Where Did All the
Construction Workers Go?

First the upside: dropping oil prices mean that costs for roofing, paving and other petroleum-based products are steady. And Harley doesn't see any significant increases in materials costs in the next six months to a year. Rising costs in certain materials, like concrete for the massive condo projects in Miami-Dade, should be offset by petroleum-based materials. Harley's snapped with CEO Tom Miller at the University of Florida's 2014 Construction Hall of Fame. The two were recently inducted into its ranks.

On the other hand, labor costs are shooting up. Construction costs are rising not just due to labor shortages, but also because GCs and subcontractors are all busy and no longer taking work at discounted prices, Harley says. GCs are looking for management as well as masons, carpenters, electricians--all the trades. Case in point: last week's career fair at UF's M.E. Rinker Sr. School of Construction Management drew 100 companies to interview only 45 construction management students. It's the reverse of five years ago, when labor was cheap and materials costs were spiking, Harley says.

The recession's been over for a while, but the pent-up demand for retail that it created in South Florida's still strong, Dockerty Romer & Co's Bob Dockerty tells us. “Not much was developed for six years, and now we're not only seeing new projects brought to fruition, there are tenants waiting to take the newly created space,” he says. Bob recently arranged a permanent mortgage loan for a newly completed Trader Joe's at 855 S Federal Hwy in Boca Raton. That chain has been particularly aggressive in trying to capture market share in South Florida; this is one of four new Trader Joes to open in Palm Beach County recently.

We're sad to report that Miami didn't make any of the top trick-or-treat lists this year (we can't imagine why, our candy is sweet), but Trulia has reported that Miami would be a terrific place to be a zombie, should it come to that. We're No. 7 nationwide, with Honolulu topping the list. Trulia considered four factors: Walk Score for “walkers” to get around; relatively few hardware stores, making it harder for humans to fight back; high density of hospitals (for easy-to-get fresh brains); and high congestion (brains on the hoof).