Drive down any major street in South Carolina's largest cities, and it's not hard to miss the mass of workers in hardhats or the construction cranes towering over once-vacant lots.

From apartments to hospitals and hotels to homes, the building boom is at full throttle.

But before any of those structures get off the ground, they need a blueprint. That's where architects come in.

The people who draw up plans and pencil in details sit on the front line of the economic upswing enveloping the country, and many are busier than ever.

Firms with offices in Charleston and projects across the state and elsewhere say workloads are healthy, competition is steep and the foreseeable future shows no signs of a slowdown.

Tom Hund is principal and Charleston office director of Upstate-based McMillan|Pazdan|Smith Architecture. Brad Nettles/Staff

"The Southeast is hot," said Tom Hund, a principal who leads the Charleston office of Greenville-based McMillan|Pazdan|Smith Architecture. "It's one of the best growth zones in the country. It's quality of life. It's manufacturing. It's retirees. And when you narrow it down regionally, the Charleston region is leading the charge."

He pointed to diversity in the growth of manufacturers such as aerospace and automotive suppliers along with upticks in housing, retirement communities, resorts and tourism as all contributing to the demand.

"In all of those markets, there is great activity," Hund said.

"We were once known as a tourist city and now we are known as a manufacturing and tech city, too," Hund said of Charleston. "As one market may grow, another may slow, so we have an opportunity for balance. I see a really nice diversity here."

Marc Marchant is a principal at LS3P and head of the regional firm's Charleston office. Provided

Marc Marchant, leader of LS3P Associates Ltd., a regional firm based in Charleston, characterized the design market across South Carolina as "shifting into high gear."

"We are all optimistic about the future and continued growth," he said, pointing to expansion of the automotive sector near Charleston, a tire manufacturer coming to Orangeburg and continued industry expansion across the Upstate. "I think there is plenty of room for more growth."

At Liollio Architecture of Charleston, which focuses mainly on public-sector projects, principal Dinos Liollio is bullish on the market across the state and the region.

"I think it's strong, and I'm very optimistic that it will remain strong," Liollio said. "Even with a little bit of increase in interest rates, I don't think it will disturb the building program. Public entities and foundations are in pretty good shape to invest in a robust building program."

The Midlands market is "robust" as well, according to Doug Quackenbush, president of Quackenbush Architects + Planners. His Columbia firm handles public-sector projects such as schools, where work is more steady than the cyclical nature of private-sector buildings such as apartments, hotels or office buildings, but in talks with colleagues working with private-sector designs, Quackenbush said, "It seems like right now both are pretty healthy."

He believes escalating construction costs will eventually lead to a slowdown, especially in the private sector, but the need in K-12 education is so great across the state, the explosion of work will continue.

Among some of the projects Quackenbush is now working on are two elementary schools in Rock Hill, a renovation and addition to an elementary school in the Conway/Myrtle Beach area and an addition to a middle school in Chapin near Columbia.

Quackenbush believes prospects for higher education construction projects are more muddled because of funding restraints, but his firm is involved in the design of the $50 million football operations center which recently broke ground on Bluff Road for the University of South Carolina.

The design and construction market along the Grand Strand shows few signs of letting up either.

"Similar to Charleston, the Myrtle Beach market is growing," said Marchant of LS3P, which also operates an office in the resort city. "We are seeing more beachfront opportunities, more restaurants and renovations."

Two of the larger retail projects LS3P is involved with are the redevelopment of Barefoot Landing and Broadway at the Beach.

"They are regenerating the retail experience in many locations, including those two," Marchant said.

Because of all the construction going on now, Hund said some municipalities, such as Charleston, struggle with how much is too much.

"The architects have to respond to that and remain innovative and creative, which is a challenge," he said. "The better ones get it done."

There is so much work, it is putting pressure on the design and construction industries to keep up, architects say. Not surprisingly, clients also are finding it more of a challenge when looking for help, especially for home additions and other smaller jobs.

In Charleston, design is strictly regulated with standards on the cusp of being tweaked, adding another layer to detailed plans. But Hund said proposed changes to the city's architectural standards actually mean the construction industry is doing so well that new guidelines merit attention.

"That all points to a booming economy and efforts to preserve a quality way to design," he said. "We want to contribute to our community through the architecture."

McMillan|Pazdan|Smith Architecture helped to design the new Children's Hospital under construction at the Medical University of South Carolina. Provided/McMillan|Pazdan|Smith and Perkins & Will

Among construction projects McMillan|Pazdan|Smith is involved in are the Medical University of South Carolina's Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital, the proposed 225-room hotel slated for the current site of the State Ports Authority's headquarters on Concord Street, a new high school in Mount Pleasant and retail village at the developing, mixed-use Nexton community near Summerville.

The firm also is designing an expansion for the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center in the Midlands.

No one knows when the next downturn will hit some economists say it's two years out at the earliestbut larger projects, such as apartments or hotels just now taking shape, will take about two years or so to develop and there are other developments in the pipeline, according to architects.

"It's cyclical, so we have to be prepared for that," Hund said.

At LS3P, some of the more recently completed projects include the seven-story Tides IV condominium building in Mount Pleasant and the expansion of Myrtle Beach International Airport's terminal.

Among the firm's 300-plus projects being designed or under construction at any given time are plans for MUSC's pediatric ambulatory surgery center headed for the corner of Mall Drive and Rivers Avenue in North Charleston.

Architecture firm LS3P Associates Ltd. designed the seven-story apartment building slated for the corner of King and Spring streets in downtown Charleston. Provided/LS3P

Its work also will soon be seen in downtown Charleston with the development of a multistory apartment building at the juncture of Spring and King streets and two others on upper Meeting Street near where the former Cooper River bridges touched down.

With seven other offices across three Southeastern states, the firm recently completed work on an Institute of Innovation for Richland County School District 2 near Columbia.

Marchant said it's refreshing to see a focus on such educational facilities because they help to train students for the technical jobs sprouting up across the state, not only from local companies but also outside investors. He pointed to the firm's design work on the new aeronautics training center being developed at Trident Technical College as another example.

Marchant noted the educational facilities also will help with one of the challenges facing the construction industry in a revved-up economy: qualified workers for subcontractors.

"As more projects come out of the ground, for subcontractors, so many of those markets become strained," Marchant said. "Will they be supported by people coming from outside or will they grow locally? And how do we support it from an education standpoint, which is where the technical education system is very helpful?"

Because of the volume of work going on in Charleston and across the state and nation, competition for workers is steep.

Dinos Liollio is a principal at Liollio Architecture in Charleston. Provided

"If there is any issue, it is trying to find qualified help," Liollio said.

Quackenbush, too, noted, "It's very hard to find good people."

Marchant added, "We are competing with firms all over the country to attract good talent. That's a healthy thing for talent and work. That means the industry is strong."

Hund, too, pointed to architects working in the firm's Calhoun Street office and said they get calls from other agencies trying to lure them away.

"It's very competitive right now," he said.

Liollio characterized the building and design industry across the state as "very healthy" and said, "Most architectural firms are very busy."

His firm is seeing a lot of activity in municipal work and more emphasis on senior living facilities as the huge bubble of the population known as baby boomers slips into retirement.

"One of the things we are seeing right now is more optimism out of our clients as far as their building programs," Liollio said. "They are more optimistic about the economy going forward."

His small firm, with 27 employees and plans to add three more, is working on about four dozen projects in South Carolina and beyond, including the planned new business school for The Citadel.

Liollio's work includes a preservation project at the Caroliniana Library at the University of South Carolina in Columbia and renovation of one of the student housing units on the historic Horseshoe at the state's flagship college.

Other projects include work at Historic Brattonsville in York County, the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and Abraham Lincoln's birthplace in Kentucky.

Liollio Architecture of James Island was involved in the $200 million expansion and renovation of Charleston International Airport along with Fentress Architects of Colorado. Leroy Burnell/Staff

His firm helped with the award-winning makeover of Charleston International Airport and is helping to draw up plans for a new parking deck at Cannon Street and Courtenay Drive near the Medical University of South Carolina.

Marchant of LS3P, which has three other South Carolina offices in Columbia, Greenville and Myrtle Beach, noted one of the biggest changes during the past five years is interest from outside investors, bringing more work to local architects.

For every project rising from the ground, he said five studies might have proceeded it for the site's highest and best use.

"We have a lot of other clients who are prospecting," Marchant said. "They want to know, 'What can I put there? What's the feasibility of that? What's the return on investment?' We do a lot of study work with different clients. People are still very much interested in Charleston and the Lowcountry."

He also pointed out Charleston is now on a national stage with its high-profile industries and tourism accolades, and that means more competition for contracts.

"In a project of any substantial size, say $10 million or more, we are seeing a lot of interest in design across the Southeast competing for work here," he said. "We sort of have to earn our keep."

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Blueprint for business: South Carolina architects on front line of building boom - Charleston Post Courier

McHenry Row developer Mark Sapperstein received approval Thursday from the city's Urban Design and Architecture Review Panel for an office building and Courtyard Marriott hotel planned for the 20-acre South Baltimore site.

The office building will be smaller than originally proposed four floors instead of six to address concerns about vehicle and foot traffic in the project area, which already includes a Harris Teeter grocery, apartments, restaurants and retail, said Sapperstein of 28 Walker Development. A 223-unit apartment building will open in September, adding to existing traffic.

The new plan also eliminates a level of ground-floor parking in the building, filling the space instead with 15,000 square feet of retail or office space.

The 64,000-square-foot warehouse-style building connects to an existing 600-space parking garage, which will be shared with the soon-to-open apartment building and hotel.

Plans for the eight-floor, 126-room hotel remained largely unchanged.

While greenlighting the project's design, the panel asked Sapperstein and his design team to seek solutions to minor issues raised by panel members, such as whether Marriott would consider adding more windows to the front facade of the hotel before presenting the project to the city's planning commission.

Construction is expected to begin this fall, with the office building's first tenants moving in about a year later, Sapperstein said. The hotel's timeline will likely lag by a few weeks, he said.

The panel also reviewed a revised master plan for the second phase of another 28 Walker Development project, Canton Crossing.

The second phase of the Canton shopping center calls for 86,250 square feet of retail space, occupied by Nordstrom Rack, Petco and other retailers that have yet to be named.

Sapperstein and design team BCT Architects and Kimley Horn were asked to come back to the panel with plans to address concerns panel members expressed about parking and pedestrian safety.

sarah.gantz@baltsun.com

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McHenry Row office building, hotel, get design panel approval - Baltimore Sun

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

PSA members approve sale of North Shore riverfront parcel to developer Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Pittsburgh Stadium Authority board members approved the sale of a North Shore riverfront parcel to a Columbus developer Thursday, setting the stage for the construction of a seven-story office building to be anchored by German software firm SAP.

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PSA members approve sale of North Shore riverfront parcel to developer - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Rendering of the proposed 63,800-square-foot, three-story office building. (Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer)

The developers behind the Cookie Factory Lofts along Boulevard have another big project cooking for the former Interbake site.

Midlothian-based Rebkee Co. and developers Dan Gecker and Steve Leibovic with Richmond-based Serabi LLC are in the early stages of a plan to raze the Interbake Foods Warehouse at 949 Myers St. beside their existing apartment building at the former bakery to make way for a 63,800-square-foot, three-story office building.

We really believe in the concept and making it happen, Leibovic said. This is the perfect addition to this area because Scotts Addition is exploding.

Leibovic would not disclose cost estimates for the nearly 2-acre project. He said no general contracto has been chosen to develop the site, and plans for the development must be approved by the city.

Jason Guillot, a broker with Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, has been retained to market and lease the proposed building. Architecture firm Price Simpson Harvey designed the building.

Once the office building is 70 percent pre-leased, we would start construction, Leibovic said. It just depends on the type of interest we get on the development.

Initial plans include a rooftop terrace and balconies for office tenants that will offer views of the Redskins training facility and surrounding neighborhood, Leibovic said. The building also will include a patio with landscaping and bike racks.

Developers plan to raze the Interbake Foods Warehouse at 949 Myers St. (Kieran McQuilkin)

Tenants that lease more than a third of the building may have the opportunity to place their firms name on the structure.

If tenant interest outpaces the buildings proposed footprint, Leibovic said, the developers may pack on more square feet.

Given what were seeing in the office market in Scotts Addition, we expect to see a lot of interest in this building, hesaid. We believe in walkable spaces, and this site allows us to add to that element, which is all over Scotts Addition.

Meanwhile, office users are lining up to call Scotts Addition home.

Richmond-based Spy Rock Real Estate Group and Holladay Corp. from Washington, D.C., are finishingconstruction on their 60,000-square-foot office building at the Symbol Mattress factory site at 3200 Rockbridge St. The commercial building, which should be complete by September, has leased all but 1,400 square feet.

The Summit Suites project, a planned conversion of three aging office properties at 3122, 3113 and 3015 W. Marshall St. into modern workspaces, has topped off the first of its three buildings.

Rebkee and Serabi partnered on the Cookie Factory Lofts, which converted the factory into 180 apartments and was completed in late 2014.

The Interbake developers also own an adjacent lot where construction on a $5 million bowling alley called River City Roll has just begun.

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New office building proposed for former Interbake warehouse - RichmondBizSense

A $12 million medical and professional office complex envisioned at the base of Spokanes lower South Hill is in the early planning stages.

Baker Construction & Development Inc., of Spokane, recently submitted a predevelopment application to start the citys planning process for the project planned at 307 W. Fourth.

The plans say the project will include a six-story, 68,000-square-foot building on a vacant, 1-acre site at the southwest corner of Fourth Avenue and Bernard Street, just south of Interstate 90.

The project also will include a five-level parking structure fronting Bernard and Fifth Avenue on the south side of the planned building, the application says. A preliminary site plan shows the parking structure will have about 350 parking stalls.

Ed Hatcher, a project manager for Baker Construction, declines to identify the groups planning to develop and occupy the building.

We have a couple of doctors groups, and were trying to find if more groups are interested, Hatcher says.

Spokane County Assessors records show the property owner as GVD Commercial Properties Inc., the Spokane real estate development company headed by Jerry Dicker.

A GVD representative couldnt be reached immediately for comment.

Hatcher says Baker Construction hopes to begin work on the project this year.

Hatcher says Baker Construction initially filed a predevelopment application with plans to construct a medical professional building at 960 E. Third, where the Daybreak Youth Services administrative offices are located, but that site didnt work out.

Reporter Mike McLean covers real estate and construction at the Journal of Business. A multipurpose fisherman and vintage record album aficionado, Mike has worked for the Journal since 2006.

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$12 million medical office building eyed on lower South Hill - Spokane Journal of Business

First step taken toward Johnson County Courthouse construction Kansas City Star The reconfiguration of Olathe's courthouse square began June 1, as Johnson County deeded over one of its office buildings to the city a first step to get ready for courthouse construction. The ownership transfer of the county's vacated Centennial ... and more »

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First step taken toward Johnson County Courthouse construction - Kansas City Star

Details Published: 07 June 2017 Written by An-Li Herring - Town Crier Editorial Intern

Eliza Ridgeway/Town Crier A former parking lot abutting Castro Street and St. Josephs Church on Hope Street is being remade into a four-story complex containing office space, 12 condominium units and ground-floor retail.

Hoping to capitalize on the vibrancy of Mountain Views downtown core, developers have shown increasing interest in building out the areas restaurant and retail sites to include office space.

It almost feels like an avalanche of proposals for office space, said Robert Cox, who has served for five years on Mountain Views Environmental Planning Commission, which advises the city council on whether to approve development proposals.

Since January, Castro Street restaurant Fu Lam Mum has been converting its second-floor mezzanine into office space.

More recently, the owners of two popular restaurants on Villa Street, Chez TJ and Tied House, submitted a proposal to replace both of their structures with a four-story building. In a memo to Mountain Views Downtown Committee last month, the citys Planning Division reported that the building would include three floors of office space and a new ground-floor restaurant.

The memo also indicated that the city had received informal applications to construct four-story office buildings with ground-floor commercial space at 701 W. Evelyn Ave., where a Subway sandwich shop is now located, and 756 California Ave., currently Dental Fabulous. Informal application status means the projects remain in an exploratory phase intended merely to gauge the reaction of city officials.

With its proximity to public transit, many dining options and pleasant environment, Cox said, downtown Mountain View is a desirable location for employers.

But, he added, additional office construction threatens to bring more workers to the city at a time when the local labor force far outstrips the supply of housing.

Given the imbalance between jobs and housing, Cox said, we need to think about whats best in the long term.

The demand for more office space coincides with intensified focus among members of the Mountain View City Council on boosting housing construction. According to Planning Division data, the council has approved projects that would increase the local housing supply by 1,566 units. An additional 958 net new units were already under construction as of March.

City officials are also considering rezoning plans to permit the construction of up to 9,850 residential units in the North Bayshore business district and up to 5,000 additional units in the East Whisman area.

As a member of Mountain Views Environmental Planning Commission, Cox has observed an increase in the number of applications for new office projects since 2011, when the economy began to bounce back from the recession.

All development comes in fits and starts, Associate City Planner Eric Anderson said. Were very boom and bust, and were kind of in a boom now.

One project currently under construction will turn a former parking lot at St. Josephs Church into a four-story complex containing office space, 12 condominium units and ground-floor retail.

According to last months Downtown Committee memo, city officials are also negotiating with a developer on a proposal to construct offices and a hotel a block from the Mountain View Transit Center. Two parking lots currently occupy the site, known as the Hope Street Lots.

In March, the city issued permits for the construction of nine condominium units on an adjacent block. The four-story building will replace three apartment units.

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Mtn. View draws "avalanche" of downtown office proposals - Los Altos Town Crier

Gramor Development, Inc. announced on Wednesday that it has secured a $42.5 million construction loan with U.S. Bank for The Waterfront Vancouver development.

Specifically, the loan will support the construction of a seven-story office building and six-story residential structure on The Waterfronts Block 6. The street level of both buildings will feature a row of retail spaces known as the Shops at Waterfront Way.

This is a really exciting time for The Waterfront project, said Barry Cain, Gramor president, in a press release. The transformation is well underway and its unlike anything that currently exists in our area. Were turning what was once an industrial area into a vibrant destination for tourists, businesses and the surrounding community.

On behalf of U.S. Bank, Ann Young, senior vice president, Oregon market manager, said, Gramor is a driving force in revitalizing Vancouvers waterfront and the local community. U.S. Bank is excited to be part of the project and to help bring this vibrant and unique development to life.

Block 6 is expected to be complete in April 2018. Previously announced tenants include M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, Cascade Sothebys International Realty and MidiCi The Neapolitan Pizza Company.

Beyond Block 6, other tenants signed on to the 32-acre, $1.5 billion project are WildFin American Grill, Twigs Bistro and Martini Bar (both at Block 9 of the development) and Ghost Runners Brewery (Block 12).

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Waterfront developer secures $42.5 million loan for construction of mixed-use block - Vancouver Business Journal

Rendering courtesy of KTGY Architecture + Planning

A long-awaited transit-oriented development in the heart of Denvers Stapleton neighborhood is finally moving forward.

Included in the 35-acre developments first phaseis a 120-unit condominiumproject, something that has been all but nonexistent inrecent years due in large part, developers have said,to the states construction-defects laws.

There is a tremendous need for it, said David Friedman, president of D.H. Friedman Properties,the condo projects developer.

The five-story condo building will join a 190,000-square-foot Class A office building, a300-unit apartment building and 60,000 square feet of retail around a large public plaza south of theRegional Transportation DistrictsCentral Park commuter-rail station.

Master developer Forest City Stapleton and real estate firm Newmark Knight Frank announced the developments first phase Tuesday.

Were kicking it off with office, multifamily and retail we think its very important to have all those going at the same time so we can really start to create a sense of place and help people understand the context of the ultimatebuildout, versus having just one building, Forest Citysenior vice president Jim Chrisman said. This will be a very urban, mixed-use, transit-oriented development.

The buildingsare expected to break ground starting in late first quarter next year or early second quarter, with deliveryin the summer of 2019, Chrisman said. A hotel, too, is the works.

At completion, Central Park Stationcould be home to1million square feet of office space, 1,000 apartments, 400 condos, 120 hotel rooms and 100,000 square feet of retail.

The condo project, anticipated asthefirst of three phases, will include units that range in size from 550 to 1,200 square feet, Friedman said. Prices will start in the mid-$200,000s and go up to the mid-$500,000s.

Our price points are going to be dramatically lower than downtown with all the amenities of Stapleton, Friedman said. The condos youve seen have been inCherryCreek. Youre seeing some in Union Station. We are a different market. Our land costs are less.

Friedman said a recent change to Coloradosconstruction-defects laws, requiring a majority of a complexs condoowners to sign off onlegal action against a developer for shoddy construction,hasnt really impacted the way hell approach the project.

His Greenwood Village-based company has built condos in the past,including Villa Rosso, a seven-story, 65-unit complex in the Denver Tech Center near Belleview Station.

I do think they made big progress yesterday with that case, he said, referring to a related Colorado Supreme Court decision Mondaythat ruled a condo association could not change bylaws requiringbinding arbitration without the consent of the builder.I think that will help, but theres still a lot to do.

Forest City is developing the office building, apartmentsand public plaza in the first phase. Located a block from the train platform at East 37th Place and Uinta Street, the office building, Central Park Station One, will be six stories tall with each office floor offering outdoor terraces and balconies. Ground-floor retail will open onto the public plaza via roll-up doors.

Office is the last piece of the puzzle for Stapleton, Chrisman said. If you go down the checklist of what an office user is looking for, we believe we can check everything on that list.

Zoning generally allows for buildings up to 16 stories high near the train station, but Chrisman saidwhile they may get there eventually, they thought it would be a little aggressive to go that tall right out of the gate.

We have virtually unlimited expansion capability, he said.

And while many office tenants set their sights on downtown Denver, Central Park Station and Stapleton arejust a 15-minute train ride from Denver Union Station and they have lower rents and more affordable parking, Chrisman said.

The public plaza next to the office buildingwill be home to unique shade structures meant to emulate clouds floating over the prairie, he said.

Were trying to do something that will be memorable, that will be iconic, when you say Central Park Station, Oh, thats where that really cool public space is,' he said. Were looking at those elements that can act like the blue bear at the convention centeror themilk jug at Little Man.

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Office building, condos, apartments to kick-start Central Park Station development in Stapleton - The Denver Post

McGuire Development Co. got the green light to proceed with construction of a planned 48,000-square-foot office building in front of its Compass East project on Michigan Avenue, after winning over a neighborhood group and nearby church.

The developer plans to erect the new facility at 425 Michigan Ave., at the front end of the long parking lot for Compass East, formerly Sheehan Memorial Hospital.

The proposal had already been reviewed by the Buffalo Planning Board, but officials wanted to wait for final approval until the developer had met with the Copper Town Block Club to alleviate any concerns over parking, debris removal and noise. Residents also wanted to ensure the building's modern appearance would mesh with the area's historic character.

The meeting was held, and Erie County Legislator Barbara Miller-Williams, who also lives in the neighborhood, praised the developer's outreach efforts.

"This is a project that will spur economic development along the Michigan Avenue corridor," Miller-Williams said. "We're fortunate enough to have this modern-looking building. We wanted to make sure that the future meets the past."

McGuire unveils Compass East Phase 2 plans

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Office building on former Sheehan Memorial lot gets go-ahead - Buffalo News