Commercial Construction News, Trends, Development, Management, and Insights.

Looking Back at Commercial Construction 2014 – The Year that Was

With new hotel construction on the rise, Englewood is reconnecting with clients such as Value Place for projects in 2015.

When I look back on 2014, I’m kind of sad to see it go. While it was a good year for commercial general construction, it was by no means a record setting year. What does set 2014 apart is the excitement it generated for the commercial construction industry, the optimism it set for the near future, and, perhaps mostly for sentimental reasons, the opportunity it provided to rekindle professional relationships.

These are the three most important commercial construction trends I will take from the commercial construction industry in 2014.

Retailer reinvention is good for commercial general contractors. Consumers came back to the market in 2014 and retailers and restaurateurs felt the benefits. This meant a new wave of restaurant construction and a nice uptick in retail construction, especially with international retailers as they continue to take large foot prints at street level locations and in major shopping malls. However, this came with a caveat. Retailers were not content to simply put up new locations with old blueprints and designs. With competition heating up, owners are trying to reinvent the physical location and create an experience for the shopper. This is happening with everything from your corner Red Lobster all the way up to a 1 million-square-foot shopping mall renovation project. This is the effect Apple’s successful retail construction model has had on the industry. Apple stores are always packed and other retailers are looking to capture the same buzz. The good news is commercial general contractors are finding themselves on the ground floor of this process, working with retailers and restaurateurs to revitalize the brick and mortar location. As a result, it is a very exciting time in commercial construction.
Rekindling relationships. It’s no secret that new construction was on hiatus for a few years, but now that consumers are back, retailers and hotel owners are venturing out to begin new retail construction and new hotel construction projects. This has allowed us to work with real estate directors we have not seen for some time. Interestingly enough, many old contacts have shifted to new brands and have brought us new retail construction opportunities. It’s actually been a lot of fun getting to know new professionals and brands as well as reacquainting ourselves with old friends. We are optimistic this will all lead to many new retail construction opportunities in 2015.
Self-reinvention. As the times change in the commercial general construction industry, so too should the commercial construction contractor. At Englewood, we definitely try to keep up with the times and differentiate ourselves from the competition where we can. It’s why we started this informative, award-winning blog a few years ago. As retailers and restaurateurs set to reinvent themselves, so do we. In 2014 we began a rebranding and redesign of our web site, and all of our on-line marketing efforts. Expect to see more changes from our website in 2015 to give Englewood a fresh look. We are also excited to announce that we are expanding our services and have begun work in the multifamily construction and healthcare construction sectors. It’s an exciting new era at Englewood Construction.

We look forward to all of the opportunities and projects 2015 will bring the commercial construction industry, and, as we see 2014 go, we appreciate the seeds it sowed for what should a very busy future.

Bill Di Santo
President
Tel: 847-233-9200 x710

Questions? Comments?
You can reach me at bill.disanto@englewoodconstruction.com
www.englewoodconstruction.com

By Chuck Taylor | Comments turned off

Commercial General Construction 2014 Highs and Lows

As we close out another year, we wanted to take a look back at the commercial construction trends that defined 2014 and highlight some of the highs and lows. Overall, this was a great year for the commercial construction industry as commercial construction activity and revenue were up considerably.

According to a recent article from Crain’s Chicago Business, signed contracts for construction projects in the Chicago area were at $4.3 billion during the first six months of the year, up 16 percent from deals during the same period a year ago.

Englewood recently began work on the Stratford Square Mall in Bloomingdale, Ill.
Mall renovation work was a highlight of 2014.

High – Ground-Up Construction Makes a Comeback
Nothing gets a national commercial contractor more excited than moving dirt. The past few years have been dominated by commercial construction renovation work, but this year saw a strong return of ground-up construction. Led by the restaurant sector, new projects broke ground across the country as restaurateurs felt the gains of the improving economy.

One byproduct of this commercial construction trend is it has allowed Englewood to be more selective in our projects. In 2010, commercial construction firms were in survival mode and had to bid on anything available. Now, we can avoid bidding on projects that already have too many bidders, or, are too small for Englewood to be competitive. This has allowed us to concentrate on national corporate programs with firms like Darden and profitable new construction projects with restaurants such as Cooper’s Hawk Winery and the award-winning Harry Caray’s 7th Inning Stretch and Chicago Sports Museum.

Low – Retail takes a step back
While it has been a robust year and revenue is up, the majority of our commercial activity has been in new restaurant construction. Retail construction has taken a step back and worthwhile projects are becoming few and far between. Many national retailers are still expanding, but it is with smaller square-footage concepts, making margins much tighter and bidding much more competitive. National retailers still haven’t fully recovered from the downturn, with expansion velocity at a sluggish pace.

That’s not to say there are no opportunities in new retail construction. Englewood continues to be very active with many national retailers such as American Girl and Destination Maternity brands, but work in the retail construction sector is definitely down for everyone.

High – Shopping Mall Renovation
Yes, you read that correctly—one portion of the retail construction market that is experiencing robust activity is the mall reconstruction sector. While new retailers may not be expanding at a rapid clip, shopping mall owners are taking the opportunity to renovate and reposition traditional malls to entice shoppers back to brick and mortar locations. Englewood has been busy at the Lake Brazos Mall in Jackson, Texas and Stratford Square Mall in Bloomingdale, Ill. We expect this work to continue well into 2015.

Low – Labor Shortage
An unfortunate byproduct of the recent economic downturn and now quick construction rebound is that the industry is facing a major commercial construction labor shortage. Many skilled laborers were forced to leave the industry to find new work, while others left the country entirely to find work in growing overseas markets. Commercial contractors are very concerned about the lack of skilled labor available for new projects. As the commercial construction industry continues to heat up, this should be a commercial construction trend to watch closely as it may put a damper on the amount of new commercial construction the market can handle.

On behalf of everyone at Englewood, I would like to wish all of our readers happy holidays and a safe and healthy New Year. With the way the commercial construction industry is going, we feel 2015 will be a prosperous year indeed.

Check back in with us in January as Englewood CEO Bill Di Santo will take a look back at 2014.

Chuck Taylor
Director of Operations
Tel: 847-233-9200 x712

Questions? Comments?
You can reach me at chuck.taylor@englewoodconstruction.com
www.EnglewoodConstruction.com

By Bill Di Santo | Comments turned off

2015 Commercial Construction Industry Trends and Predictions

It has been another whirlwind year at Englewood Construction and we are happy to report that our predicted 2014 commercial construction trends came true, which has meant a lot of new projects on our end.

The increased commercial construction activity paved the way for some large new retail construction projects and restaurant construction, as national retailers and restaurant owners became more confident in the improving economy. This year, we expect this activity to carry-over in a big way as national retailers, mall owners and restaurateurs position themselves for continued growth.

Now to get to it—our predictions for 2015 commercial construction trends:

1) Shopping center owners reshape the mall

Shopping center owners are embracing commercial construction projects to revive and revitalize the mall concept. Many national retailers are moving away from tucked-away corners in shopping malls, where they may have enjoyed lower rents, to premium areas with more foot traffic.

Ground up construction project are on the rise. Englewood Construction recently broke ground on an 11,265-square-foot, ground-up Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant in Oaklawn, Ill.

However, to help offset the cost of a more expensive center-court location, national retailers are opting to take smaller floor plates rather than replicate the same size corner location store. For shopping mall owners, this has meant finding ways to reconfigure areas with mall renovation projects to support more retailers with smaller footprints.

A strategy used by shopping mall owners to make this work is to improve sight lines for shoppers. When more retailers are packed together, some can get lost in the shuffle. Using a retail construction contractor to make both signage and showroom space visible to shoppers is imperative. Englewood recently did this with Harry Caray’s 7^th Inning Stretch and Chicago Sports Museum in Chicago’s Water Tower Place. While signage was visible to shoppers, the restaurant space could not be seen from the escalators. So we pushed out the restaurant space to make it more visible and inviting. Based on the success of pushing out Harry Caray’s to make it more visible, we expect to see a retail construction trend with more retailers calling attention to their store locations through creative commercial construction problem solving.

2) Ground up is on the up and up

We have seen a refreshing amount of ground-up commercial construction projects recently. While there still is ample space for retrofits, many retailers and restaurateurs have decided to build ground-up in order to meet brand standards. This has been great news for general commercial construction contractors. Just last month, we broke ground on a three new projects: Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant in the Chicago area, a Season’s 52 from Darden in New Jersey and a 55,000-square-foot Hobby Lobby at Seabrook Crossings in Seabrook, N.H. And earlier this year, we completed a ground-up retail construction project Goodwill in the Chicago area. It’s always good to see this much dirt moving in the commercial construction industry and this activity should gain velocity in 2015.

3) New restaurant construction is back on the menu

Restaurant construction has been hot the past few years, but the majority of it was confined to upscale activity. That has changed in recent months, so when it comes to 2015 restaurant construction trends all signs point to a very robust pipeline across all product types. As consumers look to pay for experiences that can’t be replicated at home, or, on-line, restaurant construction for fine dining, fast casual, and fast food concepts should all see a steady uptick. For example, Englewood recently began an expansion at white tablecloth restaurant The Purple Pig in Chicago, as well as the renovation of a Yard House in Kansas City’s Power and Light District. Simultaneously, we’re working with Red Robin and Buffalo Wild Wings in the fast casual arena to roll out several new restaurants in 2015.

While national commercial contractors like Englewood have a lot to look forward to in 2015, we’re not done with 2014 yet. Don’t miss our next blog post where we will cover the highs and lows of commercial construction this year.

Bill Di Santo
President
Tel: 847-233-9200 x710

Questions? Comments?
You can reach me at bill.disanto@englewoodconstruction.com
www.englewoodconstruction.com

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