Just as first-time visitors tend to be astonished and perplexed by local customs, the same happened to a Brazilian hotel entrepreneur when faced with a series of indecipherable business and construction regulations while preparing to start the construction of his first hotel in the United States.
The construction techniques may not change much from one country to another, but local and national preferences regarding design, size, and location of the construction differ significantly – and working with someone who understands these particularities can make all the difference when it comes to project approval, explains Damaris Hollingsworth, a Brazilian architect based in Minneapolis, United States, who was hired by Grupo Atlântico to lead the construction planning process in Orlando, Florida.
Born into a middle-class working family in São Paulo, Damaris studied at the University of São Paulo, USP. In a 2006 exchange program, she had the opportunity to study architecture at Arizona State University in the United States before completing her architecture and urbanism degree at USP. Impressed by the vibrant creativity of the American design world during her time at Arizona State, Damaris promised herself that one day she would return to work as an architect in the United States.
She got a chance to do that a few months later when she moved to the United States. She landed a job at the Arizona office of RSP Architects, one of the largest architecture firms in the country. At this company, she developed several projects for clients in the higher education sector. Later, she was transferred to the RSP office in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She also worked for DJR Architecture and the DLR Group in Minneapolis before accepting an offer from THOR Companies to take on the role of vice president and chief architect of the THOR Design Plus subsidiary in real estate and minority ownership.
The immersion of Grupo Atlântico in the American market, after establishing itself with a successful hotel operator in Brazil, occurred shortly after the company hired Damaris’s services, an experienced architect not only in hotel projects but who also skillfully navigated the complicated municipal project approval process. The fact that Damaris Hollingsworth is fluent in both English and Portuguese made her the ideal person for the job.
With an eye on the opportunity to establish a first-class international hotel in the United States, Grupo Atlântico invested $1.5 million in August 2017 to purchase a 2.3-acre lot in one of the most upscale areas of Orlando, Florida. The acquisition was completed with a set of architectural plans for a 157-room extended-stay hotel, a project contracted by the previous owner, who ultimately withdrew from the project. The executives at Grupo Atlântico believed that the plans were basically in the final phase: completed and ready to be presented to the municipal government for approval.
Hollingsworth. “Brazilian clients who do not understand much but want to conquer new markets in the United States or any foreign country should prioritize hiring people who know the local business well in that country,” she adds. “And if the person also knows their own culture, as was the case with my relationship with Grupo Atlântico, things get even better.”
Damaris Hollingsworth is always ready to help Brazilian entrepreneurs with plans to establish or expand businesses in the United States.