High-Investment, High-Touch: The Rise of Construction Concierges

Client expectations are shaped by a world of constant updates and easy access to information, and custom builders are adapting and elevating their service to match the scale of their client’s investments.

“It’s become a much more hands-on approach—with homeowners being involved in construction and needing more and more information—that requires somebody available to manage the client’s expectations all through the project,” says Melissa Kennedy, president of Meadowlark Design+Build in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Kennedy says that construction is now viewed like other service industries.  

“The rest of the world sets our expectations,” she says. “[Construction] is high investment, high touch. You’re touching something that is most people’s greatest asset, and they want to know what’s going on.”

To meet that demand, some builders are redefining project management roles into “construction concierge” or “client experience” services that are focused on people as much as on execution.

A construction concierge doesn’t just manage the build; they guide the client through it, anticipating needs, managing expectations, and prioritizing a smooth experience throughout the process.

Is a construction concierge just a rebranded project manager, or is this a whole new role?

“I think it’s an evolution of a role in developing what soft skills are needed for a project manager,” says Kennedy. A concierge still needs construction knowledge, experience, and fluency, “but they also have to possess these beautiful soft skills that help guide the homeowner, soften the experience, and really have empathy for the homeowner’s experience and prioritize it through construction.”

Beyond the soft skills Kennedy describes, builders are also redefining the breadth of what this type of project oversight means.

Julian Barak, owner of Vesta Builders in San Diego, sees the construction concierge as a “serious upgrade” that requires maintaining a holistic view: predicting problems, reviewing options, and giving advice through the process.

Colin Corbo of Corbo Associates in Southbury, Conn., takes this even further, describing a role that includes everything from helping clients find and evaluate property to coordinating with all the required design professionals, and working through the permitting process—every step from start to finish.

A construction concierge has to take all their knowledge and experience and apply it directly to the client’s budget, lifestyle, and family needs in order to get the client exactly what they want, Corbo explains.

For many builders, the construction concierge role is filled by team members who maintain a project manager job title, while some smaller companies may see the owner or VP serving as concierge.

But what does it actually take to develop those ‘beautiful soft skills’ Kennedy mentioned? For her, the answer came from an unexpected client conversation.

In 2017, she attended a project closeout meeting where a client calmly and clearly told her the firm needed to hire more female project managers. When Kennedy asked what she meant, the client responded, “This is a job that requires empathy. It is hard for clients who live through construction.”

She carried that insight with her for a long time. “Not necessarily that it had to be women managing projects,” Kennedy says, “but that the empathy required for homeowners to live through construction is high.”

When stepping into a construction management role, she had opportunities to hire with soft skills in mind. “I added [more] female project managers on staff, but, more definitively, we changed the roles and responsibilities of what a project manager at Meadowlark needed to be able to do.”

The company decided the project manager would focus on managing the client and their experience, while the site superintendent handles onsite trade coordination and work execution.

Meadowlark’s approach includes set walk-throughs on site, weekly project emails, a shared Google calendar, and—most importantly—a dedicated concierge as the client’s primary point of contact. 

To set each project up for success, the company carefully pairs clients and concierges by personality. “It can be a really lovely collaborative relationship when the dynamics of the people work well together, and it can be a lot more challenging when they don’t,” Kennedy says.

Meadowlark has also developed internal processes to support this service model. “We say we’re relentlessly reliable,” Kennedy explains. “We will not go over. We will always show up. We will be there.”

The company concierge guides clients from the very start of the process through design, pre-construction, construction, and then through their warranty process.

This approach has resulted in an 85% client return and referral rate, Kennedy says.

Some industry professionals are offering construction concierge as a third-party service.

Rather than builders adding this role internally, there are designers stepping in to fill the gap. Elizabeth Lord-Levitt, principal designer at Elizabeth P. Lord Residential Design LLC in Denver, works to ensure that her clients feel heard and that their investments are protected.

“A lot of clients are novices. They want to build a new home, but they just don’t know who to trust,” Lord-Levitt says. “This is their biggest investment, and so they want to make sure it’s done right.”

Lord-Levitt walks clients through the design/build process, reviewing bids and floor plans and working collaboratively with contractors, architects, and interior designers.

“I’m not there to boss people around as a construction concierge,” Lord-Levitt adds. She might need to hold people accountable, when necessary, she explains, but she’s also there to take work off the builder’s plate by holding the client’s hands through the process.

This growing emphasis on client experience raises questions about where the industry is heading. 

For Corbo, the answer is clear: “Our homes are very personal things. There is no one-size-fits-all, for sure. So, I don’t think it’s a service that’s going away anytime soon, if ever.”

Barak agrees, noting that, once customers experience this level of service, “it’s hard to go back.” He believes builders who don’t adapt will get left behind as concierge-level service becomes the expected standard.

Kennedy sees the shift as beneficial for the entire industry. “If we really just accept this development in the project manager role,” she says, “it will elevate construction experiences for everybody and raise the bar to get into construction, giving people an overall better experience.”

Ultimately, the rise of the construction concierge reflects a simple truth: even in an industry focused on building structures, the human experience remains paramount.