Meet the team transforming the city.
Jayesh Gajjar
President
Jayesh Gajjar, LEED AP, left his native India to get his Masters in Urban Design from The Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. Since then, Jayesh has dedicated his life to revitalizing all 5 boroughs of New York City. Immediately after graduation, Jay joined the nonprofit Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) as an Architect/Construction Director. Here, he managed construction project managers, oversaw site selection, and developed multiple projects for affordable housing.
In 1999, Jayesh launched Horizon Construction, a design-build firm specializing in Design Build, Moderate Rehab, and Gut Rehab, with a particular emphasis on affordable housing. Over the past 10+ years, he has used his architectural background and immense knowledge of construction to develop Horizon Construction into a thriving organization. His rigorous effort to deliver affordable yet high quality construction has been Jayesh’s hallmark quality, and his sensitivity to preserve the unique character of a neighborhood makes him a uniquely New York contractor.
Jayesh believes the key to the continued success of Horizon Construction by building quality projects, and by developing and maintaining relationships with non-profit organizations, city agencies, and local residents.
Uma Pooran
senior project manager
Uma joined Horizon Construction in May 2005 and has quickly developed into a crucial member of our team. After starting at Horizon, Uma developed an interest in the business and decided to major in Building Construction Technology at the Institute of Design and Construction (IDC). While working towards her degree, Uma began managing her own projects, including a 1 to 4-unit gut rehab. Duties included site visits with architects, estimating, bid walkthroughs, DOB sign-offs and approvals and managing work progress. After graduating in 2012, she started managing larger projects, including multifamily homes. Uma is currently overseeing the gut renovation of 13 units occupied SRO Building in Manhattan and multiple sites (1 to 4 unit houses) in Queens and Brooklyn.
Karisma Nelson
administrative assistant
Karisma, our newest employee, began working at Horizon Construction in June 2012. She was born and raised in Brooklyn and attended Hunter College in Manhattan, where she double majored in Psychology and English Literature.