Midwest City Scoop: Construction Starts in Detroit

Construction Starts Expected to Rise Slightly This Year After Strong Growth in 2016

Residential work climbs, while the non-building sector holds steady and non-residential activity weakens.

City Grill

Randy Abdallah
Executive Vice President
Walbridge

“Detroit is humming in terms of construction activity right now,” Abdallah says. “For the past four years, renovation of existing buildings into office, residential and retail space has kept architects, engineers and contractors very busy. Walbridge is working on three projects on the same downtown street.” But Detroit is running out of these spaces and needs to transition to new vertical construction, he adds. Numbers of tradespeople and local subs are recovering from the recession so “trade unions are working on plans to keep pace with demand,” he says.

Firm in Focus

SmithGroupJJR
500 Griswold St., Ste. 1700, Detroit
President/ Managing Partner: Michael Medici
Founded: 1853
Education: The firm led design on the $88-million Michigan State University Grand Rapids Research Center in Grand Rapids. Teams broke ground on the project in June.