The Logistics Of Construction Among Dallas' Rapid Population Growth
The Dallas/Fort Worth metro area’s population is increasing at a faster rate than ever, and the construction industry is racing to keep up.
Dallas in particular has witnessed a 9.9% population growth from 2010 to the present, and is expected to expand another 9% to 7.7 million by 2021.
The industrial market sector is benefiting from this expanding population as consumer products and e-commerce firms build enormous facilities across the DFW Metroplex. Last year set a record with 25.2M SF of delivered construction. South Dallas led the city in absorption, soaking up 5.5M SF. One project in particular has maintained a steady hand in the city’s spurt of development.
Southport Logistics Park is a 9M SF logistics park nestled in South Dallas — 10 miles from Downtown — on one end of I-45, right across from the Union Pacific Dallas Intermodal Terminal. Cadence McShane Construction Co. is building it for Port Logistics Realty and Diamond Realty Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corp. The first phase features roads and utilities in service of the entire future park, and five buildings totaling more than 3.8M SF. Upon completion, Southport will boast nine e-commerce and distribution warehouses, each ranging from 400K to 1.5M SF, with an average size of 750K SF.
More than ever, fast-growing cities like Dallas are dictating the way commercial buildings are constructed through the adoption of energy codes to reflect new roofing, insulation and LEED initiative standards. These codes are affecting the overall façade and feel of the building, raising construction costs as it becomes increasingly difficult to navigate and adhere to modernized regulations.
“Construction is affected by the municipality the facility is built in,” Cadence McShane Director of Corporate Services Clint McCullah said. “Not only are you planning for your own project, but they’re also making you plan for and around future developments.”
McCullah began his construction career in graduate school, a little later in life than most. He began as a sales rep at Smith Barney, cold-calling over 100 potential client leads in the late afternoon and early evening each day, often when they were home with their families.
“Disrupting a family’s dinner can lead to some pretty colorful responses,” McCullah said. “I learned the hard way not to take things personally.”
After leaving Smith Barney, McCullah went back to his family’s architecture firm, Hardy McCullah/MLM Architects. The company operated across myriad product types, including office, industrial and aviation. He spent just over 12 years there before moving on to private development with CMC Commercial Realty Group and Transwestern Development Co. Both CMC and TDC develop in office, industrial and multifamily.
McCullah landed at Cadence McShane a year and a half ago, leading the commercial market sector for Texas, leveraging his decades of office, industrial, retail and manufacturing background into his role.
Under McCullah’s leadership, Cadence McShane has taken in numerous clients for various structures and construction techniques and technology, across the education, commercial, residential and industrial/manufacturing sectors.
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