Brian Westre, Vice President and Operating Partner at ARCO National Construction, recently spoke at Bisnow’s Orange County Construction & Development Summit, joining a panel of industry leaders to discuss meeting evolving tenant demands and driving innovation in industrial and commercial construction.
As power demands rise and project timelines tighten, Southern California developers are navigating a market defined by infrastructure constraints, evolving tenant priorities, and steady construction costs. ARCO National Construction is helping lead that effort with practical solutions, data-driven planning, and design-build expertise that address today’s power, cost, and sustainability challenges head-on.
Power, Infrastructure, & Sustainability Trends
As tenant requirements evolve and power demands continue to rise, Southern California developers are prioritizing sites that can support reliable, expandable infrastructure and long-term growth. Access to dependable power has become a defining factor in project feasibility, particularly as power demands accelerate across manufacturing, food, and cold storage sectors.
At the same time, California’s progressive energy standards are driving a broader, ownership-level approach to sustainability. Renewable systems, solar integration, and efficiency upgrades are being planned with investment performance and compliance in mind rather than immediate tenant demand.
Evolving Tenant Needs
In today’s competitive industrial market, tenants continue to prioritize functionality and location. Across Southern California, decision-making remains centered on how efficiently a facility supports operations, evaluating factors such as layout, logistics access, and overall flexibility to adapt as business needs evolve.
Location remains the single greatest driver of leasing and development decisions. Access to major transportation corridors, labor markets, and workforce proximity consistently outweigh amenity upgrades or high-end finishes. As lease rates and construction costs stabilize, users are focused on functionality, speed to occupancy, and cost predictability, reinforcing the importance of strategic site selection and thoughtful, performance-based design.
Southern California Market Conditions
While market activity has moderated, construction pricing in Southern California has largely stabilized rather than declined. Labor remains a dominant cost driver, and although material prices have fluctuated, most short-term decreases are the result of scheduling adjustments or backlog management rather than true cost reductions.
Developers and occupiers alike continue to navigate a disconnect between rental expectations and achievable returns, resulting in a highly competitive leasing environment. Many ownership groups remain firm on pricing due to capital structures, while users pursue cost efficiencies through location, timing, and build-to-suit strategies. As a result, project success increasingly depends on early collaboration, accurate budgeting, and realistic forecasting to balance cost, speed, and long-term value.
Technology & Market Evolution
As technology continues to reshape project delivery and operations, industrial developers are focusing on practical innovations that enhance accuracy, coordination, and speed to market. While widespread adoption of smart building systems remains limited among tenants, advancements in data analytics, modeling, and more are helping project teams streamline design and construction processes.
California remains at the forefront of regulatory-driven innovation, with evolving codes that advance energy performance, sustainability, and safety standards. Across the region, builders and owners are increasingly leveraging digital tools and real-time data to manage complexity, reduce risk, and ensure compliance, creating a more connected, transparent, and efficient project environment.
The ARCO Advantage
Early and effective collaboration remains a defining factor in project success across Southern California’s competitive industrial market. As development timelines tighten and site conditions grow more complex, aligning owners, designers, and builders early in the process enables faster decision-making, more accurate pricing, and greater adaptability to market and infrastructure constraints.
As a design-builder and leading industrial contractor, ARCO National Construction helps clients navigate early-stage decisions to develop the best overall solution for their facilities. Our expertise helps clients achieve the balance of what is needed for maximum flexibility without overspending - an essential approach for developers aiming to meet the evolving needs of tenants without overextending budgets.
ARCO’s design-build approach allows clients to make decisions in a project’s earliest stages with full knowledge of their impact. Because we work directly with the architect, design can be developed with budget in mind. Throughout the design process, the ARCO team is simultaneously estimating construction costs and can accurately conceptualize the completed project before significant dollars are spent. ARCO’s industry knowledge and expertise results in solutions and alternatives that save valuable development dollars while still making a space suitable for future tenants across a range of industries.
ABOUT ARCO NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION
ARCO National Construction is a premier, full-service design-build general contractor with more than 30 years of experience providing clients with complete project delivery throughout the United States. Our professional, qualified team of engineers, project managers, superintendents, and architects is capable of designing and building the most demanding construction projects anywhere in the country. We pride ourselves in offering the best, most cost-effective, single-source, turnkey solutions and adding value to every project.
