At close to $1 trillion spent in 2013, the construction sector is a slam dunk for the economy, which was almost as impressive as underdog Tennessee's Jordan McRae's monster dunk versus UMass.

Construction spending is way up from 18 months ago and fast approaching the $1.3 trillion spent in 2007 (to give you a more tangible idea of that, $1.3 trillion in $100 bills would weigh 26.5 million pounds), says SMU Cox School of Business business economics prof and Maguire Energy Institute associate director Bud Weinstein at the NAIOP North Texas meeting on Thursday. Bud says office and industrial projects are driving the construction, but housing starts probably contribute to those numbers, too, with 907,000 in February, he says.

NAIOP also named KDC as its developer of the year. KDC’s Steve Van Amburgh (center, between NAIOP's Jeff Thornton and Pax Glenn) credits the teamwork at KDC, as well as working with the best consultants. KDC was selected because of its developments of office and industrial projects totaling more than 2.8M SF that include a campus development, a medical facility, a new HQ for a major TV station as well as a major office development for a relo of a major corporation’s consolidation.