Jeffrey DeMarco is partner and president of Campanelli Construction of Braintree. Since joining the company 30 years ago, DeMarco has supervised construction of more than 15 million square feet of commercial and industrial buildings. This year, the company is building projects in Massachusetts, Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas. It broke ground last month on the year’s largest project, a 118,000-square-foot cold storage facility for Preferred Freezer in Houston. DeMarco also serves as chair of Associated General Contractors of Massachusetts’ board of directors.
Q: How many jobs is Campanelli doing this year and how does the construction climate in your markets compare with 2012?
A: Volume-wise it’s rather similar to 2012. Campanelli’s a company that does most of its work in suburban marketplaces. As a result, it’s been mostly steady. We’re coming out of the recession in a slow crawl as opposed to a fast frenzy. Talking to other contractors, larger union-type shops in the city, and I see guys with a real spike of activity. We’re in the $60-million area (for 2013 projects), which is similar to 2012.
Q: How are costs of building materials affecting the industry this year?
A: Construction costs are going up at a reasonable rate coming out of the recession, whether it’s asphalt, concrete, steel or drywall. It’s more a factor of labor getting a little bit tighter, since there’s so much work in the cities. There’s a little bit of a shortage of labor out there and that could be something our industry has to keep our eyes on for the next 12 months.
Q: How long can Greater Boston sustain its current pace of new construction?
A: That is a question that requires a better-than-average crystal ball. Talking to other general contractors, they are fairly bullish on the growth rate right now in Boston and the immediate vicinity. You’ve still got a lot of potential in the Seaport District and south of Boston, and the Cambridge market seems to continually come up with sizeable renovation and new construction projects. At some point, who knows when that will taper off.
Q: What are the prospects for the Quincy Center redevelopment and what’s needed to jumpstart the SouthField project at the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station?
A: I think that Quincy can attract businesses that are coming out of Boston and folks can commute there, to and from, including reverse commutes. That downtown renovation project is a very exciting one that’s going to take some time. But you’ll have Route 128 businesses that will take notice there, because it’s being done in such a big way.
Down at SouthField, I think what jumpstarts it is something different. What you need is a real big anchor to take an interest and realize there’s terrific accessibility at Southfield with the new connection to Route 3. They need that big anchor.
Q: What are AGC’s top priorities as far as legislative issues on Beacon Hill?
A: We do have a focus right now on a bill proposed by a subcontractor organization (Associated Subcontractors of Massachusetts Inc.). It’s a bill to reduce retainage fees (the amount of money that is withheld from payment to a contractor until the work is complete) from 10 percent to 5 percent. In our business that’s a big deal. We’re trying to understand if there are any unintended consequences. We understand the challenges that contractors face trying to get paid on time. If everybody did it right, this bill wouldn’t be necessary, but contractors do get caught for a long time waiting to get paid.
