The latest information from McGraw-Hill Construction indicates that the value of new Southeast retail project starts will decline by more than $1 billion, compared to last year.
The slump in retail sales is hitting the market for new construction of stores and restaurants. According to the latest information from McGraw-Hill Construction, the overall value of new retail starts in the four-state Southeast Construction region of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina will total about $3.1 billion during 2009.
That would be a decline of approximately $1.2 billion from McGraw-Hill Construction’s 2008 tally for this sector, when new projects equaled roughly $4.3 billion. It would also be the lowest volume for this sector since 1997, when the stores-and-restaurants category totaled $2.7 billion. Just two years ago, in 20077, this sector tallied a record dollar figure, with approximately $5.7 billion in new starts.
| Rank Average Annual Starts | Forecast | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994-1998 | 1999-2003 | 2004-2008 | 2009 | |
| Southeast Region | 2.8 | 3.6 | 4.5 | 3.1 |
| Florida | 1.3 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 1.4 |
| Georgia | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.8 |
| North Carolina | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.6 |
| South Carolina | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
Within the four-state region, McGraw-Hill Construction is now predicting the following totals: Florida – $1.4 billion; Georgia – $800 million; North Carolina – $600 million; and South Carolina – $300 million.
