One broker has heard of construction projects being delayed by as much as seven weeks due to the precipitation that has prevailed thus far this year. The early winter ice storms have given way to several days of rainfall each week as near daily overcast skies make for a high level of uncertainty.

A Hillwood Investment Properties crew in Pinnacle Park is working 24/7 to meet a completion deadline for a 1,010,500-sf warehouse. San Antonio-based Garden Ridge is to occupy 592,000 sf of the building in July. One inside source claims the project, one of the remaining Panattoni-Hillwood joint ventures, won't finish on time due to the unusual amount of precipitation.

"This winter really has been unusual," Fritz McKinstry, COO for Plano-based general contractor Hill & Wilkinson, tells GlobeSt.com. McKinstry says delays loom despite sundry measures that have been taken by most every contractor. He estimates the region this year has been hit with twice the amount of precipitation than the previous three winters.

"The problem is with Texas soil. It takes awhile to dry. You wait three days for it to dry up enough and when you go to work, it rains again," McKinstry says. And, the owners though understanding of the unusual weather really don't want to hear the word "delay."

McKinstry says a 130,000-sf CarrAmerica project at the intersection of Custer and Texas 190 will definitely meet its Aug. 7 finish date. That, he says, is due to a number of precautions that had been taken in November shortly after the groundbreaking. In fact, the project could deliver ahead of schedule, possibly in early July. "We were lucky along with skill," he assesses of the project. Tiltwalls had been covered so time wouldn't be lost in waiting for them to dry.

Any delay depends upon the construction point the crew has reached "when the rains hit," McKinstry explains. The contractor's project for Catellus in Coppell might not be as lucky as CarrAmerica's although precautions had been taken with that project as well. It could finish on time, but there's also a chance it will come in a week or two behind schedule, he says.

It boils down to a case by case situation as to which project will come in on time and which will be delayed. One thing is certain and that is contractors all across the metroplex are keeping watch on the skies and staying tuned to the daily weather forecast.