Developers Battle Construction Labor Shortage
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Lydia Tan: “Construction cost inflation is probably one of the biggest risks right now for development.”
LOS ANGELES—The high development volume across property types is leading to a shortage in quality construction labor, according to Lydia Tan, SVP of development at Bentall Kennedy. Tan is speaking at the upcoming RealShare Investment and Financeconference this week in Downtown Los Angeles, where she will speak on the Development Outlook panel. The shortage in labor is now leading to drastically rising construction costs, which is a major issue for developers who are already facing high land costs and competition.
“During the recession, we saw a lot of contractors and subcontractors go out of business, and also a lot of the labor force who went on to do other things, and they just have not come back at the same level,” Tan tells GlobeSt.com. “So, we have not only a lot of work going on, but we have a reduced force of contractors and subcontractors. It is pretty dire in some of these core markets.”…
