tor encouraged a push in speed to market,
even if it cost a bit more money. He says
that usually meant project managers didn’t
have a design team to go through a whole
set of drawings, so they hired construction
managers or contractors under a construction management form of agreement.
Today, Quartararo says, “We’ve seen a
real shift. Number one, because every client we have is very price sensitive and two,
because the pressure is off in the real estate
market. Unless there is a unique circum-
“real shift, be- thing really quickly, speed is not an issue.”
cause every cli- Due to this slower pace, “we’ve gone
We’ve seen a stance that is pushing the client to do some-
ent we have is very
back to a place we haven’t been in 10 years,
which is to get your design team on board,
price sensitive and
let them finish the drawings completely, let
because the pres-
them coordinate,” Quartararo says. “That
sure is off in the real means taking the architectural, mechani-
estate market. RAYMOND QUARTARARO Jones Lang LaSalle ” cal, electrical and telecommunications and making sure they’re all coordinated.” His observation dovetails with the views
of Richard Anderson, president of the New
York Building Congress, who tells Real Es-
tate New York, “There are a lot of things that
will be impacted by this different construc-
tion market in New York City. ” Anderson
notes that competition now includes cost
reduction, especially as firms bid more ag-
gressively for increasingly scarce work.
Quartararo says when the market started
to decline, the industry initially saw prices
decrease in materials and then in subjective
construction management. As a result, he
says, the management service companies be-
came nervous about their backlog and mar-
kets, and their fees began to come down.
On the residential end, one builder tells
RENY that he’s constantly trying to improve
and keep projects financeable. “I’m lucky to
be building in this market,” David T. Lamason, president of TCR Residential Northeast
Construction in Wilton, CT, tells RENY.
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A former head of pre-construction for
Bovis, Lamason says he’s naturally motivated to make projects work. “I probably
spend 20% to 25% of my time with trace
paper, looking at a site,” he says. He adds
that “you have to lean on the relationships
you have” to obtain materials more cheaply
and keep projects alive.
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John Sotir and Vikram Reddi, senior
vice president and president, respectively,
at Mackenzie Keck Construction, say they
continue to work with their clients and vendors to increase efficiencies and thereby
lower costs. “Companies that can successfully offer clients more for less in this difficult environment through improved
efficiencies and streamlined operations
will not only survive, but will emerge from
the downturn stronger, leaner and healthier, poised to benefit from better times to
come,’ says Sotir. “The winnowing out of
firms who are unwilling to work below cost
will level the playing field for the rest.”
At FirstService Williams, James Dempsey
and Lesley Lisser have been busy with the
