Apparently this is a problem others have encountered as well based on a response from another thread I made on this. The problem stemmed from the stockpile being full and colonists not taking resources out to build from it. I was able to build tier 1 buildings but not those I had unlocked via research, such as the Tier 2 housing buildings. When I wasted resources to build a toolshed and tailor my colonists then got to work on the tenements. I had the appropriate resources the whole time, had carriers, had priority set to the building, not paused, no other buildings in build queu and had waited for 2 days.