Even before COVID-19, worlds were subject to change—perhaps especially so the worlds of residential construction and real estate development. The pulse of housing, starting with post-World War II Levittowns to the 2006 housing bubble and beyond, is one replete with ups and downs, cycles and crashes. From lumberyards to jobsite trailers, from the contractor pickup truck to the investor board room, from subdivisions to apartment units to high-rise luxury condos, booms and busts are part of our DNA.
File that all under the adage of “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” Twenty years ago, the first of the multibillion-dollar construction companies were emerging and still doing a big portion of their business with handshakes and fax machines. Cycles dominate these businesses, but there are constants, too, and the power of people is perhaps the biggest.
What you’re reading now is based on interviews and research from February and written in March. It may no longer match the reality of residential construction in this moment, but it embraces the spirit, tenacity, creativity, and ambition of every truly successful builder, contractor, developer, property manager, and lumber dealer. If we are constantly, then, a macro-industry that is indeed “all about the people,” here’s a look at a point in time where competition for talent was at its zenith, and what the power players in construction were doing to find, hire, and keep folks who have the right stuff.
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