Construction Projects Increased in 2010 – Industry Continues to Fall Behind
March 1, 2011
By Neal Tepel
A New York Building Congress analysis of Mc Graw-Hill Construction Dodge data found that $19.5 billion worth of construction projects were started in 2010, a 15 percent increase from 2009, when $16.9 billion in projects were commenced. The total value of last year’s construction starts remained 5 percent below 2008, when construction starts in New York City reached $20.6 billion.
This 15 percent increase in project starts was a direct result of gains in the non-residential buildings sector, which includes offices, hotels, schools, hospitals, transit stations, power plants and other institutional buildings. Construction starts in this sector increased 34 percent from $9.7 billion in 2009 to $13.0 billion in 2010.
The top 10 construction projects represented 55 percent of all project starts for 2010. The World Trade Center alone accounted for $4.3 billion in construction starts, with the World Trade Center hub (January 2010) accounting for $3 billion in estimated construction spending over the life of the project, followed by 3 World Trade Center ($1.2 billion in hard construction costs) and the initial underground portion of 2 World Trade Center ($110 million). The redevelopment of Madison Square Garden is an $850 million project, Barclays Arena $800 million, Weill Cornell Medical Research Building is valued at $650 million and Brooklyn Bridge construction valued at $508 million.
“The ongoing redevelopment of the World Trade Center, which was bolstered by last year’s development agreement between Silverstein Properties and the Port Authority, has been vital to the overall well-being of the construction industry,” said Building Congress President Richard T. Anderson. “That agreement, which established a clear and rational approach to construction scheduling and financing on the east side of the WTC site, helped unlock thousands of jobs for our industry.”
Residential construction starts reached just $2.2 billion in 2010, a decline of 14 percent from the previous year ($2.6 billion) and 63 percent from 2008, when construction began on residential projects totaling $6 billion in value.
