Greg hurd
CEO
BKF engineers
The only thing that coincides with the unpredictable climate of San Francisco is the equally unpredictable nature of the city, according to the writer Armotead Maupin. “The climate of San Francisco is the way of saying nature:” We keep the interesting things, “he said in his stories about the books of the city.
Having experience with unpredictability can be an asset for companies in the bay area, as financial forecasts are beginning to darken -especially for the AEC industry. The changes, cancellations or removal of funding sources and the cost of capital will be large areas of concern, says Greg Hurd, CEO of BKF Engineers.
“There is a widespread concern for a possible recession and if certain sectors or companies are actually recession proof,” he says. “This uncertainty has caused the hesitation between some customers when it comes to moving on construction projects.”
This feeling can be seen in the data of Dodge Data & Analytics for the construction that begin in the region of San Francisco. Although Dodge’s projection by 2025 is still a bull in 8% compared to last year, the forecast for 2026 has a low tone.
It is expected that the beginnings of the bay will exceed $ 16 billion by 2025, but they will slide to $ 14.4 billion by 2026.
The non -residential building begins in 2024 with more than $ 9 billion, but since then they have been in decline. Residential beginnings are expected to reach almost $ 5.5 billion this year, but they will be reduced to $ 4 billion by 2026. The beginnings of non -construction should have a perseverance to $ 3.9 billion this year and the following, according to Dodge.
In hope, the projected numbers must be treated with caution by the atmosphere of uncertainty. Hurd notes that the projects planned to go to supply or break the ground can be suspended due to an increase in the costs of the materials and other factors.
Despite concerns about funding sources and the increase in capital costs, the large number of potential work in the San Francisco region says there will be opportunities for companies to compete.
Hurd claims that the key to companies like BKF is to identify the best opportunities to pursue. Several sectors, such as health care, water and transport, are expected to remain strong despite financial heads. The firm has created a strong record in these sectors and BKF continues to see a good pipeline of projects, contracts and growth in these markets, according to Hurd.
The company has participated in health care projects such as the Van Ness Campus of Sutter Health CPMC Van Ness, a BEST project of 2021 Enr West.
Transportation projects have included the project to improve the runner on the city 8 in the city of Oakland and the extension of Transit Rapid Transit (Bart) of the Bay Area (Bart) from the Colma station to the International San Francisco Airport.
A prominent project for BKF has been the development of Rock Mission on the front line of San Francisco, which opened last year. It was developed as a public-private collaboration between the Giants of San Francisco, Tishman Speyer and the Port of San Francisco, the project will feature offices and residential buildings, as well as eight hectares of new public space.
BKF supported the project by preparing for design, planning and due diligence, CEQA support, design controls, infrastructure planning and the provisional map of the presentation and the basis of the design documentation.
For BKF, success on the forward route will require being selective and sharp in the choice of projects.
“Our financing strategists are able to read between lines,” says Hurd. “In fact, they have identified new funding opportunities in the communities and for projects that could not have been described before.”
Strong customers’ relationships are true that overcome difficult times. BKF has been working closely with its customers to browse impacts and find funding for projects in their communities.
The San Francisco region is also subject to the inconvenience that has besieged the largest industry, such as finding and retaining specialized staff. This particular problem is aggravated by the cost of life of the bay. BKF has addressed this by offering offices throughout the region, increasing the company’s access to talent.
Ironically, the data suggests that the spectrum of a fall seems to have caused an increase in staff stability, as employees are waiting for uncertainty in industry.
