Grill of the city
Kristin Boudreau
Director, Interior Design
Stantec
Interior design projects “continue to be hot,” Boudreau says, as clients look to improve schedules, but design fees for those “may increase … because of more ongoing coordination.”
But he says “smaller-sized” work projects are starting to pick up. In addition, “retail is booming, as is industrial, with life sciences.” Boudreau says commercial work “is slow and will likely continue until 2025 as project financing is difficult to draw.”
Because the longer-design infrastructure projects funded by the US Rescue Plan “are now entering the construction phase, this market may slow as funding tapers off,” he says.
Housing projects are being “permitted faster” to meet demand, Boudreau says. “The projects that are starting construction are mostly affordable housing because they have state and federal subsidies.”
Boudreau is keeping a close eye on interest rates. “The gradual decline in federal interest rates will likely have a positive effect on the economic growth of our industry, so we anticipate some upward trends but not as robust as we’ve seen in the past,” he says.
