The Restrepo Group

Origin

Why I Built It

Twenty years into this work, I kept watching the same thing happen. A client of mine in Bergen County would buy a second home in Palm Beach or a third in the Caribbean. They would call me and ask the same question every time. Who do I call when I am there. I never had a good answer.

I would not hand a client I had spent years earning to a name I had pulled off a directory. So I would fly to the property myself, or I would tell them to wait until I could vet someone, or I would manage the project remotely while a local crew did the install. None of those answers were sustainable, and none of them were honest to the standard the client was paying for.

The harder problem sat one layer up. On any project we run. a Franklin Lakes residence, a Manhattan boardroom, a boutique hotel, or a base chapel. the integrator is one of fifteen trades on the site. The architect, the builder, the electrician, the lighting designer, the drapery and shade shop, the landscape and hardscape firm, the IT and cybersecurity vendor, the AV manufacturer reps. If any one of them is operating below standard, the project bleeds money and the client lives with the result for thirty years. I knew the people in every one of those seats who do the work the way I want it done. They did not know each other.

The Restrepo Group is the answer I should have had ten years ago. Nineteen independently-owned firms across architecture, luxury spec development, electrical, lighting design, drapery and shading, AV integration and distribution, IT and managed services, landscape, and hardscape. Some firms lean residential. Some lean commercial. Some run hospitality and government. Each firm has been examined by its peers and held to a common engineering and operations standard. When a client of mine acquires a property in Kansas City or Palm Beach or the Virgin Islands, or a hotel group opens a new property in Bergen County, or a base needs a chapel lighting fix at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, the answer to “who do I call” is no longer guesswork.

. Mike Restrepo, Owner, Restrepo Innovations

Roster

The Nineteen Firms

Each member firm is independently owned. The Group operates as a peer referral and engineering-coordination network. not a franchise. Every firm below has been examined by working peers and held to a common standard. The roster covers residential, commercial, hospitality, and military and government work. Some firms are multi-division. Some are specialists in one lane. Cards are grouped by trade so you can find the lane that fits your project.

Member firms work across all four Restrepo divisions: residential, commercial, hospitality, and military and government. Certifications shown are a mix of independently verified credentials and credentials reported by member firms during the board certification process. Restrepo Innovations claims only Elite Pro Crestron Dealer, HTA Luxury Certified, OSHA Certified, and Ubiquiti UISP / Pro Partner. Certifications belonging to other Group members are named on those firms’ cards individually rather than rolled up under “the Group.”

For Clients

Services for Clients and Trade Partners

Most clients meet the Group through one of our member firms on a normal install. The Group also sells three services directly, independent of who is doing the install. These are owner’s-representation services. We are on your side, not the installing firm’s side. We are paid by you, and we tell you what we see.

The scope is not limited to low-voltage AV. We review the work of every trade that touches the build, through the appropriate Group member. Electrical is reviewed alongside the three electrical members. Lighting is reviewed alongside Tirschwell and Co. Shading and drapery is reviewed alongside Workroom Services. Architecture is reviewed alongside A L P Architecture. Landscape and hardscape is reviewed alongside Terracare and Lucca. IT and cybersecurity is reviewed alongside Olmec. AV, networking, and integration is reviewed by Restrepo Innovations and the integration members.

1. Design Certification Review

You or your architect or your interior designer sends us the project before construction starts. Architectural drawings, structural and MEP coordination, electrical load and panel schedules, lighting plan and fixture schedule, low-voltage scope, network and IT plan, shade and drapery plan, landscape and hardscape design, exterior lighting and irrigation. We review it line by line against the Restrepo Standard. We mark up what is right, what is wrong, what is missing, and what will cost you money or grief later if it gets built as drawn.

You receive a written certification report and a working session with the lead reviewers from each discipline to walk through every finding. The report is yours to share with your integrator, architect, builder, designer, electrician, or landscape contractor. Most projects that come through this review get changed in three to ten places before any wire is pulled or any footing is poured. That is the point.

Range: $4,500 to $25,000 depending on project size, system count, and trade scope. A single-discipline review (lighting only, AV only, networking only, IT only, landscape only) starts at $4,500. A full whole-property review covering architecture, electrical, lighting, AV, networking, IT, shading, landscape, and hardscape on a 6,000 to 15,000 square foot estate is $14,000 to $25,000. Multi-residence portfolios are quoted per property.

2. Construction-Phase Verification

While the project is being installed, we visit the site at agreed milestones (excavation and rough grade, foundation and rough framing, MEP rough-in, low-voltage rough-in, trim, exterior hardscape, lighting trim and aim, pre-commissioning) and verify what is in the wall, what is on the rack, what is being programmed, what is in the ground, and what is being planted. We compare what is actually being installed to what was approved in the certification review. If something has been substituted, changed, or skipped, you find out from us before final payment, not from your client three months after move-in.

Each site visit produces a written field report with photographs, deficiency list, and recommended corrective action. The installing trade receives a copy. You receive the original.

Range: $3,500 to $7,500 per site visit, four to eight visits typical on a luxury whole-property build. Travel billed at cost for properties outside our primary regions (NJ, NY, and CT, and Group member regions). National coverage available through Group member firms.

3. Final Walkthrough and Sign-Off

When the trades say the project is done, we walk the property with you. Every keypad, every scene, every source, every zone, every camera, every shade, every drapery track, every fixture, every electrical circuit, every landscape zone and irrigation head, every network rack and access point. Either it works as designed or it does not. We test it. We document it. We hand you a punch list of what is incomplete and what is wrong, plus the standard we measured against.

Most luxury projects get a final walkthrough only from the installing firm itself. That is the firm grading its own homework. This service is a second opinion from a peer of every trade, paid for by you.

Range: $2,500 to $8,500 depending on property size and trade scope. Add-on: 90-day post-occupancy follow-up walkthrough at half the original fee, recommended for projects with seasonal use.

When clients buy these services

The pattern we see most often. A homeowner is building or renovating, has hired or is about to hire trades that are not Restrepo or Group members, and wants a second set of eyes from someone who does this work at the highest level. Architects and interior designers also retain us on behalf of their clients to keep the trades honest on a project where the design firm itself is the client’s primary advocate.

If you are working with Restrepo Innovations or a Group member on the install itself, the certification review and construction verification are bundled into the engagement. These services exist primarily for clients who are not in a Group install but still want Group-level oversight.

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For Integration Owners

The Restrepo Standard. Taught and Coached

The Restrepo Group is the peer network. Behind it is the operating standard that every member firm is expected to apply. That standard is now available as a formal curriculum and coaching program for owners of luxury integration shops outside the Group.

• The Restrepo Process

  An eight-module operating curriculum for owners of luxury integration shops. Taught by Mike Restrepo and named Restrepo Group leaders. Single modules at $1,500 per seat. Two-Day Intensive at $3,000 per seat. By invitation. Learn more →

• Coaching

  One-on-one and cohort coaching with Mike Restrepo. Available exclusively to graduates of The Restrepo Process. Group cohort at $1,000 per month. One-on-one at $5,000 per month. Learn more →

For Firm Principals

Membership Is Board-Certified, Not Sign-Up

The Restrepo Group is not a directory and not an affiliate program. Membership is a credential issued by a board of leading firm principals after a structured peer review of the applicant firm’s actual operations. The model is closer to a medical specialty board than to a trade association. You do not pay a fee and get a logo. You apply, you are examined, and the board votes.

The Group is open to firms across all four Restrepo divisions: residential, commercial, hospitality, and military and government. Trade lanes covered: AV and integration, architecture, luxury spec development and building, electrical, lighting design, drapery and shading, AV distribution and manufacturer representation, IT and managed services, landscape, and hardscape. The standard is the same regardless of division or discipline. The questions the board asks are tailored to the trade and to the division the firm primarily serves.

Why this matters to a member firm

The Group certification is the only credential issued by working peer principals across residential, commercial, hospitality, and military and government work, rather than by a single manufacturer, a publication, or a paid certification body. A Restrepo Group member firm is telling its clients and its trade partners that other elite operators have examined the business and confirmed it meets a published standard. That is a different thing than self-declaration, and the market knows the difference.

Beyond the credential, members get access to the Group’s referral protocol (multi-residence clients moving between markets and across trades), a shared engineering and project standard with documented playbooks, peer coaching from Mike Restrepo and named Group leaders, the right to refer to the Group in their own marketing, and inclusion in Group-level proposals to architects, designers, and builders.

What the board evaluates

Six areas, examined through documentation, interviews, and one or more site visits to the applicant firm’s office, shop, and a recent project. The framing is the same for every trade. The artifacts examined are specific to the discipline.

1. Engineering and design quality. Drawings, schedules, specifications, calculations, programming structure, system or fixture or planting schedules. Real project files, not marketing materials.
2. Documentation discipline. Project files, change orders, commissioning or punch records, as-built drawings, client handoff packages.
3. Financial discipline. Margin, cash position, AR aging, deposit handling, project profitability. Not published, not shared outside the board. Required.
4. Client communication. Proposals, project updates, post-occupancy support, response time, escalation paths. We talk to recent clients with the applicant’s permission.
5. Technical depth. Manufacturer or trade certifications, lead programmer or lead designer or lead foreman credentials, in-house versus subcontracted work, training cadence, license status where applicable.
6. Process and culture. How the firm runs daily, weekly, and project-cycle operations. How decisions are made. How problems are handled when they surface. How the firm treats its own staff and its trade partners.

The certification path

1. Inquiry. A firm owner or principal contacts the Group through Restrepo Innovations. We send the applicant questionnaire.
2. Application. The firm returns the questionnaire with supporting documentation. We acknowledge receipt and provide an initial fit assessment within two weeks. About half of inquiries do not progress past this point.
3. Site visit. A Group board member spends one to two days at the applicant’s office and on an active or recent project. The visit is structured around the six evaluation areas.
4. Board interview. The applicant principal presents the business to the full Group board on a scheduled video call or in person at the Franklin Lakes office. The board questions the applicant directly.
5. Board vote. The Group votes after the interview. Decisions are unanimous-or-not. A firm that does not receive a unanimous vote receives written feedback and is welcome to reapply after twelve months.
6. Onboarding. Certified firms sign a Group operating agreement, are introduced to existing members, and are added to the Group page within sixty days.

The standard for staying in

Membership is recertified annually. The annual review is lighter than the initial certification but covers the same six areas, with a focus on what has changed during the year. A firm that drifts from the standard receives a written notice and a remediation window. A firm that does not correct, or that brings discredit to the Group through client harm or industry conduct, can be removed by a board vote.

How to apply

Contact Restrepo Innovations to start the inquiry. Include your firm name, principal name, trade, years in business, primary markets, and a paragraph on why you believe the Group is a fit. Mike Restrepo personally reviews every inquiry.

Markets

Geographic Coverage

Member firms cover distinct markets across NJ, NY, and CT, and partner regions, across residential, commercial, hospitality, and military and government work. Each market is served by a firm with deep local knowledge, established trade relationships, and vetted project history in that geography. National coverage available through DSG Distributors (AV), Tirschwell and Co. (lighting), and Olmec (managed IT).

Restrepo Innovations also completes individual VIP destination projects outside the Group’s primary footprint. including Las Vegas, San Francisco, Franklin TN, Florida, Cabo San Lucas, Portugal, Spain, Colombia, and Puerto Rico. when project scope and client relationship warrant the travel commitment.

Group Listicles

Featured Reading

Independent buyer’s guides covering integration firms across the regions where Group members operate. Each listicle is researched, ranked, and written to help owners, builders, designers, and architects compare working integrators.

Recognition

Press Recognition

The following press items are independently verified. Each links to its primary source. The Group does not claim coverage it cannot cite.

• Commercial Integrator (Dan Ferrisi, February 2026). Full-length profile of Restrepo Innovations: crossing the $1 million revenue threshold, the $1.3 million Tennessee project originated from a CEDIA Expo introduction, and the firm’s identity as “ultra high-end, super concierge.”
• CE Pro (Robert Archer). “The Don of N.Y. Electronics”. Profile of DSG Metro’s Dave Silkin. Restrepo Innovations is named and Mike Restrepo is quoted; he is described as “one of the top integrators in the country.” Details Restrepo’s role in the DSG Metro showroom redesign and the Grimani Systems / AcousticSmart theater build.
• Commercial Integrator (Alyssa Borelli, November 2025). CEDIA Expo / CIX 2025 coverage: Restrepo’s growth from solo operator to a firm generating $3.8 million annually with a seven-person team.
• CE Pro Inside Buzz Ep. 4 (November 2025). Mike Restrepo featured in the Volkswagen ID. Buzz podcast van with CE Pro Editor Dan Ferrisi at CEDIA Expo / CIX 2025 in Denver.
• Crestron Published Case Study. Shapiro Residence (2022). Simplicity KC featured in an official Crestron case study for a 9,200 sq/ft contemporary new-build. One of two published Crestron case studies featuring Simplicity KC projects.
• Forbes (Jamie Gold, May 2022). Simplicity KC founder Joe Acree quoted on wellness design and smart home technology for teenagers; one of several publications citing Simplicity KC’s intersection of personal mission and design expertise.
• Business of Home (July 2024). Matt Tirschwell of Tirschwell & Co. quoted on architectural lighting design process and the firm’s use of physical mock-ups over digital renderings. Tirschwell is cited alongside top national lighting designers.
• Residential Systems. Showroom Spotlight: DSG Metro. Profile of the DSG Metro Plainview showroom and Dave Silkin’s relationship-first business model.
• Commercial Integrator 40 Influencers Under 40 (2018). Mike Restrepo recognized for networking background and “relentless pursuit of the highest standards” in Crestron programming.

Members Directory

The Nineteen Firms in Full

A deeper read of every Group member. The roster covers residential, commercial, hospitality, and military and government work across the four Restrepo divisions. Some firms are multi-division, some specialize in one lane. Bios, named principals, awards, and certifications are sourced from each firm’s own materials. Where a firm carries no public awards, none are claimed.

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ