Expansion in the hospitality and retail sectors fueled growth for internationally recognized design firm Cooper Carry in 2013, and the sectors are expected to continue to grow next year. The firm, which is active in public and private sectors ranging from higher education to hospitality, expanded its portfolio with nearly 120 new projects, including nearly 3 million square feet of retail space and more than 1,500 hotel rooms. Additionally, Cooper Carry completed more than 1.2 million square feet of residential space.
Growth has been fueled by the resurgence of the private sector (a category that ranges from large, publicly traded companies, to REITs, to smaller developers) leading to an increase in planned hotels along with proposals for new and renovated shopping centers.
“Cooper Carry’s net revenue for 2013 has exceeded what we budgeted by 7 percent,” said Kevin R. Cantley, president and CEO of Cooper Carry. “This reflects a significant increase in the volume of design commissions coming from private sector real estate developers compared to the past two years. We believe that the increase in our design commissions flowing from increasing activity in the commercial real estate sector is a trend that will continue into at least the first quarter or two of 2014. And with a bit of good luck, we will see 2014 providing higher net revenue than 2013.”
In 2013, hospitality accounted for nearly one-quarter of the projects Cooper Carry was awarded. The firm’s status as a major player was cemented in June, when Architectural Record ranked the company No. 2 in an annual list of the Top 5 Hotel Design Firms.
A major hospitality project awarded this year to the firm is a $260 million, 600-room convention center hotel in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Flagged by Hilton, the hotel is already receiving praise, with many expecting it to change the Cleveland skyline. Once complete, it will help support the $465 million Cleveland Convention Center, which opened in June, and the interconnected Global Center for Health Innovation.
Cooper Carry also teamed with tvsdesign to design the highly anticipated Marriott Marquis in Washington, D.C. Slated to open in May 2014, the 15-story hotel (with an additional 7 levels below grade) will be the city’s largest, with 1,175 rooms and 100,000 square feet of event space.
“The volume of our hospitality design activity has increased at an accelerating rate,” Cantley said. “Multi-family residential has also been strong as well during the last three years, and we have even seen a recent increase in backlog for these projects.”
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