Education projects keeping architects, developers afloat 

Posted: 9:42 am Fri, August 13, 2010
By Tania Anderson

The Cordish Cos., a Baltimore-based real estate developer known for its entertainment and casinos projects, is working on an expansive east campus redevelopment at the University of Maryland, College Park. But the fact that an entertainment-focused firm is doing higher education work is not so surprising these days.

Architects, in particular, say it’s education projects — from kindergarten to community colleges and large universities — that are keeping many of their firms afloat during a tough economic climate. Some of those firms had rarely touched an education project in the past but started taking on more of them as a way to keep revenue flowing.

“Although we hadn’t specialized in education, we’re now looking at it as significant,” said Bryce Turner, president and chief executive officer of Brown, Craig, Turner, an architecture firm in Baltimore.

The firm, which had typically done mixed-use retail and commercial projects, has used its expertise for colleges and universities wanting to meld more of their institutions into the community. The firm is working on a mixed-use project of dorms and retail for Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J.

“We’re creating a better link between the university and the main street of Glassboro,” added Turner, who said his firm held billings steady in 2009 at about $4 million. “We’re creating a fabric that parents are looking for for their kids.”

GWWO Inc., a Baltimore-based architecture firm, also recently broke into the education market, with projects such as the design of a new student hall at Washington College in Chestertown  and the Towson Commons project for Towson University. The firm has also had some success in the K-12 market, with the renovation of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Baltimore City. The firm previously had done half cultural projects and half education, but is now doing 70 percent education.

“Education has really allowed us to weather this recession,” said Paul Hume, vice president at GWWO. “It’s allowed us to avoid layoffs and things of that nature. We’re not doing fantastic, but we’re not doing terrible.”

GWWO had billings of $9.8 million in 2009, down slightly from $10 million in 2008.

Hume said the competition is fierce for these types of jobs as more firms break into the market. For the first time, he’s seeing firms from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Virginia competing for work in Maryland.

“It just seems like every project we go after, there’s a firm we haven’t heard of before,” Hume said. “We play up the fact that we’re the local guys.”

An index from the American Institute of Architects shows that firms across the country may also be seeing education as a bright spot. The index measures the monthly revenue of several hundred architects across the country and what industries their projects are in. Institutional projects, which include education, are one of the industries reporting the most revenue for architects.

“When times are good, a lot of people don’t look at education,” said Al Rubeling, president of Rubeling and Associates, an architecture and interior design firm in Towson and Frederick. “When times are bad, people will look at it because it’s stable.”

He said his firm has avoided widespread layoffs because of its success in education, including renovation projects at Loyola Blakefield High School and The Boys’ Latin School of Maryland.

“We had our best year ever last year because of the education market,” Rubeling added.

But architects wonder if the revenue stream from education will last. State and local governments may struggle to keep their capital projects going, which could mean cuts in the K-12 market, as well as higher education.

“We have a number of projects that are on hold because jurisdictions don’t know if they’ll have the money,” Rubeling said. “There’s some caution in 2010 in regards to what they’re going to be spending money on.”