Community Highlights: Meet Hassan Zayat of Zayat Construction

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hassan Zayat

Hi Hassan, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My father was an electrician by trade, so I have been around construction since I could walk. Growing up, I would walk through homes that were under construction with my dad and I remember envisioning all the possibilities of different layouts and designs. This is where my passion for architecture began.

I worked my way through school and obtained my Bachelors and eventually Masters of Architecture. Upon completing graduate school I was then hired at an architectural firm in Ann Arbor for a little over twelve dollars per hour, which was obviously not enough to start a family or any type of future. After working there for months and trying to navigate a better path, my college professors brought up the idea of using my prior experiences along with my degrees to become a general contractor. I knew that doing so was a risk because I would have to build my own company and a good reputation. I have always aimed to be the best at what I do so I had to utilize my prior experience and many years of education to do it. While I started getting hired to design some layouts, renovate homes, and build a few additions, I was also enrolled in extended courses to also become a licensed builder along the way. I brought my unique architectural skillset along with my talents in custom carpentry to eventually build a successful construction company with wonderful customer satisfaction and a very positive reputation.

By age 34, I was nominated and chosen to serve on Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Residential Builders’ and Maintenance and Alteration Contractors’ Board. During that time, I was involved in overseeing cases where citizens were cheated by dishonest contractors. Today, Zayat Construction is synonymous with quality and great customer service and I hope that it continues into a lasting legacy.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I am not sure any small business owner goes without any struggle to build their company. I was newly married when I was starting out my business. My father was known in his community as the electrician, so it was hard to build my reputation as a contractor. For every ten to twelve estimates I would sent out to potential clients, I would get maybe one call back if I was lucky. Navigating the business side of owning a company was difficult too as I did not have much prior experience. Over the years, I have had ups and downs but each struggle allowed growth and I am better because of it.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Zayat Construction?
Overall, my goal is to make my clients happy. We are a small company but have an honest passion in what we do. I am always upfront with my clients and mindful to keep them in the loop during the process. Construction can be extremely stressful when you have never been a part of it before, which is where I come in. Allowing a professional to handle all the expended and unexpected encounters is the best way to go. I design a majority of the projects we work on using rendered drawings to allow my clients actually visualize what their homes will look like before we even begin. We have renovated countless kitchens, basements and bathrooms with the quality to last forever. I’ve built a handful of additions in the past as well, always striving for a seamless process and aesthetic for our clients. I am most proud of our attention to detail and quality. We have a great reputation and much of our contracted work comes from word-of-mouth referrals. I’ve also worked extremely hard to make sure our online presence is known with great client reviews, consistently updated website and social media accounts.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Some years ago, we were contracted to build a 1,000 square foot addition for a client (which is a very large for those who do not know). It is always a risk when perusing these types of jobs because with these larger scale projects, many things may come up or go wrong. But there is a large reward in completing a job like that successfully. At the same time I accepted that project, I was approached by another client to build an arcade bar in the lower level of a 6-story historical building in Downtown Detroit. It was built in 1888 and owned by Bedrock (who owns many buildings in Downtown Detroit) so there was a certain expectation of experience and skill. The pressure was definitely on. I took a risk because doing both of these at the same time could have a lot of potential unforeseen issues and they were both very complex projects. They both ended up in success, but it was one of the most stressful times of my life. Overall, it was definitely an excellent learning experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.zayatconstruction.com
• Instagram: @zayat_construction
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zayatconstruction