Las Vegas legacy

The heady boom years of the late 90s saw the spawning of major resorts all along the Las Vegas strip. From Mandalay Bay and Bellagio to The Venetian, the city was abuzz with development. So when the global financial crisis enforced a lull, it prompted the entire industry to take a step back and reassess.

For John Wald, who had joined what was then known as Klai Juba Architects in 1995 as a relative newcomer to the industry, the years of growth that followed gave him the opportunity to soar, learning the skills and securing the relationships necessary for success.

So much so that in 2005, he became a partner alongside the company’s founders John Klai and Dan Juba. Together, they steered the company through the tribulations of the 2000s – all the time with one thing on their minds: growth. The firm’s leadership is also guided by Principals Brian Fink, Ann Fleming and Michael Stewart, and Associate Principals James McCoy and Leora Oh.

Then came the 2008 recession, which halted Las Vegas Strip projects and forced diversification into public sector projects such as convention centers and sports facilities.

“It was pretty tough. We lost a lot of our work. We had to let people go,” Wald tells The CEO Magazine. “The whole industry was taking a step back. A lot of these projects stopped on the strip. It was a real eye opener.”

It was a particular shock for the company’s younger generation, who had never experienced such a professional setback before. However in 2011, rather than crumbling under the pressure, they vowed to emerge from the period triumphant.

“We decided we were going to grow, that we were not going to turn down any work. We wanted to do interiors and we wanted to grow this thing,” he says, noting that when Juba retired in 2017, Klai Juba Wald acquired an interiors group and grew its entire operation.

“We grew from seven people to probably 30,” he recalls.

The company’s employee tally then grew even further, crossing the 100-mark for the first time.

A new dawn

“We’ve taken on a lot of public work now as well,” Wald explains. “Now we’re a multidisciplinary firm that can handle not just hospitality, but all avenues of hospitality. Clients now want the hospitality aspect everywhere, it’s beyond just hotels.”

This included the public sector where a dreary customer experience in places like convention centers had sparked a rethink.

“Owners are looking for hospitality designers to come in and do high-end clubs, turn convention centers into more than just a hallway with meeting rooms. So you saw the hospitality industry now being needed in all these other avenues,” he says.

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“For decades, PENTA and Klai Juba Wald have built a partnership rooted in trust, collaboration and a shared pursuit of excellence. Its innovative design perspective, combined with our construction expertise, has resulted in several iconic projects that create lasting value and consistently exceed our clients’ expectations.” – Glen Maxwell, Senior Vice President – Preconstruction, The PENTA Building Group

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This shift created an opportunity for Klai Juba Wald to work on the Las Vegas Convention Center expansion – an area of approximately 300,000 square meters.

“We’ve done some sports facilities as well because it allowed us to branch out with our hospitality background into other markets that were searching for that personal touch that hospitality gives to projects.”

A great run followed, with the firm growing so large that in 2023 the leadership team found itself at a crucial crossroads and decided to become a 100 percent employee-owned firm.

“It had become tough to do an internal transaction,” Wald says. “We had a lot of people looking at us from mergers and acquisitions, other private equity firms. But when we looked at all those opportunities, they wanted to change our DNA, change our name and the way we do business.

“We got to the point where we didn’t want to change our DNA and we didn’t want to change the culture that we had created here for our employees, so we did an ESOP transaction and we ended up selling to the employees.”

The next generation

The idea was to ensure that the company’s DNA remained intact and that its employees felt secure.

“We have a great environment,” Wald says. “We were a small mom-and-pop shop when we started, but as we grew, we’ve kept that DNA. People are comfortable coming to work. It’s an open-door policy. You’ve got to lead by example.”

That means getting in the trenches with his people, who Wald describes as the company’s best asset.

“You have to invest in young people who want to build successful, lasting careers. You want to develop people who are smarter than you, people who can ultimately step up and lead,” he says. “You’ve got to give them space so that they can, so that’s where we are today.”

Having seen the company through its various phases, Wald’s focus now is largely on identifying the next generation of leaders.

“That means more than just four of us or six of us – it’s going to be eight and 10 people that hopefully are going to lead this company into the fourth generation,” Wald shares. “Hopefully we can diversify our services, we can diversify our markets and we can keep the loyal client base that we have and grow this thing to be even bigger – from 30 people to more than 200.”

Today, the company is working on a number of projects all over the world, although its work still continues along its traditional mainstay, the Las Vegas strip, with the firm currently working on Hard Rock’s hotly anticipated guitar-shaped hotel.

“Number one, we do a great job. And repeat business is the best testament I think to any company no matter what you do,” Wald says.

But even as Klai Juba Wald continues to thrive, Wald still has one eye on the future. That means harnessing more innovative building materials and strengthening partnerships with companies like The PENTA Building Group, but also reflecting on the successes of the past.

“I see projects I worked on 20 years ago and still drive by and think, ‘Wow.’ It brings back memories of the relationships, the clients and all the people and engineers who helped bring those projects to life,” he reflects.

“It’s a breath of fresh air when you see each piece of work come to life because they all have a story – a different story and a different journey.”