Market voices: Design and engineering
Sherif Ayad
President & CEO ID & Design International
It is a highly competitive business. Five years ago, we were all designing multifamily projects for millennials. We find ourselves today designing the same multifamily projects, but for mixed, diversified age groups and ethnic backgrounds. We can develop projects today that cater to both millennials and empty nesters within the same communities. Being as competitive as it is, the multifamily niche has really become an amenity war, more than anything. It’s about all the bells and whistles you could imagine, from bowling alleys to full-fledged gyms, boxing rings and everything else. With the impact of COVID specifically, the biggest change we’ve seen is how developers have taken coworking environments very seriously. It’s no longer putting a Mac and a PC in a corner facing the wall. Our two biggest competitive amenities right now in any multifamily job are fitness centers and our coworking environments.
We have several, in-house teams using drones for aerial surveys on our projects. That’s becoming increasingly commonplace in the engineering industry, because it’s an efficient way to collect data ahead of executing a project. We are also starting to incorporate augmented and virtual reality into our design process. That helps to visualize what the project is going to look like, and it is great for public stakeholders to visualize future projects within their communities. From a design perspective, you get to see things in 3D, which helps with clash detection and to eliminate human error. We can also use these tools to do 4D, to visualize construction sequencing to see what different parts of the project will be accomplished and when. We can also use this tool in a fifth dimension for cost estimating.
Vince Yarina
Principal & Vice President Langan Engineering & Environmental Services, Inc.
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Daniel Suarez Office Principal HDR
Broward’s talent pool is limited and hiring is definitely a challenge. For example, we have an entry-level opening in our Fort Lauderdale office and the bulk of the resumes we receive are from out of the area and lack the specific skills we require for the job. For senior level positions, there are not a lot of these folks in the market so the pool is limited and we need to be cautious of having key talent stolen by our competitors. Professionals with a diverse range of skills are most prized in the current market, including skilled engineers, geologists and scientists with good interpersonal skills. Dealing with clients and having the ability to manage time, projects and budgets are the primary skills most in demand and the hardest to find.
| Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 | CONSTRUCTION
