Russell + Mills Studios acquired by RVi

FORT COLLINS — Russell + Mills Studios Inc., a 17-year-old landscape architecture company with offices in Fort Collins and Denver, has been acquired by Austin, Texas-based RVi Planning + Landscape Architecture.

“We bought all of the company. It will become RVi, but we’ll probably have a couple of months of transition before it goes to all RVi,” Chris Crawford, president of RVi, told  BizWest on Tuesday. “We look to bolster and add to our staffing there. We plan to keep everyone that’s at Russell + Mills currently.”

Financial details of the acquisition, which Crawford said was completed June 14, were not disclosed.

Russell + Mills, which was founded by Craig Russell and Paul Mills in 2007, provides landscape architecture, urban design and master planning services for a variety of public and private projects. It has experience in urban spaces, public parks and botanical gardens, civic environments, community planning, resorts and entertainment, national parks and campus planning.

Mills told BizWest on Tuesday that he and Russell would remain as principles to help steer the company’s Colorado operations.

“It has always been a core value for our team to create places that invite and inspire, working with our clients to understand their vision and achieve success together,” Russell said in a prepared statement. “It is clear that RVi shares the same values as us, and we are excited about this opportunity.”

Added Mills, “It’s not often that you find such cohesion in vision and values in another firm. Their passion for design, passion for their work, and their culture aligns so well with ours, and we are excited for our future with RVi.”

Russell + Mills Studios worked on the expansion of New Belgium Brewing Co.’s headquarters in Fort Collins in 2015 and then won American Society of Landscape Architects design awards for leading the design for New Belgium’s $120 million brewery located on a brownfield site on the banks of the French Broad River in Asheville, North Carolina. The project included siting the manufacturing components of the brewery, associated offices and a visitor venue. The brewery officially opened in August 2016.

Its projects in Fort Collins include design work on the Gardens on Spring Creek, alley enhancements downtown, the renovation of Colorado State University’s Lory Student Center and The Exchange apartments, as well as the Foundry project in downtown Loveland.

“Russell + Mills brings expertise that will add to our shared vision of creating inspiring spaces while enhancing our capabilities in public work, urban planning and design,” Crawford said in a news release. “We’re excited to work with the Russell + Mills team and expand our capabilities and geographic reach within the Rocky Mountain region.”

The Fort Collins transaction marks the second acquisition for RVI in the second quarter of 2024. It earlier acquired Anderson Design, a firm focused on land planning, landscape architecture, and parks and open space design in Arizona and Texas.

Founded in 1982, RVi is a part of the Atwell family of companies.