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.Â
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.”
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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