Latest news with #Dietz
NBC News
06-07-2025
- Business
- NBC News
From lumber to lighting: How Trump's tariffs drive up home construction costs
NBC News modeled out a 3-bedroom home and found tariffs added more than $4,000 to total costs. By Alex Ford and Jiachuan Wu July 6, 2025 Lumber from Canada? That will be another $534. Major appliances from China? Add a cool $445. New homes in the United States are set to get more expensive thanks to President Donald Trump's tariff agenda, which is expected to raise the costs of a wide variety of materials that go into building houses. An NBC News analysis of building materials and import data found that the total cost of building a mid-range single-family home could rise by more than $4,000 — an estimate that industry experts who reviewed the analysis called conservative. An April survey from the National Association of Home Builders estimated tariff impacts at $10,900 per home. Neither analysis included labor costs. Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders, said the tariffs have an impact beyond their direct cost as they send uncertainty rippling through the supply chain and leave builders unsure how to plan for the future. "About three-quarters of home builders right now are having difficulty pricing their homes for buyers because of uncertainty due to construction input costs," Dietz said. The United States remains in a housing shortage that has driven up costs. The NBC News Home Buyer Index, which measures how difficult a local housing market is, has remained at an extreme difficulty level for more than two years. And conversations about how to encourage building more housing has become a major part of U.S. political discussions, especially among some Democrats. Trump, meanwhile, has continued to pursue an aggressive tariff agenda while promising that the United States would sign trade deals, most of which have yet to materialize. Whether tariffs are implemented, paused or reversed, the timeline for cost impacts will vary significantly across suppliers, materials and regions. Dietz said that while some suppliers may initially absorb parts of tariff costs, "generally speaking, in the long run, you would expect consumers to pay most of the tariff." NBC News modeled the cost of materials for an 1,800 square-foot single-family house and then analyzed import and survey data from the U.S. Trade Commission and the Census Bureau's annual manufacturing survey to determine which countries dominate the home construction supply chain. While some foundational materials like concrete are sourced domestically, others — such as electrical equipment, lighting and fixtures — depend heavily on imports. Products from China, Mexico and Canada — countries that are currently tariffed at high rates — are responsible for the largest projected cost increases in our model home. We reached this by calculating a weighted tariff rate for each item based on the share of imports from each country and the tariff rate for that country, with the assumption that the full cost of each tariff was passed on to the consumer. Materials primarily imported from China would add $1,708 to per-home costs, Canadian products would contribute $1,300, and Mexican imports would add $981. Take lumber, for example. NBC News calculated that a typical 1,800-square-foot home requires about 14,400 board feet of framing lumber, totaling roughly $7,762 at wholesale prices. Almost one-third of the U.S. lumber supply is imported, and Canada supplied nearly 80% of the United States' $14.5 billion in annual imports in 2021. A weighted 23% tariff could increase lumber prices by 7% — adding roughly $534 to home framing costs alone. Scroll down to see how tariffs could raise prices during each phase of construction. Model of home NBC News designed a single-family house model structure for our analysis. Our model is: 1,800 square foot Three bedrooms Two bathrooms A combined living room and kitchen A laundry room Foundation and framing The backbone of U.S. homes is largely dependent on major trading partners that have faced some of Trump's most aggressive tariffs. Canada supplies the majority of U.S. imported material in the first phase of construction, including 24% of framing lumber. Rebar, the long steel bars that help reinforce concrete, faces a 5% price increase thanks to its Canadian and Mexican origins. And there are plenty of smaller pieces crucial to home building, such as anchor bolts and framing nails: Taiwan provides 19% of those, which will cost 8% more. Building envelope Many of the materials necessary to seal a home's exterior from water and weather face similarly steep tariffs. Costs for windows and exterior doors from Canada, which supply 2% of U.S. homes, are expected to rise by just 1%. And 20% of door locks and viewers come from China, which will mean a 10% jump. Others face smaller increases. Utilities Mexico and China split supply across key categories in the electrical phase: switches/outlets increase 14%, wiring rises 13%, and safety devices increase 11%. Service panels and breakers rise 11%, with 22% of supply from Mexico. The plumbing system is dominated by Chinese imports, with 4% increases for lines/fittings, 13% increases for toilets and bathroom sinks, and a 9% increase for water heaters. To regulate indoor temperature, the HVAC system includes a combined heating and cooling unit and ductwork — both sourced primarily from Mexico with a 6% increase — along with a thermostat, up 8%. Interior finishes Window blinds increase 12%, with 15% of supply sourced from China (32%). Stone countertops face 8% increases, sourced equally from India and Brazil (8% each). Lighting fixtures and tile both increase 7%. Lighting is dominated by Chinese imports, while tile comes primarily from Italy (9%) and Spain (7%). Exterior finishes The build completes with exterior details and landscaping. China supplies the majority of higher-impact items: house numbers (9% increase), exterior lighting (7% increase), and mulch 6% increase). Landscaping materials experience minimal 1% increases, with Canada providing 3% of U.S. imports. Altogether, the impact of tariffs across the homebuilding process adds $4,405 to the materials cost — raising the total cost of materials from $86,516 to $90,921 for a typical 1,800-square-foot home. Methodology As the basis for the analysis, NBC News designed a typical 1,800-square-foot single-family home, cataloged all required construction materials, calculated precise quantities using industry standards and collected current market prices primarily from national vendors. Each material was mapped to its corresponding North American Industry Classification System code to align with the official U.S. Census Bureau trade data. NBC News calculated import dependency as total imports for a given item category divided by its total domestic supply, using data from the U.S. Trade Commission and the Annual Survey of Manufactures. For each material category, we calculated a weighted average tariff rate based on the amount the United States imports from each tariffed country, then estimated total price impacts by multiplying import dependency by the weighted tariff rate. This analysis provides a snapshot of potential cost impacts using national averages and simplified assumptions, but it does not account for long-term market adjustments, regional variations, supply chain adaptations or uneven cost absorption across the supply chain.
Axios
26-06-2025
- General
- Axios
Renderings: New Orleans City Park's $400 million plan
New Orleans City Park unveiled a master plan Wednesday that will take the city's largest public space into the next two decades. Why it matters: It could take up to $400 million to implement, says City Park Conservancy president and CEO Rebecca Dietz. The big picture: Many of the projects focus on making the park easier to use while adding access to nature. Some of the big ideas... 💦 Skim pool: A very shallow water feature with misters where children and families can play. 🧺 Amenity center: An elevated and covered treehouse that can be used for gatherings and as an event space. ✨ Artistic light installations: Adding lights under the overpasses to make them safer and more of an attraction. 🛝 Children's nature play area: A new playground with a sandpit, misters, logs and natural elements. 🚲 Pedestrian plaza: This would partially convert the traffic circle around NOMA into a pedestrian plaza and biking/walking path. 🛹 Wheel park for skateboarders, BMX bikers and roller skaters. 🌳 Better walking trails, scenic overlooks, lagoon crossovers and improved outdoor gathering spaces. Zoom in: The plan is going to take years to implement, Dietz told the crowd gathered at Wednesday's unveiling. The park is starting now with fixing bathrooms, water fountains, sidewalks and sewer lines. Other priorities include improving way-finding signage and developing test plots for native plants. Zoom out: Park leaders have already started applying for grants to fund the plan. They are pursuing state and federal money but will rely heavily on grants from private foundations and donors, Dietz said. The park also plans to launch a fundraising campaign. Catch up quick: The City Park Conservancy, the nonprofit that began managing the park in the 2022, is creating a roadmap for the next 20 to 25 years. The last plan, approved after Hurricane Katrina's devastation in 2005, focused on the southern half of the 1,300-acre park. This one focuses on the northern half: Couturie Forest, the former golf courses, the lagoons and the acreage on the lakeside of Interstate 610. The process started in 2023 and was expected to finish last year. Yes, but: The planning was put on hold after pushback over the future of Grow Dat Youth Farm. Grow Dat and the park eventually reached a long-term agreement, and the park scrapped plans to relocate the youth farm to make room for a new road. City Park then rebooted its planning process with more voices involved, including Grow Dat staffers and a youth committee. The ideas in the new master plan came from a series of community meetings with hundreds of attendees. What's next: The two boards that govern the park will vote on the plan at their August meetings.
Axios
25-06-2025
- General
- Axios
New Orleans City Park wants to add nature play area, "grand" water feature
New Orleans City Park leaders will unveil the park's new master plan on Wednesday. The big picture: Plans include a children's play area and a shallow reflecting pool, City Park Conservancy President and CEO Rebecca Dietz tells Axios New Orleans. The water feature is meant to be a "grand entrance" to the park near Dreyfous and Marconi drives. It will be on the site of the former pool that closed in the 1960s rather than integrating. "This feels to us like an opportunity to welcome everyone in the community back to enjoy water in the park," Dietz says. The specifics will be worked out in the design phase, Dietz says, and the timeline will depend on funding. Zoom in: The ideas came from a series of community meetings with hundreds of attendees. The plan also includes elevated overlooks (hills!), fields with native plants and walking trails, Dietz says. Plus, there are new boathouses and sports fields, along with better access to the islands and lagoons. Restrooms, water fountains, parking, shade, trashcans, way-finding signs and other "givens" will be priorities throughout the park too, she says. What she says: The plan will be "somewhat transformational without changing the backbone of City Park, which is already so special to so many people," Dietz says. Zoom out: Residents will be able to weigh in Wednesday at two public meetings at the Pavilion of the Two Sisters in City Park. The meetings are at 11:30am and 6pm. The same information will be presented at both. RSVP. Catch up quick: The City Park Conservancy, the nonprofit that began managing the park in the 2022, is creating a roadmap for the next 20 to 25 years. The last plan, which was approved after Hurricane Katrina's devastation in 2005, focused on the southern half of the 1,300-acre park. This one focuses on the northern half: Couturie Forest, the golf courses, the lagoons and the acreage on the lakeside of Interstate 610. The process started in 2023 and was expected to finish last year. Yes, but: The planning was put on hold after pushback over the future of Grow Dat Youth Farm. Grow Dat and the park eventually reached a long-term agreement, and the park scrapped plans to relocate the youth farm to make room for a new road. City Park then rebooted its planning process with more voices involved, including Grow Dat staffers and a youth committee. By the numbers: The plan will cost millions to implement. Dietz said the park will pursue federal money when available, but will rely heavily on grant money from private foundations and donors. The funding will guide the timeline and which elements are prioritized, she said. What's next: The two boards that govern the park will vote on the plan at their August meetings. Go deeper
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NAHB: Multifamily construction migrates to less populous areas
This story was originally published on Multifamily Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Multifamily Dive newsletter. Apartment growth is shifting to counties with lower population densities, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders Home Building Geography Index for the first quarter of 2025, released earlier this month. The market share of apartment starts in large metro core counties continued a long-term downward trend. In 2016, it was 45.1%. Since then, it has fallen 9.4 percentage points to a 35.5% share, the lowest level since the HBGI's inception. HBGI is a quarterly measurement of building conditions across the country. It uses county-level information about single-family and multifamily permits to gauge housing construction growth in various urban and rural geographies. NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz told Multifamily Dive that the HBGI has shown a significant drop in construction for large metro core counties, flat starts for large suburbs, growth for exurbs, solid growth for small metro core and large percentage gains (although still small shares) for rural areas over the past nine years. 'For migration in general, since COVID, there's been a broader shift for multifamily construction moving out, in terms of market share, to lower-density geographies, which are in turn more affordable,' Dietz told Multifamily Dive. The market share for core counties of large metro areas fell three percentage points in Q1. That decline led to a rise for all other urban and rural geographic areas during the year's first three months. There isn't just one catalyst behind the movement of construction to less-dense areas. With a strong need for affordable, attainable housing, Dietz said that the 'multifamily market is exhibiting strength in lower-cost areas where housing supply can more readily expand.' Demographic trends are also a factor. The percentage of renters age 30 or older is 72%, an all-time high, according to John Burns Research & Consulting. 'The older renters want maybe more of a suburban life versus urban,' Eric Finnigan, vice president of demographics research at the Irvine, California-based firm, told Multifamily Dive. Capital is also a major player in the drive to build further out. Charleston, South Carolina-based apartment developer Woodfield Development doesn't push beyond the exurbs, but founding partner Greg Bonifield sees equity chasing what he calls a basis play with other developers. Area Q1 2016 Q1 2025 Large Metro - Core County 45.1% 35.5% Large Metro - Suburban County 26.2% 25.7% Large Metro - Outlying Areas 3.0% 4.7% Small Metro - Core County 18.8% 24.1% Small Metro - Outlying County 3.2% 5.1% Micro County 2.9% 3.7% Non-Metro/Micro County 0.8% 1.2% SOURCE: NAHB 'There are buckets of money out there that want to deploy into new construction if they can hit a certain basis per unit,' Bonifield told Multifamily Dive. Land costs are one key element driving up costs, so it makes sense that developers would start moving to less dense areas where dirt is typically cheaper. 'On the basis play, the further you go out, you can build a product at a lower cost, which is what a fair amount of capital is focused on doing,' Bonifield said. Click here to sign up to receive multifamily and apartment news like this article in your inbox every weekday. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Black Buffalo Strengthens Leadership with Kit Dietz's Board Re-Election and Viv Penninti's Appointment as Senior Advisor
CHICAGO, June 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Black Buffalo Inc., the leading alternative to traditional smokeless tobacco, proudly announces the re-election of Kit Dietz to its Board of Directors and the appointment of Viv Penninti as Senior Advisor. Dietz has been elected to serve another term as Independent Director of Black Buffalo, after first joining the Board in March 2023. A seasoned executive and strategist, Dietz brings over four decades of experience in the nicotine and tobacco category. Notably, he served as an Independent Director on Lorillard's Board upon going public in 2008, through its $27 billion acquisition by Reynolds American in 2015, one of the most significant M&A transactions in industry history. Prior to his service at Lorillard, Dietz served as Chairman of Tripifoods Inc., a full-line convenience distributor in Buffalo, NY, and President of Michigan-based Spartan Stores Inc. Convenience Division. Penninti joined Black Buffalo effective January 2025 in a newly established role as Senior Advisor where he will guide Black Buffalo's data-driven sales and marketing strategies. Widely recognized as one of the key architects of data and analytics in the tobacco and nicotine industry for 30+ years, Penninti was the former CEO of Management Science Associates Inc. (MSAi), and subsequently the CEO of iGATE Global Solutions, a NASDAQ-listed IT company (that was later purchased by Cap Gemini). Penninti is currently the CEO of InRhythm, Inc. which is engaged in the development of an AI-driven business intelligence application. "Having Kit and Viv closely advising Black Buffalo in their respective capacities is an amazing benefit for our company, as well as our retail partners and wholesale customers," said Matthew Hanson, Chief Growth Officer at Black Buffalo, "Together, Kit and Viv have created some of the most widely used strategies and technologies in sales, data, and analytics in the industry, and we are honored that they have chosen to partner with Black Buffalo." As Black Buffalo continues to scale its retail presence and build toward long-term category leadership, the expertise of both Dietz and Penninti is critical to support Black Buffalo's strategic planning, retail acceleration, and performance optimization. About Black Buffalo Founded in 2015, Black Buffalo has created America's leading smokeless tobacco alternative products, backed by over 25,000 hours of research and development. The Company is a 3-time recipient of the Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America award (most recently in 2024), and Black Buffalo has won major Best New Product awards from the convenience trade. Black Buffalo smokeless tobacco alternative products are sold in-store and online. To learn more about Black Buffalo, visit the Company's website or use the Company's store locator to find Black Buffalo products at a local retailer near you. Interested retailers may contact wholesale@ to learn more about Black Buffalo. Certain Black Buffalo smokeless tobacco alternative products contain pharmaceutical-grade, tobacco-derived nicotine, which is an addictive chemical, and all of Black Buffalo's products are intended for adults aged 21 and older who are consumers of nicotine or tobacco. Black Buffalo's Forward-Looking Statements Any projections or other estimates herein are forward-looking statements and are based upon certain assumptions that Black Buffalo Inc. ("Black Buffalo," the "Company," "we," "us," "our," "ours," et. al as noted in context herein) has deemed reasonable. Financial, market, economic or legal conditions, the performance of the Company, regulatory developments, and other factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements herein. The business and prospects of the Company may have changed materially since the date hereof. Some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein include, without limitation: (i) the contraction or lack of growth of markets in which we compete and in which our products are sold, (ii) unexpected increases in our expenses, including manufacturing expenses, (iii) delays or cancellations in spending by our suppliers or customers, (iv) delayed action on or issuance of marketing denied orders in response to our Premarket Tobacco Product Applications, or other negative actions taken by, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and (v) the impact of pandemics or natural disasters on our sourcing operations and supply chain. Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Black Buffalo Media ContactsJeffery David (JD), Co-Founder + Chief Brand Officerjd@ Hanson, Chief Growth Officermatthew@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Black Buffalo Inc. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
