City Grill

Kristin Boudreau 
Principal, Interior Design 
Stantec

Design-build interior projects “continue to remain hot,” Boudreau says, as clients look to improve schedules, but design fees on those “can escalate ... due to more ongoing coordination.”

But she says “smaller size” workplace projects are starting to increase. Also, “retail is booming as well as industrial, with life sciences ticking along.” Boudreau says commercial work “is slow and will likely continue to be into 2025 as project funding is hard to pencil out.”

As the longest-lead design infrastructure projects funded by the American Rescue Plan “are now entering the construction phase, this market may slow as funding winds down,” she says.

Housing projects are being “permitted faster” to fill demand, Boudreau says. “Projects going into construction are mostly affordable housing because they have state and federal grants.”

Boudreau is keeping a close eye on interest rates. “The gradual dropping of federal interest rates will likely have a positive effect on economic growth in our industry, so we anticipate some upward trends but not as robust as we’ve seen in the past,” she says.