The office sector is the strongest commercial market because the rollover of leases negotiated in 2001-03 kept office rental rates rising 4-5% early in 2008.
However, office-based industries have been cutting their workforces, with more cuts expected through the end of the year and only a modest recovery in 2009. The largest cutbacks will be in the securities industry and the smallest, if any, will be in government office operations.
The value of office project starts has declined slightly in 2008, according to Reed Construction Data, and will only expand enough through the end of 2009 to cover higher project costs.
The surge in office starts last year will keep office construction spending increasing at a 14% pace from mid-2008 to the end of 2009.
Top 20 office design firms
(2007 billings in $ millions)
| Company | Billings | |
| Source: 2008 Giants 300 survey Note: This ranking is based on firms that made the Giants 300 list. |
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| 1. | Arup | 187.00 |
| 2. | Perkins+Will | 85.00 |
| 3. | Nelson | 64.39 |
| 4. | Gensler | 63.70 |
| 5. | Thornton Tomasetti | 49.44 |
| 6. | Skidmore, Owings & Merrill | 46.08 |
| 7. | AECOM Technology Corp. | 43.52 |
| 8. | SmithGroup | 40.06 |
| 9. | Parsons Brinckerhoff | 30.14 |
| 10. | Syska Hennessy Group | 29.24 |
| 11. | Stantec | 29.06 |
| 12. | NBBJ | 28.67 |
| 13. | HOK | 28.45 |
| 14. | RS&H | 22.05 |
| 15. | HKS | 22.03 |
| 16. | HDR Architecture | 21.20 |
| 17. | Burt Hill | 20.67 |
| 18. | URS Corp. | 20.00 |
| 19. | Jacobs Engineering Group | 19.67 |
| 20. | KlingStubbins | 18.00 |
Top 20 office contractors
(2007 construction value put in place in $ millions)
| Company | Value put in place | |
| Source: 2008 Giants 300 survey Note: This ranking is based on firms that made the Giants 300 list. |
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| 1. | Turner Corp., The | 2,444.05 |
| 2. | Structure Tone | 1,633.78 |
| 3. | Gilbane Building Co. | 991.65 |
| 4. | Clark Group | 797.37 |
| 5. | Opus Group, The | 677.27 |
| 6. | PCL Construction Enterprises | 624.59 |
| 7. | HITT Contracting | 585.01 |
| 8. | Skanska USA Building | 520.00 |
| 9. | Duke Construction | 480.60 |
| 10. | James G. Davis Construction | 430.89 |
| 11. | Webcor Builders | 385.30 |
| 12. | Balfour Beatty Construction | 350.84 |
| 13. | Brasfield & Gorrie | 328.07 |
| 14. | JE Dunn Construction Group | 289.87 |
| 15. | McGough Construction | 289.63 |
| 16. | M. A. Mortenson | 256.24 |
| 17. | Hoffman Construction | 225.72 |
| 18. | Pepper Construction Group | 216.54 |
| 19. | DPR Construction | 205.07 |
| 20. | Swinerton | 200.20 |