From building materials to the way companies do business, Katrina could reshape the way companies distribute materials, which could be a bad thing for Las Vegas.

The economy, trends in development and the effects of Katrina were among the many topics discussed at this year's CB Richard Ellis World Conference, which was in Las Vegas last week. More than 3,000 brokers and CB Richard Ellis clients attended the conference.

Everyone was in agreement that one of the most visible effects of Hurricane Katrina will be a significant price increase of building materials.

Raymond Torto, principal and chief strategist at Torto Wheaton Research, said steel prices alone are expected to rise as much as 20 percent.

Chris Ludeman, CB Richard Ellis president of U.S. brokerage, said prices of all construction materials -- lumber, steel, concrete -- are expected to go up and that companies should prepare accordingly.

"It's going to be a function of who is going to pay the most and (goods and services) will go to the highest bidder," he said.

Companies will most likely have to refigure their development costs because of the price increase of building materials, Ludeman said.

Jim Dieter, executive managing director of CB Richard Ellis' U.S. industrial business, said all building supplies will be in huge demand as the Gulf Coast states start to rebuild.

Building supply companies may start to take up more space in that region -- in Dallas and Houston -- to more easily distribute supplies to the area.

"The bigger picture is that it could start to affect the mentality of the supply chain," he said.

Rising gasoline prices and energy costs, fueled in part by the disruption to supply chains caused by Hurricane Katrina, may cause companies to start looking at smaller industrial buildings closer to their final destination, rather than a large regional distribution area that services several states.

"The trend the last couple years has been mega buildings, and so (a change in that trend) could hurt Las Vegas," Dieter said.

But for now, the Las Vegas Valley is in a prime position to take advantage of its location along a distribution corridor. It also will be able to siphon off business from the Los Angeles region, which has almost a zero percent industrial vacancy rate, Dieter said.

"So what's happening around the Long Beach Port, the Inland Empire, is that companies are looking to locate out of the congestion," he said.

Companies are looking to set up distribution warehouses in Las Vegas, Reno, Sparks and Victorville, Calif., Dieter said.

Las Vegas is in the top five cities expected to experience an upsurge in demand for industrial space over the next five years, according to Torto Wheaton Research.

Ludeman said the reason is because of Las Vegas' location along a transportation corridor, the availability of labor and the increased number of companies in the greater Los Angeles area that are looking to Las Vegas as a distribution hub.

"Vegas is looked at as a much more diverse economy that is not entirely buoyed by gaming," he said.

The growth of Las Vegas' industrial base is also partly because of continued population growth, he said. The labor market also is "more forgiving" as compared with California, Ludeman said.

In other news:

The NAHB Research Center announced the recertification of KB Home Las Vegas as part of its National Housing Quality (NHQ) Certified Builder program. KB Home Las Vegas Division, a publicly held, national home builder, was one of the first builders in the nation to earn NHQ certification. Additional KB Home divisions participating in the NHQ Certified Builder program are moving toward recertification by the end of the year.

Participation in the NHQ Certified Builder program is designed to increase efficiency and consistency in building practices.

Jennifer Shubinski covers real estate and development for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-8832 or by e-mail at js@lasvegassun.com.