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Mixed-Use Development and Civil Rights Museum in Harlem

Meraki was engaged to stabilize the FF&E program by aligning procurement, budgets, reuse strategies, and project sequencing into a single coordinated execution plan that reduced costs while supporting the project's design and operational objectives.

Overview

The National Urban League Empowerment Center is a 400,000+ SF mixed-use development in Harlem that brings together the organization's national headquarters, community facilities, and the Urban Civil Rights Museum into a single mission-driven destination.

The project required coordination across multiple environments- including museum, workplace, and community spaces- each operating under separate budgets, stakeholders, procurement requirements, and delivery schedules.

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Project Profile

  • Development: 400,000+ SF Mixed-Use Development
  • Museum: Approximately 20,000 SF
  • Community / Institutional: Approximately 55,000 SF
  • National Headquarters Workplace: Approximately 75,000 SF
  • Project Type: Ground-Up Development
  • Delivery Model: Multi-Program / Multi-Stakeholder

Executive Challenge

Meraki was engaged after the FF&E program had become fragmented across multiple project environments, budget structures, procurement paths, and delivery schedules. The project required a coordinated strategy to integrate museum, workplace, and community programs while maintaining financial discipline and construction alignment.

  • Separate museum, workplace, and community budgets requiring unified financial management
  • No centralized procurement governance or cost management strategy
  • Significant furniture reuse requirements without a structured validation process
  • Multiple dealers operating without centralized coordination
  • Integration of FF&E procurement with construction sequencing and museum exhibit installation
  • Maintaining design intent while maximizing existing asset value

National Urban League office space
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Meraki Services

Furniture Investment Strategy
  • RFP Development & Competitive Bid Management
  • Contract Alignment & Procurement Governance
  • Cost Management, Budgeting & Financial Controls
  • Asset Lifecycle Management, Furniture Reuse & Decommission Planning
 Procurement & Design Integration
  • Furniture Strategy, Design Due Diligence & Risk Advisory
  • Furniture Reuse Evaluation & Asset Validation
  • Showroom Tours & Product Evaluation
  • Coordination of furniture solutions across museum, workplace, and community environments
FF&E Project Management 
  • Process Protocol, Scheduling & Vendor Management
  • Multi-Dealer Procurement Coordination
  • Procurement, Purchasing & Logistics Management
  • Construction, Exhibit & FF&E Sequencing
  • Installation Oversight & Project Integration
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KPIs & Outcome

  • 11% reduction in FF&E investment through strategic cost management and validated furniture reuse
  • Successfully aligned multiple independent budget structures into a coordinated procurement strategy
  • Achieved full sequencing coordination between construction, museum exhibits, and FF&E installation
  • Established centralized procurement governance across multiple dealer partners
  • Extended the value of existing assets through structured lifecycle planning and reuse

Project Impact

Rather than treating the museum, headquarters, and community spaces as separate procurement efforts, Meraki transformed the project into a unified FF&E program supported by consistent financial controls, procurement governance, and coordinated execution.

The result was a streamlined delivery strategy that reduced costs, maximized asset value through validated reuse, minimized coordination risk, and aligned procurement, construction, and exhibit installation into a single performance-driven program.