Prominent Developers Join Land Development Coalition Roundtable Discussion
Local developers from the Washington, D.C., metro area shared insights about real estate development at the Land Development Coalition (LDC) roundtable during ACEC’s Annual Convention & Legislative Summit in May. The panelists—Lerner’s Vice President of Development Jim Policaro, Gilbane’s Senior Vice President of Development Robert Gilbane Jr., and Redbrick LMD’s Executive Vice President of Construction Paul Elias—agreed on these top trends:
- Office-to-residential conversions are often not financially feasible.
- The education sector is booming due to aging infrastructure from the 1970s.
- They are always looking to engineers for ways to save money on projects.
Spending in the education sector, which includes K-12 and higher education, increased 19 percent—or $38 billion (including public and private spending)—in the first four months of 2024, up from $32 billion in 2023, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau Value of Construction Put in Place Survey.
More information on this survey can be found in the latest Market Intelligence Dashboard, Prominent Developers Join Land Development Coalition Roundtable, which can be accessed at www.acec.org/market-intelligence-dashboard.
Investment growth in the sector is also forecasted for the next five years, including a 15 percent increase from $127 billion in 2024 to $146 billion by 2028, according to an FMI Q2 2024 report.
This increase in investment can be attributed to aging infrastructure in schools and campus housing, renovation investments, Inflation Reduction Act funding, modernizing networks, artificial intelligence, and local bond measures.
ACEC members were able to network with these potential clients in an intimate setting and ask questions. One member asked the developers if they would start hiring engineers that are one-stop shops, with the ability to perform all design, construction, and financing. The labor shortage in both the engineering and construction fields isn’t new. Even as the ACEC Research Institute continues its work around its Firm of the Future initiative, it remains an unsettled question what that firm will look like.
That said, the developers responded in unison that they would not take on engineers as staff. They noted that while they appreciate the work that engineers do and respect them as experts in their field, the line of demarcation is such that developers must remain experts in theirs.
Dewberry Senior Vice President Mike Snyder moderated the panel, which also covered mass timber; environmental, social, and governance (ESG); sustainability goals; and the latest technologies. To be a part of the next Land Development Coalition meeting or any coalition with ACEC, head to www.acec.org/member-center/get-involved/coalitions.
