MidAtlantic City Scoop: Construction Starts in Wilmington

Before COVID-19 outbreak, value of new contracts was expected to climb 4.7%

Residential and non-residential sectors had been forecast to rise; non-building had been expected to weaken.

City Grill

Scott Edmonston
President
American Institute of Architects Delaware

Edmonston says the effects of COVID-19 on Delaware’s design and construction industries have forced many commercial and institutional owners to put projects on hold “while they try to figure what the post-COVID landscape will look like.”

The uncertainty facing architecture firms is compounded by commercial, retail and institutional projects that are “likely to remain on hold,” Edmonston says. “We’re pushing through our design work for commercial clients, but we expect permitting and construction on those projects to be put on the back burner while our clients wait out the pandemic.”

On the bright side, multifamily residential is currently one of the strongest sectors, Edmonston says, and he sees no signs of that sector slowing at the moment.

“I think we can expect to see the other corners of the commercial market remain slow for some time,” he adds.

Edmonston also says that the “rebound has already begun in the form of a refocus from commercial and institutional projects to multifamily residential.”