Slow and steady is how the construction industry performed last year. The 60 top companies ranked on ENR New York’s 2018 Top Contractors list—all reporting more than $20 million in 2017 revenue from work in New York and New Jersey—generated a regional total of $26.17 billion. That’s 5.4% higher than last year’s ranking, when the 60 largest firms reported 2016 revenue of $24.83 billion.
A close look at the numbers shows mixed results for firms, with differences based on size and market sector. The top five firms in this year’s ranking managed to grow revenue by 8%, reporting $12.14 billion in revenue compared with $11.24 billion for that group last year. Regional revenue for the 50 largest contractors rose 7.3% to $25.75 billion from $24 billion last year, a clear slowdown from the 14.3% increase seen when comparing last year’s figure with the prior year’s total.
尽管增长总体上倾斜了Seesaw，但部门的变化群体相互平衡。前10家公司报告说，从新泽西州的工作收入略有增加，从30.3亿美元的收入提高到33.3亿美元。但是政府部门在2017年对公司的速度下降到1.5735亿美元，从2016年报道的2.4045亿美元下降了34.62％。多单元住宅工作的稳定稳定为47.8亿美元。
Work in New York state generated double-digit growth for firms, up 19% to $16.56 billion from $13.89 billion on last year’s ranking. Transportation rose to $3.01 billion, up 20.88% from $2.49 billion; while those reporting commercial revenue saw it grow a whopping 60% to $3.28 billion from $2.05 billion,
Executives of some of the firms on this year’s Top Contractors list shared with ENR New York their insights on what made sectors hot—or not. Even with the differences, the big consensus was that lack of talent is the top challenge for the AEC industry moving forward into next year. Responses t have been edited for space and clarity.
What major trends have you seen among clients or in RFPs during the past year?
Anthony Rinaldi, president and CEO, The Rinaldi Group:We see developers shifting gears toward office building developments as well as seeking alternative residential marketplaces outside of New York City such as Westchester County, Jersey City and Newark. While we continue to hear how the NYC hospitality and hotel marketplace is saturated, many of our developers are still building hotels throughout the city. With NYC breaking tourism records in each of the past eight years … we haven’t yet seen a hotel development slowdown.
Lance Franklin, COO, Triton Construction Co:我们正在努力，并看到了几座新的精品办公楼正在计划和建造。我们已经完成了三个，在施工中排名第四，并且在另外两次进行了构建。
Christopher Asaro, president, Holt Construction:Increased competition due to open shop [growth] is a trend we are seeing. Within RFPs, we also have seen increased requirements in terms of safety and expeience, as well as level of technical knowledge pertaining to staff. This has made us rethink the traditional response to an RFP.… Not only does the company collaborate [more] in response, we [also use] nontraditional tools and collaborative software to streamline the process through an elite team [chosen to respond].
Jay Badame，Aecom-Tishman总裁兼首席运营官：Today, owners are more involved not only in the design but also in the construction process.
What sector has offered your firm the best opportunity?
Rinaldi:酒店和酒店行业提供了最大的机会……而我们也正在经历办公室建设建设项目的增加。18luck官网
Asaro:我们看到医疗保健领域（提供机会），包括行业合并，收购医师实践，紧急护理中心的建设，新的门诊护理设施，单个病房，以及扩大的急诊室。额外的司机包括《平价医疗法案》和3000万新保险的患者，以及（65岁及以上）的“银海啸”。由于主要机场和基础设施的升级，还有航空部门。我们看到机场体验从乘客持有房间转变为一流的饮食经验和高端购物。
Badame:Our strong growth the last couple of years is largely driven by an unprecedented boom in projects greater than $1 billion. … Density is the future, both in commercial and residential construction.
哪个部门正在冷却？
富兰克林：We have seen a slowdown in ultra-luxury condominium projects moving forward with the cost of construction, land and carrying.
Rinaldi:We have watched the cost of purchasing property in Manhattan and much of the outer boroughs reach such highs that the price makes residential development and, in particular, rental development impossible. It is eerily trending like it did in 2007, when the cost of “dirt” [properties] reached such heights that it prohibited further residential development from being viable.
Asaro:在我们自己的研究中，由于传统的砖和砂浆位置的减少以及在线零售和教育服务的兴起，我们还看到了高等教育和私人机构，除了零售部门降温之外。这使我们有机会追求这些市场的替代形式，包括高等教育中的小型高端精品店和[专业空间]。
What have been major challenges for your firm?
富兰克林：The subcontractors are all spread thin. Choosing the right subcontractor team is critical to the success of any project.
Rinaldi:The biggest challenge for us today is the availability of talent. Whether it be construction professionals with degrees and licenses to manage our construction projects and build our developments or trained and skilled craftsmen and construction labor, the pool from which to draw and find the needed numbers is severely limited. [Thus] the cost is equally becoming prohibitive with the salary and labor-rate demands coming from the candidates far exceeding and outweighing the budgets previously carried by developers. As a construction manager and general contractor, we are being squeezed [from] both sides.
Asaro:随着建设继续在高需求to prime real estate locations seeing a boom, challenges include acquiring qualified talent. Holt is continually developing new programs within the company to obtain talented project managers. We continually evolve and research not just what project managers are looking for, but to develop processes to find the best talent within these markets.
Where do you see the industry headed in the next year?
Dale Errico, vice president of business development, Railroad Construction Co:Toward more public-private-partnership and design-build projects.
富兰克林：Triton is in a unique place given our experience ... and ability to hire both union and nonunion subcontractors. We have been able to use this to be extremely competitive and more flexible than the larger construction managers in the city.
Rinaldi:我们看到了曼哈顿和外部自治市镇办公室建设和开发的趋势，而住宅正搬出城市，进入了[大众传输到纽约市的大众运输途径的地方。
Asaro:With the high demand of new real estate, owners are expecting projects to be completed faster than ever. [There will be] increased use of project management firms as owners do not have the staff numbers or experience to manage the volume of projects being constructed.
Badame:得益于东部中城周围的新分区法律，纽约将变得更高。在过去四年中，纽约市的超级塔楼数量增加了500％。…自适应建筑法正在为建造更高的大门打开大门。
What key innovations used on your projects last year boosted productivity or other metrics?
Asaro:[霍尔特（Holt）为方舟安装HVAC设备的空运操作，这是在肯尼迪机场（JFK Airport）安置旅行动物的设施]是肯尼迪国际机场（JFK）的第一个空运。纽约和新泽西州和其他机构的港口管理局不知道围绕此类行动的程序和协议。霍尔特通过提出高度协调的安全计划来设定标准。完成空运以代替使用常规起重机改善了时间表，还可以降低预算成本。18luck.cub起重机的为期一天的设置和为期一天的崩溃被消除了。还取消了将起重机带到现场的卡车运输和许可费用。18luck.cub
Badame:我们的新兴技术实践继续推动我们项目的效率。18luck官网通过称为Onedesign的专有过程，我们正在协调主要的MEP系统，以便在MEP [合同]奖励时允许更大的灵活性和价格确定性。我们在一个范德比尔特（Vanderbilt）使用了“启用”，使钢勃起和MEP协调提前开始。我们继续用4D序列推动BIM，使我们能够提前可视化物流。我们只是在30 Hudson Yards的观察甲板上使用了这项技术。
