Trey Trahan is one of Baton Rouge’s best-known architects. Sometimes, it’s the projects that might never get built that attract the most attention, like his concept of a new downtown library, which evokes thoughts of a book. The design was part of a feasibility study, and there’s no guarantee Library Board of Control members will select his vision. Trahan says the firm might not make much money on such projects, but the marketing payback can be big.
Trahan Architects’ vision for a mixed-use development at the Baton Rouge municipal dock might also never be realized. But renderings of the project that were posted online caught the attention of a privately held oil and gas company planning a floating dock facility on the Niger River in western Africa, and a company official gave Trahan a call. That indirect self-promotion helps keep Trahan’s firm working on interesting projects at a time when many architects are struggling.
“The private sector is having a hard time coming up with financing for their projects,” Trahan says. “A number of our private-sector projects have been on hold and don’t appear to be moving forward anytime soon. Unfortunately, I just think that’s where the economy is.”
Even though the first half of 2010 was a little slow for Trahan, the later part of the year was stronger. There is some work to be had out there for architects, and there should be more of it if and when the broader economy starts to pick up.
“2011 looks very promising,” he says. “It looks to be consistent with past years, and maybe even beyond that.”
There also have been some encouraging signs at the national level. The American Institute of Architects asks member firms whether their billings increased, decreased or remained the same compared to the prior month, compiling what it calls the architecture billing index. In November, AIA says, the index reached its highest point since December 2007.
“While this is heartening news, it would be premature to say the design and construction industry is out of the woods yet,” AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker says. “We continue to hear [of] a wide mix of business conditions, with a good deal of it still indicating flat or no demand for design services. Once we see several months in a row of increasing demand, we can feel safe saying we have entered a recovery phase.”
Few sectors have been unaffected by tighter credit on the national scene, but conditions vary from market to market. Architect Kevin Harris says it’s almost embarrassing to attend a national conference and meet colleagues who’ve had to lay off much of their staff.
“You don’t want to be too happy around those guys,” Harris says.
Years ago, Harris was teaching at LSU, but he wanted to keep working as an architect. Residential renovation projects were perfect for him because they were small enough to handle without shortchanging clients or his teaching schedule.
Harris discovered renovations were personally and professionally rewarding, and he decided to make it a specialty. His work remains steady, he says, even in tight times. During the oil-bust 1980s, when he remembers one out of three local architects left the industry because of a lack of work, he still had projects. And to this day, he says, he has more work available than he can take on.
Commercial work has been scarce in the Capital Region since the federal GO Zone program ended. Created to spur economic development in south Louisiana in the wake of 2005’s devastating hurricanes, the program included an accelerated depreciation benefit that could be applied to commercial projects, including hotels, office buildings and apartment complexes.
GO Zone came with a catch: The projects had to be ready to go by Dec. 31, 2008. Even if the recession and the financial crisis had never happened, the Capital Region likely would have seen a big slowdown in commercial building after that point.
“The GO Zone had a huge impact,” architect Jerry Hebert says. “Everybody had deadlines to get projects completed. … We realized that market was going to taper off, so we focused our business development side on public work the last few years, and that’s kind of where we landed.”
Many professionals in fields related to construction and design say firms with the ability to get public sector work have been in the best position to survive the downturn. Hebert says only about 20% of his work lately is for private-sector clients, compared to half in most years. His firm, Grace & Hebert Architects, is finishing some work for LSU, to pick one example of a public-sector project. He says some people are sitting tight and waiting for a measure of certainty from the overall economy, but he agrees financing presents the biggest challenge.
“There is some pent-up demand,” Hebert says, “but [the private sector] can’t get the financing to be able to do it.”
Many firms that work with schools or hospitals are staying busy. Some still have hurricane-recovery work in New Orleans.
Hebert says he’s starting to hear some encouraging talk from potential commercial and industrial clients. People who’ve had projects on hold for a while are starting to call or drop by the office, indicating that they now might be able to fund the project. It’s too soon to say how much of that chatter might eventually amount to something, but it does seem to have inspired some cautious optimism.
“I’m feeling pretty good 2011 will be a pretty good year for us,” Hebert says.
