As Momentum Builds, 2015 Project Starts Should Top 2014

Georgia Tech Research Conjures Platinum Lab Project — High-rise luxury condominium projects are continuing to generate construction activity in Miami.

Image courtesy of Coastal Construction Group

Those improving vibes also are playing out in the numbers from Dodge. According to the company, all four Southeast states will see double-digit percentage gains in new construction contracts in 2015, with growth ranging from Florida's projected 10.5% improvement to the 41% jump expected for South Carolina.

Florida

By dollar value, the Sunshine State should experience in 2015 its highest volume since 2007, with Dodge data forecasting nearly $43.4 billion in total activity. Compared with 2014's $39.3 billion estimated total, that would result in a 10.5% year-over-year gain.

Residential continues to be the main driver for Florida construction activity. Dodge analysts expect this sector to contribute more than $24.6 billion in new contracts this year. Looking closer, single-family construction is providing the growth, with a forecast of $18.3 billion in new contracts, an annual gain of roughly $1.3 billion. The multifamily sector will decline slightly, according to Dodge, which expects a total of nearly $6.4 billion for this category. With just a 4% gain over 2014's $23.7 billion, though, residential is poised to be the state's slowest-growing sector.

Instead, nonresidential will grow the most in 2015, according to Dodge, with this broad category rising 22% over the year-ago period, with nearly $10.4 billion worth of new contracts expected to move forward. Within the nonresidential sector, the institutional subcategory will provide the biggest boost, with this market producing a jump of more than $1.2 billion over 2014, with more than $4.8 billion of new contracts moving ahead.

The nonbuilding sector, which includes public works and utilities, should post an 18.2% gain, says Dodge, which forecasts nearly $8.4 billion in contracts during the year.

Georgia

Georgia made sizable contributions to this year's Top Starts ranking thanks to the Falcons and Braves projects. However, as a group, the state's contractors are still looking for increased momentum.

While ABC's Anderson is expecting "incremental growth" in 2015, Dodge's forecast for Georgia argues for something better. Dodge predicts that roughly $19.95 billion worth of new construction contracts will move ahead this year, for a 15.3% gain over the 2014 estimate of $17.3 billion.

If it comes true, Georgia's forecast of $19.95 billion would be notable, considering that it is the state's largest overall total since 2007. It would barely beat its 2012 tally, when Southern Co.'s Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project single-handedly added roughly $10 billion to the state's overall volume.

For 2015, Georgia's residential and nonresidential markets should generate roughly the same volume of new work, with residential estimated at $7.9 billion and nonresidential expected to total $7.5 billion. But in terms of growth, the nonresidential market will be the mover and shaker, while the housing sector plateaus.

Overall, Dodge forecasts the state's 2015 nonresidential contracts to jump by more than 25% compared with 2014's total of nearly $6 billion.

Scott Judy is Deputy Editor for Regions, and editor of ENR Southeast, one of Engineering News-Record's 10 Regional publications. His roughly 27 years as a construction journalist began with an 11-year stint covering Midwest construction projects. In 2000, Judy helped launch the publication now known as ENR Southeast. He often delves into controversial aspects of the construction industry such as bankruptcies and fatal accidents, and wishes he would never have to cover another accident but suspects that he might.