COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENTS Ӏ SECTOR REPORT
BouNCING BACK
Not so long ago it looked like offices and shops, the core of the commercial construction sector, would be replaced by new ways of working and shopping. But the sector has proved resilient, Will North reports.
COVID, and the lockdowns that accompanied it, sometimes feel like it has disappeared into a memory hole. For those of us lucky enough to have got through the pandemic with our health – and that of our loved ones – unimpacted, those couple of years can sometimes seem unreal and dreamlike, a boring blur of awkward working from home, isolation or enforced family time, and shopping trips planned with all the care of a polar expedition.
Full Tilt Crane
Services’ Liebherr LR 1400 SX crawler building Electric Owl Studios, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA
It seemed for a while like
nothing would be the same. Once we’d learned – or shown our parents and grandparents – how to use an online store, it seemed like no one would ever need to visit the high street again. And for those engaged in knowledge work, selecting interview quotes, making sales pitches, or analysing business performance on a spreadsheet, it seemed like no one would ever go into the office again.
Now, with the perspective of
time, we are gaining a clearer idea of the longer-term impact of this period on both city centres and the wider construction sector. Things have changed... it probably doesn’t make a lot of sense to open a sandwich shop on a Monday in the city now. Many of those knowledge workers now come into the office for just a couple of days, in the middle of the week, if at all. But even home workers need to clear their heads, buy a few groceries, and grab a lunchtime treat. So while city centres may still feel the impact, commerce may have seen a boost in the suburbs where these workers now spend most of their week.
Although the sector has
changed it has not been decimated in the ways that only a few years ago looked likely. And in many parts of the broad commercial construction sector, crane owners can still find opportunities.
SPEED RULES
One thing has changed since COVID: inflation has soared and, with it, interest rates. That means the impact of project delays are more keenly felt by developers. The longer you’re building, the more interest you’re on the hook for before you can start earning
34 CRANES TODAY
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53
