September 21, 2015

Congratulations go out to Laura Flores, AIA, LEED ID+C, CSI, who was just voted to serve on the Chicago Plan Commission by the City Council! The Chicago Plan Commission is responsible for the review of proposals that involve Planned Developments (PDs), the Lakefront Protection Ordinance, Planned Manufacturing Districts (PMDs), Industrial Corridors and Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Districts. This group also reviews proposed sales and acquisitions of public land as well as certain long-range community plans. Established in 1909, the commission has 21 members, including mayoral appointees made with City Council consent.

Laura joined Epstein in 2013 and prior to joining Epstein she was a project leader at Ghafari Associates where she worked on a variety of complex international projects within a broad range of project types. At Epstein Laura has served as our senior project architect on projects as diverse an expansion to an industrial manufacturing/distribution facility for Cameron in Veracruz, Mexico as well as the new headquarters for the American Society of Anesthesiologists in Schaumburg, Illinois. Currently, Laura is working on a master planning and programming effort for a major spice manufacturer in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Outside of Epstein Laura is also a Member and past Vice-President of Arquitectos (The society of Hispanic Professional Architects). In her time with Arquitectos Ms. Flores has been a participant of Chicago Conversación - a luncheon and round-table discussion about Latino and Hispanic cultural heritage and places of importance in Chicago and the surrounding communities. In addition, Ms. Flores participated in a Design Charette for Instituto Del Progreso Latino and was ultimately responsible for organizing the event, developing schematic ideas and assisting during design development.

Once again - congratulations Laura on this honor - we are very proud of you!