Large Projects Drive Construction Starts, Overall Industry Still Down

The number of total construction projects breaking ground increased 3 percent in May to $595.1 billion.

The increase was largely due to several large-scale nonresidential projects starting in May – if the projects were removed from the data, the construction industry would have seen no change in the start of building projects in the last year. From March to April, the industry saw a 25 percent decline in construction starts. The data from Dodge Data & Analytics suggest the industry has yet to see complete recovery.

Last month, construction starts increased 8 percent in nonresidential buildings, increased 4 percent in residential buildings, and declined 4 percent in nonbuildings.

Nonbuilding construction saw a 4 percent decline in May, with a 37 percent drop in utility/gas plants construction, and a 4 percent drop in the highway and bridge construction. However, miscellaneous nonbuilding increased 31 percent in May and environmental public works remained the same. Two large projects that began in May was the $1.3 billion widening of Interstate 635 in Dallas and the $789 million Lynnwood Link Extension in Lynnwood, Washington, and the $705 million widening of Interstate 405 in Seattle.

Nonresidential building had an 8 percent increase in projects breaking ground in May, mostly due to a few large projects in the manufacturing, hotel and education sectors. The $950 million SDI Steel Complex in Sinton, Texas, the $355 million Fig + Pico hotel in Los Angeles, and the $360 million Wolf Point South Tower B building in Chicago affected the numbers positively in nonresidential building. Removing those projects would have led to a decline in nonresidential building starts last month.

Residential building saw an increase of 4 percent last month, with single family residences increasing 2 percent and multifamily residences rising 10 percent. The largest projects in this sector includes the $180 million mixed-use development at 545 Vanderbilt Avenue, the $150 million apartment tower at 354 N. Union in Chicago, and the $150 million Ripley II – Solaire 8200 Dixon Luxury Apartment in Silver Spring, Maryland.