MAP Strategies (MAPS) is defining the groundbreaking role of compliance partner. Our group of diverse professionals is solely dedicated to managing the overall compliance requirements of architecture and real estate.
MAPS embraces the code and permitting process as one of the most important drivers of a successful project. Instead of being in a constant state of stress and confrontation with the unknown, we take ownership of the process by establishing strategies and goals which make it predictable, achievable, and enjoyable.
A compliance partner focuses on editing architectural designs prior to permit submittal and strategically planning the mission of permitting and licensing, resulting in a wealth of benefits. With these goals at the front and center of the pre-construction process, projects are completed with better design outcomes and both time and money saved.
Developers in Chicago who don't have a compliance partner are at a disadvantage. In the ever-changing world of real estate development, the stakes are high to get it right the first time. Their expeditors, architects and engineers spend too much time reacting to the idiosyncrasies of the permit and review process with various codes and must reactively retool the building design.
Technology has allowed us to design buildings faster and more collaboratively, and the role of traditional expeditors or after-the-fact code consultants is too slow, marginalized, and disconnected to be effective. Compliance partners integrate with the full design and development team in real time as an essential team player. “To adapt to the modern market, using a compliance partner early to edit the building and drive the schedule makes good business sense,” says Heather Morrison, MAPS founder.
“By working with us,” Morrison says, “we can reduce the length of a project’s construction cycle by as many as six months.” If the massive response from the development community is any indication, the idea is working. Since Morrison founded MAPS in 2014 it has quickly grown into a 15-person firm. MAPS works with some of the biggest developers in the Midwest, including Fifield, Related Midwest, Golub, and Cedar Street.