Shutting down Tampa Bay construction during coronavirus would be 'devastating' to the economy
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Apr 2, 2020

Even with a statewide safer-at-home order in effect, construction sites around Tampa Bay and throughout Florida are still hammering on in the face of coronavirus.

Construction has been classified as an essential industry by U.S. Homeland Security; leaders in Tampa Bay and the rest of the state have adopted that same guideline. In Tampa, Mayor Jane Castor plans to issue an advisory for large-scale construction sites with guidelines for stopping the spread of coronavirus.

Walt Disney World and a handful of U.S. cities have banned construction except for the most essential projects. That hasn't happened here, and with many projects working toward completion before Tampa hosts Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium, the industry warns that shutting it down could devastate the region's economy.

Even without a ban in place in Tampa, some worry that the global pandemic could slow projects that were on track for the Super Bowl, said Scott Dobbins, principal of Hybridge Commercial Real Estate in Tampa.

"There’s mounting angst on the development side," he said. "To get up and open for the Super Bowl — that’s been the battle cry for a lot of projects. They were using that as a benchmark."

The Great Recession serves as one warning for what happens when construction stops: When Florida's real estate market crashed in 2008, construction workers went elsewhere for work, and the labor market still hasn't recovered, said Steve Cona III, president and CEO of the Gulf Coast chapter of Associated Builders & Contractors Inc.

The region is currently home to about 80,000 workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and "could use another 20,000," according to Cona.

"It would be devastating for our economy, and I think it would set us back quite a bit in recovery," Cona said of a construction ban. "Our skilled labor workforce — that’s going to go somewhere else. That’s just the way it is, and the other thing is, right now, as we’re dealing with the virus, this is the most opportune time unfortunately to get work done. Hurricane season is right on the back end of this."

This time around should, at least theoretically, be different than 2008. Construction remains ongoing, and for those projects that do stall out, the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act should provide some relief, Cona said. The vast majority of builders and contractors he represents are small businesses, which would be eligible for assistance through the $350 billion Paycheck Protection Act.

"We have the Super Bowl coming in January," he said. "A lot of hotels and other projects are being built for that. These projects are going to be the catalyst for our recovery once we get out of this crisis so we can’t delay them."

John Vento, a construction attorney with Trenam in Tampa, said he represents a general contractor on a new condo project on Bayshore Boulevard. The developer informed the contractor that they would be taking workers' temperatures every day in an effort to not spread coronavirus on the job site.

"My client said, 'Can they do that?' And I said, 'You should want them to do that,'" said Vento, who declined to identify the project. "I think that measures can be taken to protect workers and continue with construction short of saying, 'Every construction site should be shut down.'

"You’ve gotta trust the developers and contractors don’t want an infected site. They don’t want the project shut down; they’re going to do whatever they can to ensure those sites don’t have a problem."

Some projects, Cona admits, will stall or delay for reasons beyond any kind of regulation during the outbreak. The CARES Act should help builders facing those issues keep their workers employed with loans from Small Business Administration-approved lenders.

"We're making sure we keep as many skilled people working as we can," Cona said. "We can’t afford not to."

Carole Post, Castor's economic development chief, said the importance of the industry is why the city plans to issue sanitizing and social distancing guidelines. Unlike the safer-at-home orders, the guidelines will be an advisory and aren't enforceable. But the city will be sending an occupational health and safety expert to 52 large-scale projects to conduct random visits.

Major development projects, such as Midtown Tampa or Water Street, are huge economic drivers both during construction and when complete, "which is why we thought it was imperative that we apply an added level of protection on these larger sites," Post said.

Cona said the mayor's office has been "very accommodating."

"There are some construction tasks that require folks to be — like pouring concrete — that do require some close contact," Cona said, "but I think if we can ensure the proper personal protective equipment is given to those workers who have to work closer than 6 feet, that will help alleviate some of the main concerns."