One thing that goes with a real estate boom is a squeeze on construction companies to keep up with the pace of growth. We asked Skanska USA VP Dennis Georgatos, in the Nashville office, about the state of the construction market.
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Bisnow: What's the greatest challenge in the market? Construction costs (like in many places) or something else?
Dennis: Construction costs are definitely a challenge right now, but so is the availability of qualified subcontractors and manpower. Because of all of the ongoing construction, subcontractors are having a hard time maintaining their manpower, which in turn is causing some of the rising construction costs. We've also seen lead-time issues with some material, but with proper front-end planning, that can be resolved.
Bisnow: Do you foresee continued construction growth in metro Nashville, or is it peaking?
Dennis: We continue to see new projects coming out and have been fortunate to start multiple large projects in the Nashville market over the past six months. While I wouldn't say we continue to see growth, things remain very busy and we haven't seen a slowdown. We expect the market to continue to stay strong into 2017.
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Bisnow: Do you consider Nashville-Davidson business-friendly? Why?
Dennis: Yes. Nashville has been business-friendly, and that's one of the main reasons for the growth over the past couple of years. I think the city and state have been very willing to work closely with businesses to help them either stay in the Nashville market or relocate to Nashville. I've spoken to a number of out-of-state developers who are surprised at how business-friendly the city and state are, compared to where they had worked previously.
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