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Out-of-Work Architects Turn to Stalled Projects

Guest post by: Carl Moore

Article Overview: There is a mismatch between stalled projects that make some economic sense and the billions of real estate investment dollars on the sidelines. There just seemed to be a lot of stories about how projects that seemed like they made a lot of economic sense just couldn’t get financing.

Out-of-Work Architects Turn to Stalled Projects

Real estate busts tend to be particularly troublesome for architects. Developers’ plans for new buildings are among the first to be tossed aside when money runs short. With the unending drought of new work clearly in mind, the profession’s leading trade organization is looking to alleviate some pain.

Architects saw massive layoffs back in 2008 and 2009, and at least thus far this cycle, the market has been slow to require their services once again. Even as commercial real estate prices boom in some major markets (New York City; San Francisco;Washington, D.C.), lenders are reticent to finance a new construction project given that the failure of many a condo tower nearly brought them to their knees within the past three years.

In short, that means there’s not much architectural work to go around: The Architectural Billings Index fell below 50% in both April and May, indicating a decline in the amount of work on architects’ books nationwide. That came only after the index registered modest increases in the amount of work at the end of 2010 and the start of 2011.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether more transparency and information about stalled projects will provide the necessary spark to get cranes moving again. Much of the reticence to lend for constructionthan with banks simply not wanting to take large risks in the sector. Mr. Baker said he expects the catalog of projects would be large—likely with several hundred projects on it.projects, after all, has less to do with a project’s merits

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