Architects share where Tampa Bay's real estate is headed
By Jerel McCants
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Mar 25, 2022

If you’re looking for predictions for where real estate development is headed in the Tampa Bay area, it makes sense to ask the architects.

Right now, architects are working on projects that will be coming out of the ground one to three years from now. So the American Institute of Architects Tampa Bay Voice of Architecture Economic Outlook, based on a recent survey of 95 area architects, offers a good idea of where this part of our economy is going.

In short, the architects are bullish about the year ahead: 84% expect demand for architectural services in the Tampa Bay area to increase this year, and 93% think the area’s real estate development-related economy will be “excellent” or “good” in 2022. This confidence is tied in many ways to the Tampa Bay area’s continuing popularity as a place for workers and employers to relocate to from other parts of the country.

To be sure, there are potential challenges, mostly related to inflation and the sharply increasing cost of labor and materials in the construction process. Also, there are the continuing impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has forced many companies to rethink their office space as more employees look to work from home at least part of the time.

In addition to these results, here are some other interesting takeaways from the survey, and from an AIA Tampa Bay panel discussion that included Jason Jensen of Wannemacher Jensen Architects, Casey Ellison of EWI Construction, Rachael Brown of the Bank of Tampa and myself.

An overwhelming majority of architects (80%) said they expect that the pandemic will change the way HVAC systems are designed. In fact, some commercial buildings are now being fitted with HVAC systems designed to let in more outside air and provide higher levels of filtration for inside air.

Many construction companies and architects are taking inventive approaches to labor shortages and cost challenges. For example, EWI Construction is using recruiters in other cities, focusing on office culture, and working with two consultants to get up-to-date information on commodities pricing.

While private developers and companies are coping with cost increases by increasing lease rates and sales prices, and by raising more capital, the increases can be expected to negatively impact nonprofits and schools, said Jensen.

While switching to a remote or hybrid work model certainly presents a number of logistical and culture challenges, there is also an upside, said Brown. With more remote options, Tampa Bay area employers can cast a wider net for workers, reducing the need to find all their talent locally.

Many companies are still figuring out how to reconfigure their office space. With more workers doing a hybrid schedule, some are shrinking their office footprints. And many employers are looking for a mix of collaborative spaces and meeting rooms. The key is flexibility, given that no one knows how these profound changes in how we work will shake out.