Forget new business: Addison, Texas–based GC KWA Construction has nearly all of the multifamily development activity it can handle locked in with repeat customers. “It’s mostly market rate, but we’re also increasingly doing tax credit affordable deals and senior and student housing,” says KWA president Brian Webster.
Labor—or the lack thereof—continues to send developers to GCs who can put the people behind the machines at multifamily jobsites. “Labor is still the No. 1 issue—it has been and still is,” says Bill MacDonald, president of Dallas-based Mill Creek Residential Trust. “It may actually get worse if some of the infrastructure dollars and immigration standards increase demand for those laborers and reduce potential supply.”
In the Dallas metro area alone, population growth, job growth, and corresponding apartment demand have KWA and other GCs working to take on extra volume without getting overwhelmed. “Unfortunately, some GCs have had their struggles with that,” Webster says. “We’re looking to have the right opportunities and make the most of them. In general, we’re always looking for good people to put to work on our teams.”
| Rank (2017) | Rank (2016) | Company Name (P) = Public |
2016 Third-Party Units Started |
% Change 2015 to 2016 |
Corporate Officer |
HQ City |
HQ State |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Alliance Residential Co. | 6933 | -11% | Bruce Ward and V. Jay Hiemenz | Phoenix | AZ |
| 2 | 4 | Summit Contracting Group | 5154 | 6% | Marc Padgett | Jacksonville | FL |
| 3 | 21 | Greystar Real Estate Partners | 4876 | 165% | Robert A. Faith | Charleston | SC |
| 4 | 3 | Mill Creek Residential Trust | 4266 | -29% | Charles R. Brindell and William C. MacDonald | Dallas | TX |
| 5 | 6 | Suffolk Construction Co. | 3849 | 24% | John F. Fish | Boston | MA |
| 6 | 22 | The NRP Group | 3720 | 108% | J. David Heller | Cleveland | OH |
| 7 | 8 | CBG Building Co. | 3541 | 7% | Keith Anderson | Arlington | VA |
| 8 | 5 | Trammell Crow Residential | 3261 | -14% | Kenneth J. Valach | Dallas | TX |
| 9 | LMC, a Lennar company | 3123 | 107% | Todd Farrell | Charlotte | NC | |
| 10 | 16 | LandSouth Construction | 3064 | 36% | James G. Pyle | Jacksonville Beach | FL |
| 11 | Fairfield Residential Co. | 3007 | 96% | Gregory R. Pinkalla | San Diego | CA | |
| 12 | 11 | Carocon Corp. | 2890 | 8% | Ambrose W. Dittloff | Charlotte | NC |
| 13 | 25 | Wermers Cos. | 2600 | 44% | Thomas Wermers and Jeff Bunker | San Diego | CA |
| 14 | 13 | Weis Builders | 2520 | 0% | Jay Weis | Minneapolis | MN |
| 15 | AvalonBay Communities (P) | 2467 | N/A | Timothy J. Naughton | Arlington | VA | |
| 16 | 12 | McShane Construction Co. | 2392 | -8% | Jeff Raday | Rosemont | IL |
| 17 | 9 | Bozzuto | 2103 | -5% | Toby Bozzuto | Greenbelt | MD |
| 18 | 23 | Harkins Builders | 2082 | 15% | Richard M. Lombardo | Columbia | MD |
| 19 | Fore Property Co. | 1959 | 6% | Jonathan Fore | Las Vegas | NV | |
| 20 | Wood Partners | 1914 | -56% | Joe Keough | Atlanta | GA | |
| 21 | The Bainbridge Cos. | 1832 | 173% | Richard Schechter | Wellington | FL | |
| 22 | KWA Construction | 1823 | 50% | Brian Webster | Addison | TX | |
| 23 | Miller-Valentine Group | 1821 | 335% | David Liette | Cincinnati | OH | |
| 24 | Billingsley Co. | 1814 | 235% | Lucy Billingsley | Dallas | TX | |
| 25 | 14 | Oden Hughes | 1800 | -21% | Steve Oden Jr. | Austin | TX |
