Architects engineer a comeback as construction revives

ST. PETERSBURG

Few companies here last year played more of a punching bag than Wannemacher Jensen, the architectural firm charged with cheerleading the Pier's voter-doomed replacement candidate, the Lens.

But even as their most prominent project crumbled, the architects' fortunes soared. As demand for new designs surged last year, the firm boosted its staff from seven architects to 12 and saw revenue nearly double to $3.2 million "our best year ever," partner Jason Jensen said.

If real estate watchers had a crystal ball, it would probably be designed by architects: They start blueprinting and billing nine to 12 months before builders spend their first construction cent. And experts say flourishing demand for architects has inspired optimism that the construction economy is back on track.

Florida added 7,000 architectural and engineering jobs between December 2012 and December 2013, state data show a 10 percent jump and the fourth best of all industries. (The top three: building materials suppliers, heavy construction and probably unrelated hobby, book and sporting goods stores.)

Nationwide, the rate of unemployed architects dropped from 17 percent to 6 percent between 2010 and 2012, the most recent year available, American Institute of Architects data shows. The largest segment of laid-off architects found a new job in less than six months.

So why is the architecture market waking up now? Public purse string holders long strapped by the Great Recession are now seeing surpluses, and opting to restart stalled projects and retool old fire stations, schools and city halls. And pent-up commercial leaders are finding the confidence to suddenly build again after years of just making do.

"People are tired of the economy we've had. We're all tired of it," said Mickey Jacob, the executive vice president of Tampa-based BDG Architects, who served last year as the president of the American Institute of Architects. "Our private sector clients are investing heavily thinking 2014 will be a benchmark year."

But little is certain even now as to whether architects' fortunes will continue to dip or fall. The Architecture Billings Index, which charts nationwide designer demand, dipped at the end of last year after a run of solid growth, with many firms saying they were "coping with an unpredictable economy."

And though Tampa Bay builders have broken ground on thousands of new suburban homes, developers are a lot less optimistic about the prospects for certain commercial properties full-service hotels, suburban offices, regional malls that once served as architects' bread and butter.

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Architects engineer a comeback as construction revives