Just 10 miles from the Rio Grande, Mike Helle’s farm is so short of immigrant workers that he’s replaced 450 acres of labor-intensive leafy greens with crops that can be harvested by machinery. In Houston, Al Flores increased the price of his BBQ restaurant’s brisket plate because the cost of the cut doubled due to meatpacking plants’ inability to fully staff immigrant-heavy production lines. In the Dallas area, Joshua Correa raised prices on the homes his company builds by $150,000 to cover increased costs stemming partly from a lack of immigrant labor.  After immigration to the United States tapered off during the Trump administration — then ground to a near complete halt for 18 months during the coronavirus pandemic — the country is waking up to a labor shortage partly fueled by that slowdown.

The past few years have seen their fair share of extreme weather. There were dozens of hurricanes (some hitting the same region in fairly quick succession), countless wildfires, and even freak snowstorms and freezes. The events certainly threw off residents in the areas hit. But home builders? They were particularly caught off guard. Take Joshua Correa, owner of Dallas-based Divino Homes, for example. His company was one of the many impacted by the dayslong freeze that hit Texas in February 2021—one that took much of the state’s power grid down with it. “The freeze was eye-opening,” Correa says. “I think it caught a lot of us unprepared. We never thought it would happen—especially the power going out.” Fortunately, Correa and other Texas home builders lived and learned. Though the unexpected freeze did pose a unique challenge (and required some serious restoration and cleanup work once it ended), it also offered valuable lessons about weather preparedness and just how vital it can be in today’s changing climate.  As Jonathan Falk, disaster relief field specialist at the NAHB, puts it, “Natural disasters and weather events can strike anywhere, at any time, often causing severe damage that can cause disruption and delays. Preparedness is extremely important.”

The Dallas Police Department is seeking the public's assistance in identifying a man captured on surveillance footage stealing lumber. Between July 24 and 25, in the 1500 block of Canada Drive, a man entered a construction site and took an estimated $10,000 worth of lumber. Police say the victim watched as a man fled the location in a small red four-door sedan but was unable to get a license plate.

DALLAS - While lumber prices have crept down since historic highs in May, wood continues to be a new hot commodity for thieves. With demand for building materials high, North Texas home builders are finding it hard to protect their sites. The lumber thefts are adding to the struggle for home builders to try to keep housing costs down while facing everything from building permit delays to staffing shortages. Joshua Correa is the owner of Divino Homes. He immediately beefed up his cameras after a theft at his West Dallas home site early Friday morning, but he was targeted again that night. "And sure enough about midnight or 12:35, we had theft going on," he said. "and we saw the individual walk in and cut the wire to the camera immediately." Then it happened a third time on Saturday after Correa waited five hours for Dallas police to show up on the first two incidents. "I waited around until about 11:00 a.m. That's when I left and called them again," he recalled. "I said. ‘Hey, nobody's shown up.’ And they said, ‘We still have your call.’" Correa went to grab lunch. "So I got an alert that there was activity at the job site through our cameras," he said. "And by the time I came back, sure enough he'd already hit us again." This time, the thief must have thought the camera was still disabled. He was bold enough to haul off all the wood he could carry and fit into his car — and we do mean his car. 

DALLAS - FOX 4 obtained a city of Dallas memo that shows a staffing shake-up in the city’s building permit office.  After months of reports about continual backlogs, the director is being re-assigned and two other leaders announced their retirements. The now-former head of sustainable development and construction is being transferred to the city's aviation department. The city's chief of economic development will serve as the interim director. Joshua Correa is one of countless builders in Dallas whose hands have been tied from creating one of the very things Dallas needs most -- new homes and tax dollars. "Weeks turned out to be months," he said. Correa was delayed from starting construction on his two West Dallas homes from November until May. "In the past before COVID, we could get a permit within a few hours, one or two days max. This took six months," Correa said. Correa estimates the delay cost him another $100,000 to build the home, due to the cost of maintaining the land, interest, and skyrocketing lumber costs. It all means an extra $800 a month to the average home buyer. "I want to do all my business in the city of Dallas, but yet I go to two other cities, and their building permit process is very easy. One city in a week, the other three weeks," Correa said. In February city leaders promised to get the backlog under control. But Phil Crone, executive officer of the Dallas Builder's Association, says the problem has only gotten worse. "I don't see an overall plan from city staff. Are we just re-arranging the deck chairs on the sinking ship?" Crone said. Dallas city councilman Chad West said Thursday that the solution is privatization. "What we are doing now is not working, tweaks made have not worked. I believe third party system public-private partnership is the way to go," West said. Crone says a third party would bring accountability. "One contracted company says they could clear the backlog in two to three weeks. If they did not do that, the mayor and council could go with someone else," Crone said. West hopes to make the changes during this year's budget talks and he says there is no more time left to lose. "I hear every day from contractors, builders, affordable homes, apartments, or people just want a fence. Frustration is epic," West said.

MORNING AFTER (CW33/KDAF) — Are lumber prices really coming down? Will things ever go back to normal for lumber? Joshua Correa, owner of Divino Homes and Power Construction Group, joined our show to answer those questions.

City of Dallas considers outside help to deal with building permit backlog The city of Dallas has a backlog of building permits so bad that it is considering hiring outside help to get the problem under control.