Cliff Bedar

As a principal of Cogent, Mr. Bedar combines over 30 years of executive and senior management experience that spans multiple project development disciplines. Mr. Bedar’s professional careers in architecture, construction, development, and law provides a balanced and highly informed resource to each Cogent client.

Mr, Bedar began his career in architecture, working with several local and national A/E firms to design hundreds of projects in justice, education, commercial, and multi-family markets. During the 1990s, Mr. Bedar co-founded self-performing design-build practices within such nationally renowned firms as Wight & Company and HDR, training design professionals to manage high profile, public sector design-build projects, from the local Kane County Juvenile Justice Center to the national Pentagon Remote Delivery Facility. Mr. Bedar helped pioneer the emergence of design-led design build project delivery, conducting seminars for DBIA, AIA, ALA, PSMJ, and universities throughout the country. Mr. Bedar coauthored several papers in national publications on alternative project delivery systems, which inspired a generation of young design professionals to re-embrace the master builder role.

In the early 2000s, Mr. Bedar joined a Chicago-based developer to lead the design, entitlements, and construction of multi-family and commercial projects throughout Chicago’s River North and South Loop. He joined Vince Cordos as partner in Cordos Development in 2012, serving as COO and as project executive for many of the firm’s diverse projects in the residential, commercial, and industrial markets. Mr. Bedar earned a Bachelor of Architecture from the Boston Architectural College and a Juris Doctorate from DePaul University Law School. He maintains professional licenses in architecture and law and is Cogent’s corporate counsel for all firm legal matters.