Jason Gibbons and Tyler Holt with Finial Group closed a sale at 12543 Perry Road in Houston.

The industrial property in Northwest Houston totals 21,250 square feet with 5,420 square feet of covered outdoor storage area.

The property features 11 grade-level roll-up doors and has frontage on Perry Road. Holt and Gibbons represented the seller. Jim Rock with Avison Young represented the buyer.

It’s not getting any easier for commercial construction companies to find the skilled workers they need to staff their job sites. This shortage of skilled labor ranks as one of the bigger challenges that commercial construction companies face.

That’s the big takeaway from a recent study looking at the hurdles that commercial constructions companies must overcome in today’s competitive construction industry.

A recent analysis by financial services and accounting firm Marcum LLP, based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), indicates that despite some economic improvements in 2023, the construction industry remains hampered by a severe shortage of skilled labor.

The annual analysis, conducted by Marcum’s National Construction Services Group, reveals that although the economy showed signs of strength with robust hiring in the construction sector throughout 2023, the industry still grapples with a significant deficit in skilled workers.

Anirban Basu, Marcum’s chief construction economist and the report’s author, noted that despite steady job growth over the past 10 months, the industry remains about 500,000 jobs short of pre-pandemic levels.

According to Basu, the pace of hiring in the construction industry would have been even stronger if not for the persistent shortage of skilled labor that companies face. He highlighted that throughout 2023, an average of 4.6% of construction positions remained unfilled, marking the second-highest level on record, surpassed only by the previous year’s 4.9% average.

While other industries have seen improvements in labor supply imbalances, the construction sector continues to face challenges. This has led to increased labor costs. Basu said that since the beginning of 2022, average hourly earnings for construction workers have outpaced wage growth across all industries, a trend expected to persist into 2024 due to sustained demand for construction services. But even with these higher wages, construction companies have struggled to fill their empty positions.

Marcum’s report wasn’t all gloomy, though. Joseph Natarelli, Marcum’s national construction leader, expressed cautious optimism about the future of the construction industry despite these challenges.

Companies that strive for creative solutions to meet their staffing needs are the same companies that will thrive throughout 2024 and beyond, he said.

“The demographic trends at the heart of labor shortages over the years are likely to continue,” Natarelli said. “With Baby Boomers edging toward retirement and immigration offering limited relief, our industry must navigate these headwinds with innovative hiring strategies and a firm grasp on market forecasts.”

Romina Kadiwal joined the Greater Houston Retailers Cooperative Association in 2001 when she was 18 and is now the senior most executive team member. She has contributed significantly to the growth and success of GHRA and its membership. As the director of HR and administration, Kadiwal leads HR initiatives, fosters employee development, and addresses compliance and risk management requirements. She has helped to increase employee retention and establish GHRA as an employer of choice.

Cushman & Wakefield represented a private seller in the sale of 4400 Diplomacy Road in the Dallas-Fort Worth market to Stonelake Capital Partners.

The 119,995-square-foot distribution building is 100% leased to Litex Industries and is located in CentrePort Business Park, part of the Great Southwest industrial submarket.

CentrePort is a 1,300-acre master-planned business park that is located immediately south of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on fee simple land, midway between Dallas and Fort Worth.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Jim Carpenter, Jud Clements, Robby Rieke and Madeleine Supplee represented the seller in the transaction.

The Stonelake Capital Partners team of Coleman Brown, Michael Massad, Will Thomas and Keontae Burns led the acquisition of the asset.

Peak Development Partners sold a 14-acre parcel of land at the corner of El Dorado Parkway and Stonebridge Drive in McKinney, Texas, to SLX Development for an undisclosed amount.

SLX Development is in the planning stages to develop a mixed-use property on the site.   

Peak Development Partners originally acquired a total of 18 acres in October 2023.  The company will break ground in the second quarter of 2024 on four retail pad sites on the remaining four acres which will feature a restaurant, auto service, car wash and other uses.  These pads are scheduled to be open by year end or Q1 2025.

This parcel is located at a signalized intersection across the street from McKinney Methodist Hospital with more than 350 employees as well as a new H-E-B anchored retail center.  The area has also experienced recent residential and medical growth with several new projects on the horizon.

Peak Development Partners represented itself in the sale.  SLX Development was represented by Evan English and Tim McNutt of DBA Real Estate.

Grocery stores faced the same challenge that all retailers faced in 2023: Customers struggling with economic uncertainty and persistent inflation were likely to spend less money, even on groceries.

Grocers also faced — and will continue to face — increasing competition from restaurants and will continue to deal with rising food prices in 2024.

Despite these challenges? The grocery business notched yet another strong year in 2023, according to JLL‘s 2024 Grocery Report.

The reason for this success? JLL credits the willingness of grocers to adapt. As JLL reports, grocers continue to expand their budget-cost private-label brand offerings. Others are boosting their online delivery services and curbside pick-up offerings. The most successful grocers undersand the needs of their customers and strive to meet them.

As JLL says, it’s about personal connections: Those grocers who will stay relevant and remain competitive will be those that establish personal connections with their consumers and continue to innovate in response to changing consumer preferences.

Here’s an interesting stat, though: Consumer spending at grocery stores rose 2.6% in 2023 when compared to 2022. But during this same time, consumer spending on dining out rose a much higher 11.7%.

As JLL says, grocery store spending outpaced dining out spending in March of 2020, when the country first locked down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. But as the economy slowly began to reopen, consumers returned to dining outt. Dining out spending at restaurants and bars would surpass grocery spending starting again in March of 2021.

Which grocery stores are growing quickly? Aldi leads the pack. JLL reported that Aldi opened more new stores than any other grocer in 2023, opening 109 new U.S. locations. Publix came in second with 38 new locations, while Sprouts opened 30 and Grocery Outlet 29.

Aldi’s new stores last year totaled nearly 2.5 million square feet of new space, a 32.3% increase from 2022, according to JLL’s research.

Publix with its new additions added about 1.9 million square feet of grocery space in 2023.

Sprouts had a particularly good year in 2023. JLL reports Sprouts 30 store openings in 2023 was an 87.5% increase from 2022. Sprouts last year opened its 400th store, this one in Haddon Township, New Jersey. Sprouts plans to expand its number of stores by 10% year-over-year as part of its five-year expansion plan.