Stephen Oliner, a UCLA professor doing research for the Federal Reserve Board, has made the first-ever estimate of planning times for commercial construction across the United States. Drawing upon 82,000 projects nationwide, he found that the average planning time nationally is about 17 months. But it’s a lot longer in some places and shorter in others.
(http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/Documents/areas/ctr/ziman/UCLA%20Economic%20Letter_Oliner_1-15-12.pdf)
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