July 2014
Carl Baumert recognized as Heavy Hitter of Real Estate
Carl A. Baumert, Jr., PE, longtime Keast & Hood Co. principal who retired earlier this year, was named an inaugural Heavy Hitter of Real Estate by the Philadelphia Business Journal. In a breakfast event Thursday, 17 July 2014, Carl was honored as “Most Influential Engineer” for his decades of contributions to Philadelphia’s built environment. The 2014 Heavy Hitters of Real Estate Awards were judged by the Philadelphia Business Journal editors and three external real estate professionals. The honor was a fitting tribute to Baumert, who spent more than 60 years as a registered professional structural engineer and served as Keast & Hood Co. principal from 1963-1995.
Pictured at left are principals Thomas J. Normile, Constantine (Dean) Doukakis, and Frederick C. Baumert with Carl Baumert at the awards breakfast.
The full text of Carl’s nomination appears below:
Carl A. Baumert, Jr., PE, has worked as a professional engineer for over 60 years, directing the structural engineering of major new building and renovation projects. His technical proficiency, creativity, and penchant for history have left a lasting impression on the design and construction community in Philadelphia and at large.
A registered engineer since 1958, Carl served as principal of Keast & Hood Co. from 1963 to 1995. From 1995 to present, he served as a senior consultant, focusing on historic restoration and rehabilitation projects, including participation as the lead structural consultant on the multi-disciplinary restoration team for Philadelphia’s City Hall. This year, at age 84, Carl retired from practice. It seems a fitting time to honor his involvement in Philadelphia’s real estate community with recognition as a 2014 Most Influential Engineer.
Carl’s structural engineering experience is both extensive and varied, and his expertise is legendary among Philadelphia’s architects. Carl remains as likely as ever to be on a high lift performing a façade condition assessment of a historic building, or consulting on a new construction project for an architect or building owner. His most notable projects span some of the city’s most recognized landmarks, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art main and Perelman Buildings, Philadelphia City Hall, University of Pennsylvania, and the Union League of Philadelphia; for each of these repeat clients, Carl has provided engineering design for new construction work, renovations, and historic preservation. He provided structural engineering for construction of the J.C. Penney store on Market Street, renovation of historic SEPTA rail stations throughout the region, and recently, for renovations at 1650 Arch Street.
Carl probably has more structural knowledge about Philadelphia City Hall than any other living building professional – and is one of only three shareholders to ever conduct a meeting atop Billy Penn’s Hall (in 1987 along with Keast & Hood Co. partners Nicholas Gianopulos and Thomas Leidigh).
Carl earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Drexel Institute of Technology (now Drexel University) in 1951. He served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1951-53 at Fort Belvoir, Va., and in Korea where he was a platoon commander and battalion recon officer. He is a registered professional engineer in 14 states.
Early in his career, Carl developed an interest in historic buildings and in solving myriad problems involving their structure and exterior envelope. That led to an appointment to the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Committee on the Assessment and Rehabilitation of Buildings in 1982. As part of that committee, Carl participated in the development and writing of the landmark standards for building condition assessment: SEI/ASCE 11: Guideline for Structural Condition Assessment of Existing Buildings and SEI/ ASCE 30: Guideline for the Condition Assessment of the Building Envelope, serving as chair for the production of the latter. When building owners in the city undertake a façade inspection, chances are the guidelines Carl helped write are informing the inspector’s report.
Carl has spoken and written for organizations including the National Council of Structural Engineers Association, National Science Foundation, Traditional Buildings Conference, and STRUCTURE magazine. He is a life member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and former chairman of its Standards Committee for Structural Condition Assessment and Rehabilitation of Buildings, member of the American Society for Testing and Materials; member of Association for Preservation Technology International and its Delaware Valley Chapter; member of the Delaware Valley Association of Structural Engineers, and professional member of the American Institute of Steel Construction.
The American Society of Civil Engineers recognized Carl with the 2011 Engineer of the Year Award, and the Engineers’ Club of Philadelphia inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2012. Recognition by the Philadelphia Business Journal would honor Carl’s work helping the institutional, government, and business owner clients he served for six decades.
First photo © Paul Coker Photography LLC.