Ones To Watch: Innovators in CRE - Harry McDonough, Currie Project Management

What innovation or accomplishment are you most proud of? In almost five years with Currie Project Management, I’ve had the chance to work on a wide variety of projects across New England, and further! I think the systems that we have developed as a team over these years has been an incredible accomplishment to allow us to stay flexible on projects from all sorts of industries, whether it is a corporate interior fit-out in Downtown Boston, or a ground-up warehouse robotics manufacturer.

Where do you see the biggest opportunities for innovation in commercial real estate or your area of expertise? For our manufacturing and life science projects, the earlier we are involved the better. We like to be there every step of the way with the client, and make sure that the Architecture and Engineering consultants are right there with us. Giving the client access to an equipment matrix at these early stages help us make sure that we guide them towards the right space for their continued operations, or even identify if remaining in place is a more viable option. I have seen these early engagements becoming more popular in recent years, and I am all for it!

How is innovation changing the way you approach your work? In 2026, I would be remiss not to mention AI here. The ability to live-transcribe meetings for team members that cannot make a call has surely been a boon to our process. While we always review and provide our own meeting minutes after each call, it’s fantastic that within minutes after a meeting everyone can get a quick snapshot of what was discussed, what decisions were made, and what the next steps are to keep the ball rolling!

What excites you most about the future of commercial real estate? The growth in e-commerce and its direct influence on warehouse robotics has been fascinating to see firsthand. A couple of years ago, one my projects was a significant player in this industry. In order to power the robots, a significant amount of lithium batteries were needed, as well as other chemical make ups. Our team went through a long review process to determine the best storage solution, as the code was still adapting to this new technology. I am excited to see how the code adapts to innovations as they become a normalized part of New England’s commercial real estate portfolio!