Design Consultants acquires Polaris Consultants

Somerville, MA Design Consultants, Inc., (DCI) formally finalized its acquisition of Polaris Consultants LLC at its recent shareholder meeting.

The merger with Polaris strengthens DCI in multiple areas, adding new environmental and geotechnical engineering services and an enhanced presence on the South Shore and in MetroWest, says DCI president David Giangrande, PE. The former Polaris staff will continue to work out of its existing office at 1495 Hancock St.in Quincy. DCI now has an office on both the North Shore (Newburyport) and South Shore, in addition to its headquarters office in the vibrant Assembly Sq. area of Somerville.

“I’ve known and worked with Paul Costello, Jason Federico and Mike Clark, the principals at Polaris, for many years,” said Giangrande. “We have similar cultures and a client-first approach to doing business that made this merger of our firms a natural. They bring expertise in water/wastewater services, geotechnical engineering, and GIS/mapping that we previously did not have. Combined with our strengths in transportation planning and engineering, land development and survey, as well as our joint capabilities in stormwater management and other areas, we can provide our public-sector and private-sector clients even more comprehensive services under one roof.” Polaris’ geographic strengths south and west of Boston complements DCI’s substantial portfolio in Eastern Massachusetts, particularly north of the city and in Greater Boston. “Even with our growth, we’re still nimble and lean, and we can provide our clients with a responsiveness and personal service that most larger firms can’t,” Giangrande said.

DCI was founded in 1980 by Arthur Giangrande and has grown steadily since David assumed the president’s role in 1998. In that time, DCI has led many high-profile projects throughout the state, including the redesign of Huntington Ave. in Boston, the full-depth reconstruction of Somerville Ave.in Somerville, the design and development of Boston’s South Bay Harbor Trail, the reconstruction of Main St. in Andover and numerous other public- and private-sector transportation and land development projects.

With the firms’ combined resources, DCI’s staff now includes professional civil, geotechnical and transportation engineers, professional land surveyors, construction inspectors, draftsmen, wetlands specialists and other technical and administrative professionals.

Polaris’ signature projects include the Bruce Cahoon Water Treatment Plant in Harwich, water and wastewater treatment services for the town of Medfield, the Hingham Town Beach Stabilization and the 384-unit Dot Block Private Development in Dorchester.