The Law Offices of John Caravella, P.C. does not own this content. This content was created by Kate Hussey, and was published by West Palm Beach TV. To view the full article, please click here.
Houses that used to take 12 months to build now can take 15 months to complete, also pushing up the price of a new home by 20% or more. PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Looking to buy or build a new home? Construction companies across south Florida say the high demand for new projects, coupled with a labor shortage, is delaying the completion of homes and increasing prices, from Palm Beach County to the Treasure Coast and beyond.
At Garcia and Sons Construction in Port St. Lucie, CEO Juan Moya sees the demand for new homes and other construction projects firsthand.
“There’s like, double digits moving to Port St. Lucie, so it’s been crazy,” Moya said.
While that’s normally a good thing for Moya, lately, he said he can’t find enough workers to keep up with that demand.
“It is hard to find new, skilled laborers,” Moya said. “Skilled laborers is the key word. It’s scarce.”
It’s a problem for Greg Batista, the owner of G Batista Engineering and Construction in Fort Lauderdale.
Batista said his company has been impacted by the recent exodus of undocumented workers, prompted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signing ofSenate Bill 1718, which, for one, cracks down on businesses that hire undocumented workers. While he hasn’t had any of his own employees leave, Batista said he’s been impacted secondhand.
“You have a lot of workers, particularly in roofing, landscaping, and the tiling, that are Hispanics, they’ve come in from other places,” Batista said. “I’ve seen my workforce affected also.”
That shortage of workers comes on the heels of a shortage of construction materials, the effects of which are still lingering.
“I had two jobs, large jobs, where they said, ‘Look, the materials went up, we don’t have the supply,'” Batista said.
According to the Home Builders and Contractors Association of Florida’s Space Coast, the labor and construction material shortage is delaying the completion of projects. Houses that used to take 12 months to build now can take 15 months to complete, also pushing up the price of a new home by 20% or more.
To view the full article, please click here.
The Law Offices of John Caravella, P.C. does not own this content. This content was created by Kate Hussey, and was published by West Palm Beach TV. To view the full article, please click here.
John Caravella, Esq
John Caravella, Esq. is a construction attorney and formerly practicing project architect at The Law Office of John Caravella, P.C., representing architects, engineers, contractors, subcontractors, and owners in all phases of contract preparation, litigation, and arbitration across New York and Florida. He also serves as an arbitrator to the American Arbitration Association Construction Industry Panel.
Mr. Caravella can be reached by email at [email protected] or by telephone at (516) 462-7051.
The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. Readers of this website should contact their attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular legal matter. No reader, user, or browser of this site should act or refrain from acting on the basis of information on this site without first seeking legal advice from counsel in the relevant jurisdiction. Only your individual attorney can provide assurances that the information contained herein – and your interpretation of it – is applicable or appropriate to your particular situation. Use of, and access to, this website or any of the links or resources contained within the site do not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader, user, or browser and website authors, contributors, contributing law firms, or committee members and their respective employers.