Cross-Recek Architects

My company contracted with Jim Recek to remodel the upstairs of a 6400 sq ft multi-​family in West Campus. We signed the contract 1.5 years before the scheduled remodel date. With our location beside the University of Texas it was critical that the remodel take place over the summer and be ready to house by the beginning of the Fall semester.
At first Jim seemed up to the task. He was reporting back about meetings with the fire department about fire-​escapes, ADA about ramps, the historical commission, City of Austin Permiting, etc. He came to the property and took measurements. He talked about work done with MEP contractors. He produced the rough first sketches. Etc.
As time continued, I was becoming concerned since the City of Austin Permitting was running horribly slow. We had a meeting and he laid out a timeline for when the scope of work would be ready, when we would submit to the City of Austin, start construction etc.
The time to produce the preliminary scope of came and passed. Jim because impossible to reach; I suspected we were in trouble. He stopped responding to emails. This was over the holiday season.
A few weeks later I was able to track him down. He promised me the scope of work in about 2 weeks. He apologized and talked about personal family matters. As any descent person, I accepted the explanation and took him at his word since afterall we had a cushion of time. Big mistake…
Over the next 3 months, Jim missed deadline after deadline. He would book appointments with me. I would arrive to his office for scheduled appointments to find the door locked (multiple times). His explanation would be a scheduling error in his calendar. Another time he said that his computer’s hard drive and the back-​up drive both failed at the same time. He continued to use his personal family issue as his excuse and it was a sensitive subject so I wanted to be compassionate.
Eventually I ended up having to fire Mr. Recek. He had 1.5 years to do a job and never produced even a preliminary scope of work.
In the end he ended up doing the honorable thing and refunding the money that we had paid him. I will give him points for that.
However, the reason I’m still writing this review is that he cost us the opportunity to remodel this summer. If he had been honest about missing the deadlines and not continue to make promises that he never met, we could have hired a different firm.