^ I share the skepticism expressed herein regarding many of these projects. I am not going to make excuses for them but it may be possible that several factors are making it difficult to get out of the starting gate, including, but not limited to, the following:
1. COVID related absenteeism in the labor force.
2. The "great resignation" taking place in the labor force.
3. The lack of new blood coming into the labor force, especially skilled labor. Young people would rather sit behind a computer, better yet, in the comfort of their home.
4. Price inflation of building inputs, both labor and materials. Rising interest rates could be next.
5. Supply chain issues. It can take 6 to 9 months to get many key building components delivered, if not longer. Certainly hard to manage a critical path schedule when you have no idea when things will show up.
6. Shortages of raw or other materials, etc. Some things just aren't available at any price (see the chip shortage, for example).
The above are on top of the usual risks associated with developments, such as overoptimistic projections (developers are good at selling "ice to Eskimos" when promoting their projects) and risk to demand for their finished projects 1, 2, 3 or more years out when they may be completed.
All of the above can give investors and lenders the jitters and if any pull out the project is dead on the vine.
Time will tell.
