Across the Southeast, contractors reported a busy 2022, even as lingering supply chain issues, labor shortages and rising material costs stood in their way. Last year "marked a growth period for the construction industry, with spending surpassing that of the preceding two years,” says Chris Hopper, executive vice president at Skanska.

As shown by this year’s Top Starts ranking, manufacturing projects stood out as one of the most active sectors, including the $5.5-billion Hyundai US EV Megaplant and Ford’s $2.8-billion BlueOval City campus.

“We have seen a tremendous increase in manufacturing as well as a very strong mission critical sector,” says Brasfield & Gorrie President Rob Blalock.

People continue to relocate to the Southeast, he says, resulting in strong multifamily and health care sectors.

Nationwide, construction starts were strong in 2022 as well. As ENR previously reported, Richard Branch, chief economist for Dodge Construction Network, said that while construction starts have dropped 27% in the first month of 2023, the 12 months ending in January 2023 were up 36% over the previous year.

About the Ranking

ENR Southeast’s annual Top Starts ranking, which details the highest-value projects to break ground in the past year, shows projects and industry sectors that are defining the Southeast market. Data is sourced from Dodge Construction Network and from firms that provided information about their largest contracts to start construction in 2022. The overall estimated project cost is included, as are project team members and construction start and end dates, where available.