Mike Courtney has more than 44 years of experience in the private and public sectors, leading project teams and developing capital projects as the owner or on behalf of the owner as an Owner/Advisor. In his career, Mike has developed, negotiated, and set design-build project delivery for three different State of California Agencies. In 1997, Mike recommended that California adopt its first design-build statute. After lengthy negotiation with the design and construction industry, and personally testifying to the legislature on the benefit of design-build, SB 776 was passed in 1998.
Early in his career, Mike managed the State of California’s first design-build projects in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Oakland. As part of these projects, Mike has drafted contracts and project procedures for managing design-build projects.
Then in 1999, Mike Courtney was appointed as the Deputy Director of the State Department of General Services Real Estate Services Division by then Governor Gray Davis. Mike continued to support the use of design-build and set the tone for how Design-Build would be implemented while leading the state’s office building program.
In 2016, Mike was asked to rejoin California state government and re-organize its construction program and establish a new project delivery policy for the Judicial Council of California who oversees more than 450 state courthouses. While at the Judicial Council, Mike recommended making design-build as the principal delivery method for new courthouse projects.
During his career, Mike has been responsible for the design and construction of a wide variety of building projects totaling more than 11 million square feet and costing more than $6 billion. These projects have included state office buildings; healthcare and research facilities; public safety, courthouses, and state prisons; hotels and sports facilities; industrial projects; and K-12 school projects. Mike has gained a wealth of knowledge in project delivery from concept through building operations. He is considered an expert in project delivery methods and specifically, the use of design-build.
Mike’s projects have received recognition regionally and nationally from DBIA on several occasions. Additionally, Mike has been recognized for his service and excellence by the DBIA, the California AGC, CMAA and in 2024 was inducted in the DBIA College of Fellows.