In Northeast Florida, a Shortage of Architects Means Longer Waits for Home Renovations

Written by:

Alejandra Rodriguez

Date:

09 Jul 2026

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If you own an older home in the Jacksonville or St. Augustine area and are thinking about a major renovation – expanding for a growing family, adapting for aging in place, or updating a property built decades ago – you may find the process takes longer than expected. One reason has nothing to do with materials or permits. The region simply does not have enough architects relative to its population.

Conner Dowling, principal and founder of Open City Architecture in St. Augustine, has observed this gap firsthand. In his experience, the Jacksonville metropolitan area has fewer architects and designers per capita than comparable metros. “There aren’t as many architects and designers per capita for our metro area,” he says.

A Shortage That Shapes Timelines

This matters for homeowners because it directly affects availability, timelines, and competition for design services. When fewer firms serve a growing population, wait times lengthen. Projects that might take three months to enter a designer’s queue in a city with more practitioners could take six months or longer here. And as demand for renovation and custom work grows – driven by the region’s housing shortage and aging building stock – the capacity constraint tightens further.

The demand side is clear. Florida’s population growth means more people are living in homes built for someone else’s needs. Families outgrow their floor plans. Retirees need accessibility modifications. And the housing deficit makes moving less attractive – if you cannot find a better home to buy, improving the one you have becomes the practical path.

Aging In Place Drives Demand

Aging-in-place work represents one of the fastest-growing categories of residential design in the region. Dowling notes that this type of project is “predominant everywhere here” in Florida. These are not simple bathroom grab-bar installations. They often involve rethinking circulation, adding caretaker quarters, modifying entries, and planning for mobility changes ten or fifteen years out. That level of design work requires professional involvement – exactly the resource that is scarce in Northeast Florida.

The condition of the region’s building stock compounds the problem. Much of the existing residential and commercial inventory dates to the 1970s and 1980s, and maintenance has been inconsistent. According to Dowling, many of these structures “require some investment in order to keep living for the next 50 to 100 years.”

Old Buildings, Hidden Scope

For homeowners, this means renovation projects on older properties often uncover issues that expand scope – outdated wiring, insufficient hurricane resistance, drainage problems, or structural concerns that were not visible before demolition began. Each discovery requires design decisions, which requires architect time, which is already limited.

The shortage is not something the market will correct quickly. Architecture firms do not scale the way other businesses do. Training takes years. Licensing takes longer. And smaller firms – which make up much of the region’s design community – can only take on so many projects simultaneously without compromising quality.

A Trade-Off Worth Understanding

There is a flip side to this constraint. Dowling notes that the relative scarcity means firms are not fighting desperately for work. Practices can be selective about projects, which tends to produce better outcomes for the clients they do take on. But it also means that not every homeowner who wants professional design help will find it readily available.

For homeowners in Northeast Florida considering a renovation – whether for aging in place, expanding living space, or updating a decades-old property – the most important practical step comes early: reaching out to design firms before finalizing your timeline. The region’s limited architect pool means your project schedule may depend more on practitioner availability than on permit processing or contractor calendars. In St. Johns County alone, only a handful of firms handle custom residential design work, and most carry active project loads year-round.

Planning ahead does not guarantee a faster process, but it reduces the risk of delays that come from assuming design services are available on demand. In a region where population growth continues to outpace the supply of licensed architects, the gap between wanting to renovate and being able to start is likely to widen before it narrows.

About the Expert: Conner Dowling is founder of Open City Architecture, a boutique design firm based in St. Augustine, Florida, with a practice spanning custom residential work, hospitality, institutional commissions, sports facilities, and municipal projects across Northeast Florida.

This article is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or investment advice. The views and opinions expressed herein reflect those of the individuals quoted and do not represent an endorsement of any company, product, or service mentioned. Readers should conduct their own due diligence and consult qualified professionals before making any investment decisions.