CEO & Founder
David J. Cohen founded The I-Grace Company, Commissioned Private Residences, Inc., in 1988. Conceived as a firm with a deep commitment to artisan level craftsmanship and the best of modern management practices, I-Grace allowed David to re-envisage the traditional patron-builder relationship. Over the years, I-Grace has grown into a diversified national construction company, one of the leading purveyors of high-end residential services in the country.
“First we build great teams,
then we build great projects.”
David’s introduction to the world of construction came at an early age, when his parents purchased a former boarding house in the Cobble Hill area of Brooklyn, New York in 1964, which they converted into a single-family house. The transformation of this brownstone and Cobble Hill’s nascent gentrification served as a backdrop for his lifelong passion for historic architecture, renovations and the changing fabric of the urban landscape.
David’s love of history led him to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in European History at SUNY Binghamton, where he graduated with Honors. His summers were spent working for Marvin Hammerman, Inc., an architectural woodworking and general contracting firm in New York City. Upon graduating, David joined Marvin Hammerman full-time, where, over the next few years, he rapidly rose through the ranks from the field to management. David later joined William Crawford, Inc., an old-line residential construction firm, where he had the opportunity to work with some of the most prestigious decorating and architecture firms in New York.
Today, David remains actively involved in The I-Grace Company, serving as its CEO. He remains passionately committed to his founding vision: an uncompromising commitment to quality and service. While the company has grown over the years to include an array of diversified service offerings coast to coast, the primary objective of the firm remains unchanged: I-Grace strives to provide highly specialized advisory and construction services that span the lifecycle of a client relationship.
David is committed to lifelong learning, retaining a youthful curiosity and giving back. He supports a wide range of philanthropic activities from the arts to education.