Rosenberg & Estis was a proud sponsor of the Anchin Construction & Development Forum on February 9, 2017. R&E Member Richard L. Sussman participated as a panelist to discuss construction and development activity in and around NYC, including the prospects for the next few years and trends affecting the marketplace for office, residential retail and hotel development. The recent past has seen an historic high in construction and development, pushing costs for land and labor to all-time highs. However, with a glut in luxury condos, contraction of office requirements, a changing retail landscape, higher barriers to construction financing, and the lack of 421-a tax abatements, the industry needs to prepare itself for the demands of a changed environment and a possible slowdown once the current pipeline of projects come to completion. The panelists discussed how we mitigate the challenges that this topsy-turvy market brings. Among other topics, Sussman’s panel (entitled “The State of the Market for Construction & Development”) discussed different trends that have been observed with new construction, including how lifestyle changes affect construction in the workplace and residential settings. In one example, Sussman noted that both new/redesigned residential and office space is consciously being designed to foster an “environment of accidental collisions”, meaning that the construction or lay out of the space is meant to create and foster and encourage interactions among people. Along with the concept of a collaborative setting, there are also trends of reducing private individual space and in office space, having a higher density of desks and empty desks so as to allow for future growth in a cost efficient manner.
