After the Braves’ announcement, Anderson called it “very good news for construction in metro Atlanta.” Moreover, with two, instead of just one, stadium projects being built simultaneously, the city’s contractors could suddenly find themselves facing a seriously crunched labor market.
In fact, those two megaprojects will help to boost Georgia’s nonbuilding category—which includes public works—to a resurgence, with McGraw Hill expecting a 24% gain, and a $3.3-billion total for 2014.
But those two projects aren’t the only story in Georgia. Overall, total construction contracts should tally just over $17.9 billion in 2014, an 18% increase compared to 2013’s $15.2-billion estimate.
The nonresidential sector will continue to gain momentum next year. After generating roughly $6 billion in new projects during 2013, McGraw Hill expects nearly $6.9 billion in new nonresidential contracts to move forward during ’14, for a 14% improvement. Within this category, institutional projects will deliver the largest volume, with an estimated $3.8 billion total, while the commercial subcategory should generate nearly $2.4 billion in new work. Industrial contracts, meanwhile, will slow by roughly a third, with about $650 million in new projects expected.
Meanwhile, housing should produce more than $7.7 billion in new contracts. McGraw Hill expects single-family housing to generate about $6.3 billion of that total, a gain of about 17% compared to 2013, while the company expects to see nearly $1.4 billion in multifamily contracts.
North Carolina
2014 Forecast: $18.4 billion
2013 Forecast: $15.7 billion
Percent Change: +17%
North Carolina’s construction market has been the Southeast’s steadiest over the past five years. From 2009 to 2013, the Tar Heel State recorded the following totals for new contracts: $14.9 billion; $15 billion; $15.2 billion; $15.7 billion; and $15.7 billion.
In 2014, however, North Carolina is going to change things up a bit, with McGraw Hill forecasting nearly $18.4 billion in new contracts, or about 17% better than a year ago.
Leading the resurgence—in terms of percentage growth, at least—will be the nonresidential sector, which should generate more than $5.2 billion in new contracts, which would represent a 50% jump, says McGraw Hill. That percentage growth is due partly to the fact that this category suffered its worst year in at least a decade during 2013, when it tallied just $3.5 billion in new contracts.
The nonresidential subcategory improving the most, industrial, could generate $553 million in new contracts, for a 68% gain. Meanwhile, institutional contracts will generate the most volume in the nonresidential category, adding an estimated $2.4 billion to the market, a 35% gain compared to 2013.
Contracts for nonbuilding projects should accelerate by 17% overall, to total roughly $2.8 billion in 2014, says McGraw Hill. The vast majority of that activity will come from the public-works sector, with the company estimating more than $2.7 billion in new contracts here.
Residential contracts should improve by 6% compared to this past year and total approximately $10.3 billion in 2014, says McGraw Hill. That volume would be this sector’s highest dollar volume since 2007. Multifamily contracts could rise to their highest dollar volume in at least a decade, with nearly $2.6 billion in new projects anticipated.
South Carolina
2014 Forecast: $12 billion
2013 Forecast: $8.3 billion
Percent Change: +45%
South Carolina has gained notice in recent years for its ability to attract manufacturing-related projects. Boeing’s Dreamliner plant in North Charleston was arguably the highest-profile of these, but there have been numerous other notable projects since then for companies such as Continental Tire, Johnson Controls and others.
The state is "starting to be the best place in the world for manufacturing production,” says Scott Moss, president of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based construction manager Moss & Associates, which is currently building a manufacturing plant for a Chinese company. “It’s got reliable power, predictable labor as it relates to cost, and it has affordable land,” he says.
For 2014, the Southeast’s smallest state will experience the greatest percentage increase in new contracts, says McGraw Hill. The company expects more than $12 billion worth of new projects to move forward during the coming year, which would equate to a 45% overall gain compared to 2013. All three broad construction categories will show considerable improvement.
Residential contracts—with the vast majority as single-family—will surge by 46%, McGraw Hill predicts, generating an estimated $7.7 billion in new projects.
Nonresidential will also grow markedly, with that category expected to produce nearly $2.9 billion in new contracts during the coming year, a roughly 41% improvement. Institutional contracts should generate nearly $1.3 billion in new activity, while commercial contracts could total $960 million. Meanwhile, the company expects industrial projects to tally around $621 million during the coming year.
The nonbuilding category should increase by about 50%, says McGraw Hill, which would result in nearly $1.5 billion in new contracts moving ahead in 2014. Of that total, public works would generate about $863 million in new projects, while utility contracts could tally around $596 million.
