COMMUNITY DESIGN ALLIANCE, LLC

What COMMUNITY DESIGN ALLIANCE, LLC does

Community Design Alliance (CDA) is a privately held, founder-owned architecture, interior design, and planning firm headquartered in a LEED Silver certified storefront office at 236 High St. in downtown Hamilton, Ohio. Founded in 2012 by Mike Dingeldein (Director of Architecture) and Cindy Dingeldein (Director of Interior Design) following 28-year K-12 education-focused careers at SHP, the firm operates with a team of approximately 10 employees and serves clients across Ohio. Its work is anchored in two primary verticals: K-12 education (new school construction, comprehensive renovations, additions, media center modernization, and pre-bond issue planning for public school districts) and community economic development (urban revitalization, adaptive reuse of historic buildings, streetscape design, and public-private partnerships), supplemented by selective civic/institutional and small-to-medium commercial projects.

CDA delivers three integrated service pillars — Architectural Services (programming, schematic design, construction documents, cost estimating, construction administration), Planning Services (historic tax credit review, master planning, feasibility studies, pre-bond issue services), and Interior Design (space planning, finish and furniture specification, signage coordination). The firm uses industry-standard design, construction documentation, and 3D modeling tools rather than a proprietary technology platform. Its business model is professional services fee-for-project: project fees are quoted and negotiated individually based on scope, size, and complexity, with no publicly disclosed pricing. Notable projects include $113M and $112M renovations at Worthington City Schools high schools, the $38M Spooky Nook Champion Mill adaptive reuse, the $32M Hamilton Public Safety Complex, and multiple Lane Libraries branches.

The firm's go-to-market is community-led rather than digital — it relies on its downtown storefront, Mike Dingeldein's role as founding Executive Director of the Hamilton CORE Fund (a nonprofit that channels redevelopment opportunities to CDA), a longstanding strategic alliance with Schorr Architects for K-12 work, and referrals from public entities during bond election cycles. CDA has no external funding, no parent company, no disclosed investors, and no M&A activity. Revenue is not publicly disclosed, and operations are confined to a single Hamilton, Ohio office serving regional Ohio clients.

Name

COMMUNITY DESIGN ALLIANCE, LLC

Legal name

Community Design Alliance, LLC

Website

https://cdalliance.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Community Design Alliance is a 10-person architecture, interior design, and planning firm in Hamilton, Ohio specializing in K-12 education and community economic development projects across Ohio, founded in 2012 by Mike and Cindy Dingeldein.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architectural and Interior Design Services

NAICS

Architectural Services (54131), Interior Design Services (54141)

akta.pro primary industry

Architectural Design Services (BPAHAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Community Engagement & Participatory Planning (BPAHAKAO)

Keywords

• Architectural design services
• Interior design services
• Urban planning services
• K12 school design
• Community development planning

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamilton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Architectural Services: CDA earns fees for architectural services including programming, schematic design, construction documents, cost estimating, construction administration, and post-occupancy review across commercial, civic, educational, and residential projects.
2. Interior Design Services: Fees for interior design services including programming, space planning, color and finish selection, furniture specification, artwork selection, and move coordination.
3. Planning Services: Fees for planning services including urban revitalization, community development, master planning, historic tax credit review, feasibility studies, and site evaluation for public and private clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Community Design Alliance provides integrated architectural, interior design, and planning services for educational and community projects across Ohio. The firm delivers full project lifecycles from programming and schematic design through construction administration and post-occupancy review, with specialization in K-12 school design and community economic development initiatives including historic adaptive reuse and urban revitalization.

Product overview

Community Design Alliance offers a unified suite of community-based architecture, interior design, and planning services. The firm provides three integrated service pillars: Architectural Services (programming, schematic design, construction documents, cost estimating, 3D modeling, construction administration), Planning Services (historic tax credit review, urban revitalization, community engagement, master planning, feasibility studies), and Interior Design (space planning, color and finish selection, furniture specifications, artwork selection, signage coordination). The company specializes in K-12 education projects and community economic development, leveraging a collaborative small-firm model with strategic alliances to deliver projects ranging from individual building designs to large-scale municipal developments.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Worthington City Schools bond issue passed in November 2022 to fund $113M high school renovation and expansion
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Schorr ArchitectscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCDA has a longstanding strategic partnership with Schorr Architects for K-12 education projects across Ohio. Schorr serves as Architect of Record on multiple school projects including Worthington City Schools (Thomas Worthington HS, Kilbourne HS, and middle schools), Lancaster City Schools, South-Western City Schools, and Berne Union Local Schools. CDA provides schematic design, project management, and interior design services in this partnership. The partnership has been active since at least 2018.
• Cornerstone Design ArchitectscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCDA partnered with Cornerstone Design Architects on the Spooky Nook Champion Mill project, where CDA was the Architect of Record and Cornerstone was a partner in the final design. This partnership enabled delivery of one of the largest indoor sports complexes in the United States within a 500,000 sq ft adaptive reuse project.
• Messer ConstructionminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCDA partnered with Messer Construction as the construction manager at risk for the Fitton Center for Creative Arts addition and renovation project ($3.9M, 2015). Messer handled construction while CDA provided architectural and interior design services. Budgets and schedules were created and tracked collaboratively.
• BHI General ContractingminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCDA partnered with BHI General Contracting to design and construct the Shooters Sports Grill and Washington Event Center project in Hamilton.
• LemonGrenade CreativeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLemonGrenade Creative provided a complete graphic design package for the Kirsch CPA Group headquarters project in collaboration with CDA. The partnership was repeated on multiple projects including ODW Logistics (graphic design package by LemonGrenade Studio) and Hamilton's Urban Backyard - The HUB.
• Hamilton CORE FundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Hamilton CORE Fund (Community Ongoing Reinvestment Efforts) is a non-profit founded by Mike Dingeldein that reduces barriers to investing in Hamilton's urban core. CDA provides Owner's Representation and design services for CORE Fund projects. CDA and the CORE Fund share the same office space. Projects include 254 High St., former Elder Beerman Building, STARTEK (682 employees), Alexander's Market & Deli, United Heartland Insurance, US Bank, InsideOut Studios, and Davis Apartments. CDA has contributed $12.75M in design work to date across 214,800 sq ft.
• OstermanCron (Gerry Saurber)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCDA worked with furniture dealer Gerry Saurber and OstermanCron on multiple projects including ODW Logistics office expansions, where CDA coordinated furniture selection with OstermanCron for interior design services.
• City of Hamilton Fire DepartmentcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCDA has an ongoing relationship with the City of Hamilton Fire Department, serving as Criteria Architect for comprehensive fire station renovations (Stations 21, 24, 25) and the new Fire Station 26 in Lindenwald. The firm led programming, design criteria documentation, and coordination across multiple departments.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Moody Nolan: Large national architecture firm with an established K-12 education practice serving school districts nationwide. Comparable in K-12 expertise but with substantially greater headcount, geographic reach, and project scale than CDA.
• DLR Group: National integrated design firm with strong K-12 and civic/community practices. Comparable in pursuing educational and community development projects but operates as a much larger incumbent across multiple verticals.
• Stantec: Global design and engineering firm with a substantial North American K-12 and community development practice. Comparable in educational facility design but with vastly greater resources, multidisciplinary services, and geographic reach.
• Fanning Howey: National leader in K-12 educational facility design with multiple offices and a broad district portfolio. Comparable in dedicated K-12 focus but operates at significantly larger scale across more states than CDA.

Regional players

• Garmann Miller: Ohio-based architecture and engineering firm serving clients across Ohio with K-12, higher education, civic, and community work. Comparable as a regional Ohio competitor pursuing similar public-sector project types.
• BHDP Architecture: Cincinnati-based architecture and design firm serving Ohio and regional clients across workplace, education, and community sectors. Comparable in geographic footprint (Ohio), interior design capability, and small/mid-sized project mix.

Direct peers

• KSS Architects: Architecture firm specializing in K-12 education design serving school districts across multiple states. Comparable in focus on educational facility design, district-level client relationships, and project types.
• Legat Architects: Illinois-based architecture firm with a focused K-12 education practice serving public school districts. Comparable in service mix (architecture, interior design, planning), client type, and small-firm alliance-driven delivery model.
• SHP Leading Design: SHP is the former employer of CDA's founders (Mike and Cindy Dingeldein, 28 years each). SHP is a leading K-12 education architecture firm serving Ohio and surrounding states, directly comparable in market segment and client base.
• Schorr Architects: Long-standing strategic alliance partner of CDA, serving as Architect of Record on multiple K-12 projects across Ohio (Worthington, Lancaster, South-Western, Berne Union). Directly comparable in educational facility design and Ohio school district client base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/community-design-alliance-llc

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 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 COMMUNITY DESIGN ALLIANCE, LLC