Business reviving for local builders

The developments moving forward include office towers and stores that can help revitalize gritty urban neighborhoods, biotechnology laboratories that will host cutting-edge research, and thousands of apartments that will help curb the shortage of rental housing in the region.

“There’s a lot going on because there are reasons to be confident in the future of the economy,’’ Governor Deval Patrick said in a recent interview. Despite financial constraints, Patrick said, the state has continued to lay the groundwork for a recovery, by building new roads and other infrastructure to help educational institutions and research companies expand operations. “And that’s where you’re seeing the pickup and the results,’’ Patrick said.

But the impact on jobs will not be immediate, as many developers still must clear other obstacles before starting construction. And while some projects are moving forward, many others remain stalled or are barely inching forward, leaving union leaders skeptical that the recovery will proceed fast enough to help the long-term unemployed.

“I’ve been at a number of groundbreakings where pictures are taken and the right things get said, but then nothing happens,’’ said Mark Erlich, executive secretary of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters. “The iceberg is melting, but icebergs melt slowly.’’

He said he was most encouraged by work getting underway at Fan Pier, a $2.5 billion redevelopment on the South Boston waterfront. The eight-building project, idled during the recession, will include residential buildings, a hotel, a marina, parks, and a pair of new office towers for drug maker Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., which is moving to the waterfront from Cambridge. The work on Vertex’s buildings is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs in coming weeks.