Known locally as Peter Luizzi & Bros Contracting in its hometown of Watervliet, New York, there’s much more to Luizzi Companies than the paving and driveway repair business that first built its reputation when it started in the 1950s.
Leading with a clear vision and a dedication to singular, premium quality delivery, the group prides itself on pioneering new concepts. When not serving local governments, it dovetails its companies’ services with general contracting and construction management services for civil works and private customers.
As Peter Luizzi & Bros Contracting, Inc. expanded into Luizzi Property Management LLC and Luizzi Construction Services and Development LLC, the company’s presence has been a force to witness. Established by founders Carol and Peter Luizzi Sr., and following years of success in the civil arena, the Luizzis added the property management division to their original offering toward the end of the 1980s, as market demand created an early opportunity too good to ignore.
Property management in focus
This upstart addition started gaining momentum in the 1990s when the company began acquiring real estate. It was Peter Luizzi Jr.’s arrival in 2000 that heralded the turning point for the company’s property management arm, changing its trajectory forever.
Luizzi Jr. invested considerable time and effort transforming the property management division into a fully-fledged management company by adding residential properties to an existing portfolio of land, warehouses, and other industrial real estate. Walking bravely in his parents’ footsteps, the young leader spent the next 13 years growing the company to where it could erect its first luxury apartment community in 2013.
That was followed by the Starbuck Island Luxury Apartment Community in Green Island, New York, a $64 million-plus development comprising commercial and residential units built on repurposed land over an old oil landfill at the confluence of the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers near Troy, New York.
The achievement is a first-class development based on a condominium-type, premium lifestyle approach. The timing could not have been better, either. “It gives people that feeling of being in their own space, but it is maintenance-free; it is luxury,” says Olivia Metchick, Marketing Manager, of what customers describe as a singular living experience.
Loving the lifestyle
Naturally, the Luizzi Companies’ vision is not simply to create luxury but instead to establish human-friendly living spaces where people love their lifestyle and flourish. Evidence of this is the recent addition of a garden to one of its projects—which didn’t have one in the original plans—at the request of a resident living in the development.
“Peter is a forward thinker. He’s always trying things that haven’t been done before. It gets attention, and then that becomes what everybody else tries to do,” Metchick says. “He is very visual; he’s a true visionary. He’ll take abandoned, deserted properties where nobody sees potential and has a way of completely flipping it. It really helps the economies of such areas,” she notes.
Working hand-in-hand with BBL Construction, a trusted construction partner of several years, on key projects like Starbuck Island Luxury Apartment Community and Rivers Ledge of Niskayuna in Schenectady County, New York, Luizzi Companies is proud to be associated with an industry stalwart such as this. “We have a really good relationship with BBL Construction. We foresee their role to continue for years to come,” Metchick adds.
146 Marketplace
Luizzi Companies’ next big game changer is 146 Marketplace, a project that promises to deliver the kind of community-based living the area has never seen before. “146 Marketplace will be like nothing we have in upstate New York. It is going to be all-encompassing. It is taking luxury and convenience to a new level.”
With around 300 apartments in a series of buildings, with restaurants, onsite shopping, and entertainment, the development is set to become the first of more communities of this type that Luizzi intends to establish. The company is selecting existing businesses to move to the premises to achieve this vision and help create a sense of familiarity alongside convenience.
“Peter likes to do things full-throttle and give people the highest quality,” Metchick says. “We stick to our values, but we do not say no often; we are open to a lot.”
Naturally, unlike in its private projects, the company’s civil contracts for public entities such as municipalities require it to adhere to carefully prescribed agreements where the team has to work within the set principles and agreed scope of the work according to established guidelines. In its own offices, however, the sky is the limit.
Luizzi Companies moved into its sophisticated new facility around 18 months ago, giving it the tremendous benefit of having one of its commercial developments right next door. That means having a convenient, walk-in portfolio displaying the team’s deep design insight and capabilities while showcasing the benefits of working with its team of industry experts and the novel ways it leverages technology.
Worth showing off
A proud member of the American Concrete Institute, the company has won many awards in its time—and so have its projects.
Recently, the American Public Works Association (APWA) honored the company with the 2019 Project of the Year Award in the ‘Emergency Construction Category under $5 million’ for its sterling work on APWA’s Sage Avenue Emergency Project, where it acted as a lead service provider on repairs alongside roadways in Troy, New York following a destructive storm.
In 2019, the company received the Hot Mix Asphalt Showcase Award for work on the Walmart Supercenter in Clifton Park, New York.
Luminary members of its team also regularly garner recognition for outstanding performance. Peter Luizzi Jr. received the ‘Albany Business Review Power 50: New Momentum’ award for leaders in the region, while Chuck Pafundi Jr., Project Manager and head of real estate development, made it onto the ‘Albany Business Review 40 under 40’ list for 2023.
It’s no surprise, then, that the company was named ‘Business of the Year in 2022’ by the Albany Business Review.
A sense of family
The legacy of caring about the details and its people that was first established by Luizzi Sr. is continued today by Peter Luizzi Jr. and his wife, Laura.
“You get that sense of family here. They do things for us that you don’t get from a corporate or national company. It’s something that has helped us get those awards,” says Metchick of the generosity and care the Luizzis show their staff, which numbers around 100.
This family atmosphere is supported by regular events like employee appreciation events as well as team lunches where everyone gets to break bread together and engage on a more personal level. “The Luizzis do a lot of little things that make a difference. They’re things you don’t get everywhere,” she continues, underscoring how this generosity cultivates employee loyalty and strong morale amongst team members.
Thriving in this focused care from the Luizzis, the team also likes to do its part to share its appreciation beyond office boundaries and project sites. Each year it supports various charities in their missions, participating, for instance, in the Breast Cancer drive in October alongside a raffle for the local Alzheimer’s Association.
Whether the team donates time by physically attending charity events or contributes financially, giving back is a big part of its identity as a group dedicated to the greater good and the future of the communities in which it operates. As property trends lean increasingly toward low-to-no-maintenance and as apartment and condominium-style housing becomes more popular, Luizzi Companies is positioning itself to answer the growing demand for more.
Poised for consistent growth across the region, Luizzi Companies is working to become the go-to partner in the area, delivering practical high-end construction and property management. Whether the rest of New York State knows it yet or not, it soon will. This proud Albany team is clearly readying itself to make big waves.
