News
WHERE'S THE DEMAND?
August 25, 2010
| It's a tale of two construction markets—a New York Building Congress analysis of McGraw-Hill Dodge construction starts says prospects for a quick recovery have receded, while the crowd at last Thursday's annual Professional Woman in Construction "Meet the Architects & Engineers" at Club 101 was noticeably more upbeat. |
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| The NYBC found that $2.5B worth of construction projects started in Q2—a 64% decline from Q1, where starts reached $6.9B, and down a respective 43% and 55% from the same periods in '09 and '08. What's more, Q2's new construction starts dropped below 1Q'09, the aftermath of the financial sector collapse. The Q2 numbers are disappointing, says NYBC prez Dick Anderson—while this poor showing could be a pause on the road to recovery, it demonstrates that demand is not yet sufficient to kick-start residential and office development. Even more troubling, he says, is the lack of construction starts by the government sector, which recently had been responsible for 60% of NYC's construction activity. If City and State govs can't maintain their capital budgets and lose appetite for stimulus spending, it "looks like rough sledding" for the industry. |
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| Marc Becker |
| But there may be a more hopeful future,according to the architect and engineer speakers at the PWC event. "We're coming back. Let's move foward," said AKF Group's Greg Roberts, left. Seeing an upward trend for his firm and the industry, he told the at-capacity crowd to seek opportunities in the market. Hom & Goldman Architects' Kevin Hom (third from right) noted that after nearly a dozen years of growth, we can view this "as an adjustment." There's significant demand and a glut of product as healthcare changes, growing numbers move into retirement, and K-12 schools and transportation systems require renovations to aging infrastructure. Pictured: speakers Greg, AECOM's Julie D'Orazio, Fletcher-Thompson NYC's Edward Rothe, Tishman Construction Corp.'s Carla Sciara, Kevin, PANYNJ's Jack Buchsbaum, and PWC president Lenore Janis. |
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| Calvin Lee |
| Among the attendees: Press ReDesign NYC's Susan O'Connor, B&B Coverage's Lois Robinson and Eric Robinson, Press ReDesign's Ray O'Connor, and AMF Direct's Angela Marie Franco. They learned that PANYNJ was one of those many opportunities. Jack Buschsbaum says that the Port Authority's new efforts will be directed at keeping infrastructure in good repair, which will need a lot of work—and good people to do that work. Edward Rothe— whose firm's current projects includes a $34M school in the Bronx for the NYC School Construction Authority, a $23M expansion at the Queens Hospital Center, and a study for the FDNY of a $300M vehicle maintenance facility—notes that architects are a barometer for construction, adding that he was willing to refute any nay-sayers and make a "fearless forecast" for growth. |
