Multifamily housing starts are 6% above a year ago, but job site construction spending is down 15%. This discrepancy comes from builders having slowed construction schedules while waiting for buyers. Also, the market mix has shifted toward modest apartments and condos used as principal residences from the larger, second-home developments.
Down the road, multifamily starts will increase 9% from mid-2008 to the end of 2009, and construction spending will rise 13% to cover rising project costs.
Growth in the multifamily market will be restrained by the improving single-family home market and the huge oversupply of condos in the Southeast and Southwest.
Multifamily activity in New York City and other large urban markets will increase much faster than the overall economy in 2009 as increased hiring boosts the apartment market and the recognition that home prices have hit bottom emboldens the condo market. For multifamily markets like Las Vegas and Miami, foreign buyers will still see those destinations as attractive.
Top 20 multifamily design firms
(2007 billings in $ millions)
| Company | Billings | |
| Source: 2008 Giants 300 survey Note: This ranking is based on firms that made the Giants 300 list. |
||
| 1. | Arup | 77.00 |
| 2. | Parsons Brinckerhoff | 54.80 |
| 3. | CH2M HILL | 42.02 |
| 4. | RMJM | 24.95 |
| 5. | Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart | 23.38 |
| 6. | Arquitectonica | 21.83 |
| 7. | HOK | 21.34 |
| 8. | Mithun | 20.41 |
| 9. | Niles Bolton Associates | 18.84 |
| 10. | RTKL Associates | 18.02 |
| 11. | Ingenium Group | 14.39 |
| 12. | Simpson Gumpertz & Heger | 13.67 |
| 13. | Martin Associates Group | 12.98 |
| 14. | Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates | 12.81 |
| 15. | Opus Group, The | 12.73 |
| 16. | Looney Ricks Kiss Architects | 12.14 |
| 17. | HKS | 11.02 |
| 18. | Perkins Eastman | 10.20 |
| 18. | Perkins+Will | 10.20 |
| 20. | Cubellis | 8.94 |
Top 20 multifamily contractors
(2007 construction value put in place in $ millions)
| Company | Value put in place | |
| Source: 2008 Giants 300 survey Note: This ranking is based on firms that made the Giants 300 list. |
||
| 1. | Turner Corp., The | 1,128.02 |
| 2. | Webcor Builders | 1,034.23 |
| 3. | Clark Group | 1,025.19 |
| 4. | JE Dunn Construction Group | 711.50 |
| 5. | Hunt Building Co. | 686.36 |
| 6. | Suffolk Construction | 683.04 |
| 7. | Yates Cos., The | 670.28 |
| 8. | Balfour Beatty Construction | 654.90 |
| 9. | Opus Group, The | 545.58 |
| 10. | Paric Corp. | 466.93 |
| 11. | Walsh Group, The | 462.57 |
| 12. | Swinerton | 455.00 |
| 13. | PCL Construction Enterprises | 437.21 |
| 14. | Structure Tone | 433.45 |
| 15. | James McHugh Construction | 416.37 |
| 16. | JPI | 388.00 |
| 17. | HRH Construction | 347.13 |
| 18. | Moss & Associates | 306.70 |
| 19. | Brasfield & Gorrie | 291.62 |
| 20. | Hoffman Construction | 237.60 |
