The midyear reports from three of the industry’s most influential contractors—Skanska, DPR, and Gilbane—read like a snapshot of a construction economy wrestling with headwinds. Tariffs, policy ambiguity, and immigration enforcement fears dominate the headlines, creating a climate where even seasoned builders are adjusting expectations for the year ahead.
Gilbane projects just 1% growth in 2025 construction spending compared to last year’s 6.5% surge, citing a slowdown in residential markets as the key drag. Skanska points to copper and steel as ongoing cost pressure points, while DPR warns that stricter immigration enforcement is creating a labor bottleneck on job sites across the country. Contractors are responding by stockpiling materials, revisiting procurement strategies, and leaning heavily into AI and analytics to forecast needs.
In other words, resilience is still there—but uncertainty has taken center stage.
The Market Landscape: A Split Between Public and Private Work
While private development is showing signs of strain, public infrastructure projects remain one of the few bright spots. Road, bridge, water, and waste projects are benefiting from government funding, creating pockets of stability in an otherwise uneven market. But even with these tailwinds, the recurring themes of labor scarcity, policy shifts, and material volatility are shaping a cautious outlook for the remainder of 2025 and beyond.
As DPR’s analysis makes clear, contractors are navigating mixed signals from Washington. Legislative intent in President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” hasn’t fully translated into clear, consistent implementation, leaving builders and developers second-guessing their planning assumptions.
Our Strategy: Building Resilience Through Vertical Integration
At Kaufman Development, we’ve been preparing for this moment for years. By bringing construction, design, architecture, procurement, and planning fully in-house, we’ve created a vertically integrated platform that insulates us from many of these market shocks.
One of our most effective strategies has been developing templated townhome and multifamily designs. These pre-engineered plans allow us to move faster, reduce soft costs, and leverage repeatable construction methods—while maintaining high-quality, design-forward communities. Combined with our national development pipeline, this approach lets us negotiate materials at scale and optimize procurement, which has driven down costs at a time when others are seeing them climb.
This isn’t just about cost savings. It’s about resilience and predictability. With over a dozen active projects in various markets, having a streamlined, in-house structure gives us visibility and control across every phase of development. From entitlements to vertical construction, our teams are aligned and able to respond quickly to supply chain challenges and labor shortages.
The Takeaway: Uncertainty Creates Opportunity
Yes, the market is choppy. Contractors are nervous, and the headlines are full of policy noise. But this is precisely the kind of environment where a disciplined, integrated platform wins. By standardizing design, tightening supply chains, and scaling our pipeline, we’re proving that volatility doesn’t have to derail growth.
If anything, this is the moment for well-capitalized, vertically integrated developers to gain market share. We’re leaning in, continuing to secure shovel-ready sites, and pushing forward with a business model built for this exact environment.