Multifamily Sector Giants: Younger consumers, Sunbelt renaissance energize multifamily housing [2014 Giants 300 Report]

Multifamily housing construction is expected to remain relatively strong throughout 2014, according to Freddie Mac (http://bit.ly/TJvZ8R). Starts picked up in 2013, with completions due to catch up this year, finally approaching pre-recession levels.

AEC firms are delivering projects that cater to consumers seeking reasonably priced rentals in hot urban markets. Gen Y consumers are more likely than their Boomer antecedents to embrace the notion of renting as a lifelong strategy.

Noting these trends, a Building Team in the Southeast has developed SkyHouse: a branded program that provides high-rise apartments for Gen Y professionals near urban centers, public transportation, and nightlife. Since 2011, eleven SkyHouses have been developed, including finished properties in Orlando, Fla., Austin, Texas, Atlanta, Houston, and Dallas, and buildings under way in Raleigh, N.C., Atlanta, Tampa, Fla., Houston, and Charlotte, N.C.

Novare Group, which is developing the projects with Batson-Cook Development Company, previously specialized in high-rise condos, and wanted to bring a different approach to apartment towers that would cost only marginally more than low to mid-rise multifamily housing.

The SkyHouses consist of vertically stacked units with minimal variation; interiors are tweaked to reflect local market preferences. Separating parking facilities from the towers has reduced construction time and costs.

Jones Lang LaSalle’s U.S. Multifamily Outlook Year-End 2013 (http://bit.ly/1ifRCC4) notes the growing (and “thriving”) activity in this region: “While the housing recovery is causing expansion nationwide, the mending of the hardest hit housing markets in the Sunbelt is driving significant gains in those metros.”

Top Multifamily Architecture Firms

Rank	Company	2013 Multifamily Revenue
1	RTKL Associates	$29,674,000
2	Niles Bolton Associates	26,257,959
3	Solomon Cordwell Buenz	26,000,000
4	Architects Orange	18,989,853
5	WDG Architecture	18,737,000
6	Stantec	17,622,016
7	Perkins Eastman	16,000,000
8	NORR	11,572,227
9	Ziegler Cooper	8,815,451
10	Skidmore, Owings & Merrill	8,702,356
11	FXFOWLE Architects	8,100,000
12	Good Fulton & Farrell	7,931,000
13	Hord Coplan Macht	7,794,838
14	HOK	7,404,036
15	Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates	7,338,774
16	Gensler	7,139,176
17	Perkins+will	7,100,000
18	Mithun	5,966,000
19	Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio	5,787,000
20	FitzGerald Associates Architects	5,464,276
21	VOA Associates	5,266,818
22	Cooper Carry	5,055,632
23	OZ Architecture	4,879,000
24	Beyer Blinder Belle	4,780,731
25	ZGF Architects	4,770,730
26	Harley Ellis Devereaux	4,670,000
27	HKS	4,641,794
28	Lord Aeck Sargent	4,585,731
29	EDI International	4,538,210
30	GBBN Architects	4,120,000
31	Eppstein Uhen Architects	3,912,939
32	Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates	3,795,000
33	Hensley Lamkin Rachel	3,120,000
34	BLTa	3,100,000
35	IBI Group ? Gruzen Samton	3,000,000
36	Nadel	3,000,000
37	Shepley Bulfinch	2,803,000
38	Moseley Architects	2,774,269
39	Callison	2,697,208
40	Carrier Johnson + Culture	2,638,036
41	Morris Architects	2,240,000
42	Cuningham Group Architecture	2,149,438
43	Montroy Andersen DeMarco	2,130,000
44	MBH Architects	1,940,000
45	NAC\|Architecture	1,871,525
46	Commonwealth Architects	1,627,175
47	Corgan	1,596,285
48	Symmes Maini & McKee Associates	1,560,000
49	Clark Nexsen	1,400,000
50	Page	1,400,000
51	Goettsch Partners	1,400,000
52	WATG \| Wimberly Interiors	1,388,000
53	Goodwyn Mills & Cawood	1,328,694
54	Cambridge Seven Associates	1,277,000
55	Nelson	1,254,686
56	Hnedak Bobo Group	1,205,000
57	Swanke Hayden Connell Architects	1,200,000
58	Ratio Architects	1,127,764
59	LS3P	1,052,598
60	Kirksey	967,711
61	Sherlock, Smith & Adams	934,000
62	CTA Architects Engineers	831,135
63	Leo A Daly	824,915
64	Hoffmann Architects	747,000
65	Epstein	740,000
66	PGAL	736,900
67	Environetics	655,268
68	NBBJ	544,000
69	Davis Brody Bond	522,616
70	ATA Beilharz Architects	495,285
71	Hoefer Wysocki Architecture	410,000
72	Adache Group Architects	400,000
73	BLDD Architects	390,000
74	P+R Architects	381,150
75	Moody Nolan	361,308
76	Poskanzer Skott	350,000
77	RNL	310,000
78	RSP Architects	264,000
79	Vocon	262,947
80	CASCO Diversified Corp.	225,000
81	Baskervill	218,225
82	Heery International	196,283
83	Becker Morgan Group	192,043
84	JRS Architect	185,000
85	H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture	183,452
86	Ennead Architects	168,902
87	Wight & Company	161,000
88	Colkitt & Company	100,000
89	Ashley McGraw Architects	83,478
90	Integrus Architecture	59,840
91	Margulies Perruzzi Architects	48,409
92	KZF Design	26,017
93	TEG Architects	20,879
94	Harvard Jolly Architecture	17,585

Top Multifamily Engineering Firms

Rank	Company	2013 Multifamily Revenue
1	AECOM Technology Corp.	$121,890,000
2	URS Corp.	56,953,263
3	Parsons Brinckerhoff	36,412,208
4	WSP Group	24,860,000
5	Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates	21,180,000
6	DeSimone Consulting Engineers	20,620,346
7	Jacobs	15,370,000
8	Thornton Tomasetti	14,452,161
9	Simpson Gumpertz & Heger	11,690,000
10	Magnusson Klemencic Associates	10,137,916
11	STV	8,519,000
12	Arup	6,211,364
13	KPFF Consulting Engineers	6,000,000
14	Bala Consulting Engineers	5,083,000
15	Dewberry	4,849,178
16	Interface Engineering	3,522,946
17	M-E Engineers	3,429,000
18	Martin/Martin	2,558,401
19	CTLGroup	2,330,000
20	Paulus, Sokolowski and Sartor	2,100,000
21	Glumac	1,779,976
22	Aon Fire Protection Engineering Corp.	1,700,000
23	AKF Group	1,642,000
24	Allen & Shariff	1,500,000
25	Vanderweil Engineers	1,494,000
26	KCI Technologies	1,300,000
27	RDK Engineers	1,240,000
28	Davis, Bowen & Friedel	1,176,676
29	Coffman Engineers	1,161,281
30	M/E Engineering	1,034,842
31	French & Parrello Associates	972,500
32	Graef	821,802
33	I. C. Thomasson Associates	810,000
34	SSOE Group	793,545
35	Smith Seckman Reid	784,137
36	TLC Engineering for Architecture	780,974
37	OLA Consulting Engineers	695,000
38	CJL Engineering	662,940
39	Spectrum Engineers	557,881
40	GHT Limited	510,000
41	Guernsey	417,874
42	RMF Engineering	400,000
43	H&A Architects & Engineers	400,000
44	Sparling	393,807
45	Karpinski Engineering	370,666
46	Walter P Moore and Associates	364,810
47	Joseph R. Loring & Associates	320,000
48	Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon	320,000
49	Stanley Consultants	301,510
50	Environmental Systems Design	290,666
51	Highland Associates	250,000
52	Wallace Engineering	233,000
53	Henderson Engineers	231,482
54	TTG	216,150
55	Zak Companies	188,814
56	G&W Engineering Corp.	178,400
57	Wick Fisher White	156,293
58	Newcomb & Boyd	133,995
59	Leidos	120,000
60	Apogee Consulting Group	96,875
61	Dunham Associates	50,000
62	P2S Engineering	31,535
63	Heapy Engineering	19,441
64	Total Building Commissioning	18,405
65	Brinjac Engineering	12,960

Top Multifamily Construction Firms

Rank	Company	2013 Multifamily Revenue
1	Lend Lease	$1,680,438,000
2	Clark Group	832,640,000
3	Balfour Beatty US	686,819,862
4	Plaza Construction	670,000,000
5	Swinerton Builders	503,250,000
6	Suffolk Construction	452,592,931
7	Adolfson & Peterson Construction	325,225,509
8	PCL Construction	287,254,951
9	Weis Builders	270,383,000
10	James McHugh Construction	264,613,678
11	Walsh Group, The	254,726,672
12	Turner Construction	244,990,000
13	Summit Contracting Group	240,984,366
14	Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., The	238,617,178
15	Batson-Cook	225,076,882
16	Tutor Perini Corp.	216,439,042
17	JE Dunn Construction	204,409,132
18	Harkins Builders	168,000,000
19	McShane Companies, The	164,546,476
20	Brasfield & Gorrie	163,127,667
21	Hunt Companies	148,155,000
22	Bernards	144,000,000
23	James G. Davis Construction	123,693,698
24	Kitchell Corp.	123,591,618
25	Skanska USA	118,105,783
26	Weitz Company, The	104,812,724
27	Gilbane	104,239,380
28	DPR Construction	102,599,861
29	Hensel Phelps	99,310,000
30	C.W. Driver	91,430,000
31	LeChase Construction Services	78,720,000
32	Power Construction	74,000,000
33	W. M. Jordan Company	72,475,701
34	Bette Companies, The	72,287,000
35	Ryan Companies US	57,491,712
36	URS Corp.	56,953,263
37	Structure Tone	50,290,000
38	Flintco	46,600,000
39	Douglas Company, The	45,166,765
40	Hoar Construction	44,342,000
41	Layton Construction	43,600,000
42	CORE Construction Group	42,926,217
43	Absher Construction	41,419,197
44	Hill International	40,000,000
45	HITT Contracting	36,700,000
46	Parsons Brinckerhoff	36,412,208
47	Walbridge	34,000,000
48	Paric Corp.	34,000,000
49	Robins & Morton	33,809,050
50	Hunt Construction Group	32,000,000
51	O'Neil Industries/W.E. O'Neil	31,098,921
52	Kraus-Anderson Construction	31,000,000
53	Yates Companies, The	29,600,000
54	Choate Construction	29,008,583
55	Manhattan Construction	25,932,000
56	Austin Commercial	25,565,808
57	Linbeck Group	21,000,000
58	Haselden Construction	19,911,322
59	Juneau Construction	19,007,317
60	Beck Group, The	18,964,678
61	Messer Construction	18,394,464
62	KBE Building Corp.	13,628,837
63	STV	8,519,000
64	Bomel Construction	7,894,058
65	LPCiminelli	7,437,315
66	Consigli Construction	5,542,121
67	IMC Construction	4,556,000
68	Pepper Construction	2,870,000
69	Coakley & Williams Construction	1,994,991
70	Allen & Shariff	1,500,000
71	Stalco Construction	1,010,000
72	EBCO General Contractor	895,700
73	JLL	840,400
74	S. M. Wilson & Co.	722,352
75	New South Construction	205,000
76	Heery International	196,283
77	Hill & Wilkinson	191,000