Vocon Ranks Fourth Among New York City’s Top Architects

This article is originally from The Real Deal, published August 01, 2023.

Temperatures ran hot at the Pension Real Estate Association’s annual spring conference. Developers and real estate financiers boiled over with questions with no clear or immediate answers — what’s going on with the office market? How will artificial intelligence (AI) and the currently amorphous tech industry reshape real estate? How can a firm pivot in this climate?

They’re questions that have dramatically built out the front ends of projects, continuously adding pressure onto the people trying to lay out the blueprints.

But some of New York’s most prominent architects beat the heat, coming up with resourceful solutions to some of the industry’s challenges. They’ve implemented tech to invent office-to-residential conversion tools and snubbed supply chain woes by spurring proactive conversations with manufacturers. Others let their imaginations run wild, envisioning large-scale opportunities for neighborhood overhauls in the midst of runaway office distress.

Where developers and clients saw problems, New York’s architects saw potential.

Across the board, three years out from the onset of the pandemic, architects were all able to agree on one thing: 2023 is definitely not “business as usual.”

The Real Deal has assembled rankings of the most active New York architecture firms over the past year. One is based on the estimated initial costs of major renovations, as shown on permits filed between June 2022 and June 2023, while the other is based on the total square footage of new construction, as shown on permits over the same period. The data shows ultra-luxury residential developments, logistics, and healthcare projects that saw investments across the five boroughs. Likewise, architects capitalized on education and infrastructure projects.

Among their Top 20 architecture firms in New York City, Vocon ranked fourth in the Top Architects for Alteration Projects category. We’re so humbled to receive this honor and grateful for our team and clients who continue to make Vocon successful.

The rankings show abundant activity that points to growing improvements rather than growing pains.

Looking ahead to next year, the city’s most successful architects are optimistic about new business but wary of political inaction that may cause stagnation in the industry, pointing to tax incentive programs in other states that have helped developers make the jump on office-to-residential conversions.