHB Catalyst Group

Legal name

phbCatalyst Group, inc.

Website

https://phbcatalyst.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

PHB Catalyst Group is a privately held New York-based construction management and owner representation firm serving enterprise clients in hospitality, commercial, cultural, historic preservation, and public sector projects, generating revenue through professional services fees on project-based contracts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Professional Services Revenue: PHB Catalyst Group generates revenue through professional services including development advisory, program and project management, general contracting, consulting, and construction management. Revenue is earned through project-based contracts where the company provides expertise throughout various phases of real estate development, from feasibility through construction and turnover for operations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

PHB Catalyst Group is a professional services firm that provides construction management, owner representation, and development advisory for complex real estate and construction projects. Core offerings include Development (Owner Representation & Advisory), Program/Project Management, General Contracting, Consulting, and Construction Management. Services span project valuation, feasibility studies, risk analysis, design management, bidding and procurement, and full project oversight from feasibility through FF&E procurement, commissioning, and facilities management turnover.

Product overview

PHB Catalyst Group is a construction services firm offering a unified suite of services for complex real estate and construction projects. The core service offerings include Development (Owner Representation & Advisory), Program/Project Management, General Contracting, Consulting, and Construction Management. These services are provided across multiple market sectors including commercial, hospitality, cultural/institutional, historic preservation, public agency, residential, luxury residential, sustainable landscape, and special projects. The company acts as owner's representative, construction manager, and general contractor for projects ranging from hotel renovations and commercial developments to historic preservation and sustainable landscape projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Development (Owner Representation & Advisory) Owner representation and advisory services for owners, developers, and institutional clients, including project valuation, NOI calculation, sensitivity analysis, feasibility studies, site evaluation and selection, competitive market analysis, comprehensive risk analysis, design management, project oversight, and disposition planning. Intended for commercial real estate developers and property owners undertaking complex projects.
• Program / Project Management Comprehensive program and project management covering competitive landscape evaluation, project structure determination, design feasibility, value engineering, risk assessment, resource planning, and project plan development. Provided to enterprise clients with complex, multi-phase construction and development projects.
• General Contracting General contracting services covering bidding and procurement, claims management, systems integration, forecasting, reporting, project controls, supply chain management, documentation, site safety, and fixed-price delivery. Delivered for clients requiring single-point accountability for construction execution.
• Consulting Construction and development consulting including design and construction integration, quantitative risk management, contract delivery formats, financial and technical risk review, procurement assessment, contract negotiation, infrastructure financing, and market analysis. Targeted at owners and developers needing strategic advisory independent of full-service engagement.
• Construction Management Construction management services incorporating best practices, project organization, change management, conflict resolution, communication management, design and construction planning, estimating, Critical Path Method (CPM) scheduling, Earned Value Analysis (EVA), and accounting and auditing. Provided to enterprise clients, developers, and institutional owners across commercial, hospitality, residential, cultural, and public agency sectors.

Quantifiable outcome

• Successfully delivered $65M Atton Brickell Miami hotel project as first US development for international hotel chain
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Triarc Catalyst Group LLCcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008Hotel development company formed in 2008 by founding partners Carlos J. Pesant and Mark Harari of PHB Catalyst Group along with Melvin Katz, founder of Triarc International (a well-known development company in the hospitality industry). The joint venture combines PHB Catalyst's construction expertise with Triarc's hospitality development capabilities.
• EcologiCiticoreOthersSustainable urban food initiative developed by PHB Catalyst Group. EcologiCiti represents the company's solution for developing and building centers that create jobs and economic development in urban communities by sustainably growing and distributing healthy, local food. BuildFarms was created as the investment vehicle through joint venture with Valmiki Capital Management.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• JLL Project and Development Services: Global real estate services firm's project management arm; competes for owner's representation and PM mandates from large institutional clients that PHB also serves.
• Gilbane Building Company: Private, family-owned construction manager with strong cultural, educational, and hospitality practices; comparable ownership structure and relationship-driven client approach.
• AECOM: Global infrastructure and construction services firm that owns Tishman; competes with PHB especially on large mixed-use and hospitality developments where integrated design-build is preferred.
• Turner Construction Company: Largest US general contractor/CM; competes with PHB for mega-projects and represents the upper bound of scale and capability in the CM market.
• Skanska USA: Major construction and development firm with significant NYC presence; competes on large commercial, hospitality, and infrastructure projects that overlap with PHB's target sectors.

Direct peers

• Pavarini McGovern: NYC-based construction management firm with comparable hospitality, cultural, and commercial project expertise; similar scale and owner-representation positioning.
• Lettire Construction: New York-based general contractor and construction manager serving commercial, institutional, and hospitality clients; closely comparable mid-size private competitor.
• Plaza Construction: Hospitality-focused construction manager with strong NYC and Florida presence; competes directly with PHB in hotel development and luxury residential segments.
• Tishman Construction (AECOM Tishman): New York-based construction manager with deep hospitality, commercial, and cultural project experience; directly comparable as a principal-led CM firm serving institutional owners on complex urban projects of similar scale.
• Hunter Roberts Construction Group: NYC-headquartered construction manager focused on commercial, residential, and institutional work; comparable in scale, geography, and service mix as a mid-size private CM firm.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/phbcatalyst
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/phb-catalyst-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 PHB Catalyst Group