Are We Braking or Expanding? Commercial Construction in Southern Utah

With the Feds increasing interest rates as a way to slow down inflation, the number of houses being built and sold in Southern Utah has slowed down some. There are still a lot of homes going up, but not at the rate they were a year ago.

I was curious about commercial construction in Washington County as there seems to be many new businesses popping up every month.

I talked with KC Peisley, the Vice President of Grass Creek Construction, based here in Southern Utah. They build every size and type of commercial building, and have a long track record in the area.

I asked him about how much commercial construction was going on. “It’s slowed down a little, but not much,” said Peisley. “The only way we know that is the number of people bidding on the projects compared to before." 

He said where they would usually see three or four companies bidding on even the smaller projects there are now five and six.

Commercial construction takes much longer than a house would. “It’s not like you buy a piece of property and two months later you're on your way,” said Peisley. “There’s a lot of leg work to get to that point.” He said it can take a year to a year and a half to get a building built. That means the construction they are doing now began last year.

With rates so high, some businesses may hold off for a bit, but they need a place to work and so they move forward. “They have to get a loan and move ahead,” said Peisley.