With the price of steel increasing significantly since the beginning of the year, the construction industry has little choice but to build through a more expensive process.
"Costs for construction materials used in San Diego’s newest buildings are rising fast, and some in the industry say it might slow the building boom that has altered downtown’s skyline since the end of the recession," reports Philip Molnar.
"Slowed rent growth and increased labor costs are also seen as problems for the building industry," adds Molnar.
The price of steel, specifically, is called out for increasing costs for building, mirroring expectations in the industry since the Trump Administration started several trade wars earlier this year. "The benchmark price for steel this week was up 31 percent from the beginning of the year, said commodities tracker S&P Global Platts. Prices for aluminum also shot up when tariffs were announced but have stabilized to about where they were at the start of the year," according to Molnar.
The article continues on to tie those market realities to the specifics of of building activity in Downtown San Diego. Some effects are not yet visible, and developers are still hesitant to say that the construction industry will slow down.
FULL STORY: Could downtown's building boom be coming to an end?
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EMC Planning Group Inc.
Jefferson Parish
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Harvard GSD Executive Education
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City of Hot Springs
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Hand Drawing Master Plans
This course aims to provide an introduction into Urban Design Sketching focused on how to hand draw master plans using a mix of colored markers.
