Kaye/Bassman Managing Partner, Martin Shapan Featured in Silicon Valley Business Journal Article

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Kaye/Bassman Managing Partner, Martin Shapan Featured in Silicon Valley Business Journal Article: “McCarthy to open San Jose office, latest in general contractor rush to Silicon Valley”

Dallas, Texas | 4/11/2014

By Nathan Donato-Weinstein

With $1 billion in local projects over the past 20 years, McCarthy Building Companies Inc. isn’t exactly a stranger to Silicon Valley. But the general contractor has never had an office in the South Bay — until now.

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Martin R. Shapan, Managing Director for recruiting firm Kaye/Bassman International Corp., said it’s not surprising that general contractors with strong ambitions in the region would feel compelled to lock down their own brick and mortar.

“There’s a perception that if you don’t have a shingle out, a storefront, that you aren’t really committed to that market,” Shapan said. “So to really seriously pursue work down there, a lot of contractors think it helps to have a storefront to build relationships with the subs that work in that market, the architects and owners.”

The activity is being driven by very strong construction activity here, as tech companies build out huge projects and developers gamble on speculative deals, Shapan noted. As of the end of February, contracts have been awarded for $173.7 million worth of future commercial projects in Santa Clara and San Benito counties, according to McGraw Hill Construction. That is a 72 percent increase over the same period last year.

“A lot of folks are chasing after the work down there,” he said. “I wonder, are these guys coming to the market late? In other words, all this work in the South Bay, are we on the tail end of the wave? I don’t know the answer to that.”

Read full article here.