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IRVINE, CA-Jones Lang LaSalle has revealed that, according to the May EDD report, Orange County has reported its highest number of construction jobs since the trough of the recession in 2010. A total of 75,700 construction jobs were reported in May, compared to only 65,500 reported in February 2010.

The success of the industry has been due to what are called “mega-projects” in the tourism and healthcare industries, with projects such as the $1.1-billion expansion of Disney's California Adventure theme park and a new hospital just south of San Clemente at Camp Pendleton, according to JLL. Also, a number of office and industrial projects have been in-the-works this past year, including 1.4 million square feet of office space and 333,208 square feet of industrial space under construction. Most of the bigger office and industrial projects, however, have been built to suit, conveying a message of light skepticism on how sustainable office and industrial construction growth is.

GlobeSt.com caught up with Brian Prock, SVP of JLL's project and development services group, to discuss the firm's recent findings on construction job growth. He shed more light on the subject.

GlobeSt.com: What real impact is the rise in construction jobs having on the OC real estate market?

Brian Prock: I wouldn't necessarily say that the rise in construction jobs in Orange County is having an effect on the real estate market, but instead the opposite is potentially true. The decreased vacancy we have seen over the past three years in Orange County's commercial-property markets has finally reached a point where developers have justified building again, causing a rise in construction jobs.

GlobeSt.com: In what sectors will this impact be felt the most (i.e., office, industrial, retail, multifamily) and the least?

B.P.: The multifamily market has been hot for some time now, which has led a handful of new developments recently across Orange County. The office and industrial sectors, however, have just recently started to kick in. There are currently four large build-to-suit projects underway that will add over 1.2 million square feet to the office market. Meanwhile, another 4 million square feet of industrial product is either planned or already underway, much of which is speculative. Due to the extreme lack of supply in the industrial market, I'd say this will be the sector that will contribute to the most construction job growth in the coming years, while retail will likely trail the others.

GlobeSt.com: How much room is there for continued growth of construction jobs in the market—how long do you think it will continue?

B.P.: Considering the fact that we are still 34,000 jobs shy of where the construction sector was prior to the 2007 recession, and about 10,000 jobs short of the 10-year average, I'd say there's plenty of room to grow. But similar to how the overall economy has recovered since 2009, I'd say that construction will pick up steadily over time. We may never see another boom like we did in the early 2000s, but Orange County still offers great opportunities that will require construction jobs in the foreseeable future. An increase in construction jobs is a good bellwether for the real estate industry, and because of that, I'm optimistic.

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