CUHACI & PETERSON ARCHITECTS RANKED NO. 1 AMONG ORLANDO AREA ARCHITECTURAL FIRMS

ORLANDO, Fla. – Cuhaci & Peterson Architects Engineers Planners based in Orlando’s Baldwin Park was recently ranked No. 1 among the largest architectural firms in Central Florida, according to an Orlando trade magazine. The Orlando Business Journal recently researched Central Florida architectural billings for 2012 and listed the top 23 architectural firms in the area. Cuhaci & Peterson was in the lead with $14.5 million in billings. Recently the firm had a visitor from Ottawa – its co-founder Edward Cuhaci who teamed up with Chairman Lonnie Peterson in the mid-1970s to open the Orlando office. “Our first client was the Winn Dixie grocery chain,” Cuhaci said. Cuhaci is now chairman of his own firm in Ottawa–Cuhaci & Associates. The 70-plus year old architect says he’s retired now but still goes to his office, “when I feel like it.” When Cuhaci & Peterson opened its Orlando office in the late 1970s, the first year’s revenues totaled less than $10,000, according to Peterson. Things are different now with over 100 employees. “When we started it was just Lonnie and me,” Cuhaci remembers. Cuhaci started his architectural career in the early 1960s and Peterson joined his firm in 1976. The first Cuhaci & Peterson office was located in a Turkey Lake Rd. strip center where they leased 4,000 square feet. Now they have their own building in Baldwin Park totaling 20,000 square feet. Why Orlando? “Orlando in the 1970s, I mean… my God, there was no airport, but we knew that was all coming. It was advertised because of Disney World,” Cuhaci said.