With a legacy of designing and restoring vacant historic structures into today’s hottest places, we realize value others have overlooked or underestimated. Born out of a legacy in design and restoring St. Louis’ great historic architecture/buildings/places A passion for places and people. A passion for restoration and
Steve Smith co-founded the Lawrence Group in 1983 and as its CEO, grew the business over a 20 year period into an international architectural design firm with multiple offices around the country and design assignments around the world. Beginning in the early 2000’s Smith expanded the firm into real estate development, consulting and construction management services. Smith also began to personally invest in real estate developments in St. Louis and Florida. Over the ensuing 10 years, Smith became one of the largest developers in the City of St. Louis. To date, Smith has created a diverse portfolio of healthcare, hospitality and commercial developments. Leaning on his passion for the unique and thought provoking, these projects stand out for their ease of use, attention to detail and innovative design.
Up until 2010, investment and developments by Smith were capitalized with a small group of Smith family and friends. Beginning in 2010, as the economy began recovering from The Great Recession, design client institutions of Smith, including universities and hospitals, approached Smith to assist in developing strategic real estate assets with outside capital. These successful experiences created a platform that began allowing institutions and investors to participate in his developments. Since then he has inspired investments in some of St. Louis’s most impactful redevelopments, including Angad Arts Hotel, City Foundry St. Louis, the Park Pacific building and more.
In 2019 after living in and gathering inspiration from cities around the country, Will Smith joined his dad Steve to create a fully integrated real estate solutions and management company. New + Found gives homage their unified passion for historic spaces that are often overlooked and undervalued and reimagining them into sought after destinations. At the same time, their experience in building medical and educational facilities pushes the envelope in what is possible for their institutional partners.
Both Will and Steve share an equal passion for development and love for people. They are actively building a team that is known for their commitment to each other and their investors.
New + Found is marked by its revolutionary commitment to service for our investors, our communities and our team.
