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Commercial Drywall, Inc.
Craftsman
Vol. 3 No. 7
May 1982
Major projects shelved
[rtoystoiru construction market efeoog Guard tomes While high interest rates and unemployment have soared in other parts of the country during the past several years, many people viewed Houston as a kind of island, immune from the economic woes of the other parts of the country. Indeed, Houston's economy has thrived especially in comparison with troubled cities like Detroit, Cleveland and Youngstown. However, that is not to say that Houston has not been unaffected by the same problems facing the other parts of the country. Several economic forecasters are predicting that Houston’s good fortunes will diminish substantially by the end of this year. Presently, interest rates on interim financing and long term mortgages have remained high, resulting in a slowdown of new business ventures everywhere. For the construction industry, this has meant fewer new projects, which in turn brings a tighter market, less work and a higher unemployment rate. In Houston, the industry has seen the cancellation or indefinite tabling of several major construction projects during the past several months. These include: © An 80-story building planned for downtown by Campeau Development out of Canada. The building was scaled down to 56 stories, then the developer finally sold the land and has no further plans. ° Another 80-story building planned for downtown, this time by Wortham Van Lieu. It has been tabled indefinitely. ® Murphree Development’s 25-story Resource Center. That project has been tabled, awaiting favorable financing. © The Pin Oak, a 26-story office building to be handled by W. S.
While its skyline continues to grow, Houston has not been unaffected by the economic problems that have been troubling the rest of the nation. Several major projects have been tabled or terminated recently, resulting in a tighter job market for contractors and subcontractors.
Bellows. It, too has been put on hold. ° Activity on the Triad, an office building complex by Minor-Dederick, has slowed to nothing. ° Four Houston Center, the fourth skyscraper in the Houston Center development downtown, to be built by HCB Contractors for CadillacFairview, is awaiting a major tenant. ° The Oxford Condominium II. The land has been sold and the project terminated. But, while things are tightening up, it's not all a picture of gloom and doom. There are several projects in the planning stages which should get going within the next few months. These include the 40-story Greenway 16, an 80 + -story for Bank of the Southwest, a 42-story building for Wortham Van Lieu, the Houston Design Center at Greenway Plaza, The First City Bank Operations Center and the Hyatt Regency
Hotel -Woodcreek. To assure that CDI gets a good portion of the work that is available, CDI will have to hit those jobs with some very tight numbers in order to get the bid. The market is extremely competitive. There are the same number of contractors bidding for a smaller number of jobs. Owners are looking for lower and lower prices. CDI will be striving to compete with and beat the price of any other contractor in town in order to get the work that is available. This means that we as a company will have to work within tighter budgets in the office and on the job. CDI has always been a company able to meet new challenges. Certainly the present economic situation presents one. Our ability to face this challenge and successfully deal with it will require a team effort, the same kind that has placed us where we are today.