Two former high-ranking Scottsdale employees who helped guide the city’s downtown revitalization efforts are now looking to cash in on the building boom.
Former assistant city manager Ed Gawf, who retired in July, and chief planning officer Randy Grant, who left the city in January to join a local law firm, have announced the creation of G&G Consulting based in downtown Scottsdale.
Their office is at 7434 E. Stetson Drive in a building owned by Triyar, one of downtown Scottsdale’s largest landowners and developer of the W Hotel, a project that both Grant and Gawf worked on while with the city.
Triyar also owns eight acres surrounding the trendy hotel set to open next year and owns the proposed Hanover high-rise condo project at the northwest corner of Goldwater Boulevard and Indian School Road.
Grant would not confirm whether Triyar also was a G&G client. An attempt to reach a Triyar official was unsuccessful.
Grant said the firm has obtained about a half-dozen Scottsdale-area clients as well as out-of-state ones. He did not release names, saying some are clients who have yet to submit projects to the city. He added that not all the clients will be seeking Scottsdale approval for projects.
Downtown Scottsdale has seen a huge influx of new condos, hotels and other private investment, with future high-profile and potentially controversial high-rise projects on the drawing board.
Grant said the firm hopes to obtain contracts with other municipalities besides Scottsdale to rewrite ordinances and assist with downtown redevelopment.
The two-person firm also will offer environmental consulting, facility and operations auditing, and regulatory compliance management.
Gawf said when he retired that he planned to open a consulting business in Scottsdale. Grant said he couldn’t say “no” to the offer.
“It was too good an opportunity to pass up,” Grant said.
State law prohibits Gawf and Grant from representing a client before a public body or agency on an issue that they have had authority or worked on in the past year.
That does not prevent the firm, however, from doing consulting work today as long as they do not represent the client before the city or City Council, Grant said.
The firm e-mailed consulting and design firms along with city employees last week to announce the start of the new company.
Councilman Bob Littlefield said Scottsdale applicants could turn to Gawf and Grant because of their knowledge of the city process and personalities.
“I’m not sure I’m comfortable will all these ex-city people within months of their leaving are now lobbying the city,” Littlefield said. “I worry about that a little bit.”
Gawf worked as one of the city’s three assistant city managers between September 2001 and July. A longtime planning official, Gawf previously worked in Palo Alto and San Jose, Calif., and Boulder, Colo.
On his résumé, Gawf says he was the “lead person in the revitalization of downtown Scottsdale that has generated over $2 billion of private investment in the last four years.” He cites his work on the Waterfront, SkySong and One Scottsdale.
Grant had worked for Scottsdale since 1986, including serving as the city’s first chief environmental officer. He also has worked for Norman, Okla. He joined Rose Law Group as a senior planning consultant after leaving the city.
Grant wrote that he has overseen all areas of entitlement and land development approval in Scottsdale, and has experience in negotiation, preparation and presentation of highly complex and controversial projects and issues.
A Scottsdale city employee is helping G&G Consulting set up its computer system, Grant said, but his weekend and night work has been approved by the city.
