6 must reads for the AEC industry today: May 15, 2020

1. KPF designs three-building San Jose office campus (BD+C)
"The project will be adjacent to Google's planned eight million square foot transit village and Diridon Station."

2. Nonresidential construction employment sees record loss in April (ABC)
"The construction unemployment rate was 16.6% in April, up 11.9 percentage points from the same time last year."

3. European cities to revamp transportation after pandemic reopening (BD+C)
"In Milan, the city core will be partly remodeled to turn over 22 miles of road space previously used by cars to bikes and pedestrians. Cars in the city center will be required to adhere to a new, reduced 30 kilometers per hour speed limit."

4. ‘Too early to write the epitaph’ for office real estate, UBS analyst says (CNBC)
"In a new forecast, CBRE predicts that after hitting $35.66 per square foot per year in the first quarter of 2020, the average office rent will hit a low of $33.23 in the fourth quarter and then gradually recover by the first quarter of 2022."

5. Class A meet plan B: How the coronavirus could impact NYC’s newly built office space (Commercial Observer)
"The outlook for new office space just got a whole lot more complicated."

6. Twitter Says It’s Keeping All Its Office Space, Despite Forever Work-From-Home Policy (Bisnow)
"Twitter may be allowing all its employees to work from home forever, but it doesn't have any plans to reduce its office footprint, the company told Bisnow Thursday."

Multifamily rents continued to increase through the first half of 2023, despite challenges for the sector and continuing economic uncertainty. But job growth has remained robust and new households keep forming, creating apartment demand and ongoing rent growth. The average U.S. apartment rent reached an all-time high of $1,716 in May.

Industry Research | Jun 15, 2023

Exurbs and emerging suburbs having fastest population growth, says Cushman & Wakefield

Recently released county and metro-level population growth data by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that the fastest growing areas are found in exurbs and emerging suburbs.

Contractors | Jun 13, 2023

The average U.S. contractor has 8.9 months worth of construction work in the pipeline, as of May 2023

Associated Builders and Contractors reported that its Construction Backlog Indicator remained unchanged at 8.9 months in May, according to an ABC member survey conducted May 20 to June 7. The reading is 0.1 months lower than in May 2022. Backlog in the infrastructure category ticked up again and has now returned to May 2022 levels. On a regional basis, backlog increased in every region but the Northeast.

Supply-chain snags are among the factors delaying construction.

Industry Research | Jun 13, 2023

Two new surveys track how the construction industry, in the U.S. and globally, is navigating market disruption and volatility

The surveys, conducted by XYZ Reality and KPMG International, found greater willingness to embrace technology, workplace diversity, and ESG precepts.

Skanska USA's mental health trainees are identified by a Green Sticker

| Jun 5, 2023

Communication is the key to AEC firms’ mental health programs and training

The core of recent awareness efforts—and their greatest challenge—is getting workers to come forward and share stories.

Contractors | May 24, 2023

The average U.S. contractor has 8.9 months worth of construction work in the pipeline, as of April 2023

Contractor backlogs climbed slightly in April, from a seven-month low the previous month, according to Associated Builders and Contractors.

Multifamily Housing | May 23, 2023

One out of three office buildings in largest U.S. cities are suitable for residential conversion

Roughly one in three office buildings in the largest U.S. cities are well suited to be converted to multifamily residential properties, according to a study by global real estate firm Avison Young. Some 6,206 buildings across 10 U.S. cities present viable opportunities for conversion to residential use.