Dive Brief:
- ConstructConnect has compiled a list of July's highest-value construction starts, and the $3.2 billion Bjarke Engels Group-designed Hudson Yards office tower, The Spiral, came in first place. The projects on the list are a mix of commercial, residential, industrial, institutional and civic and represent healthy construction markets across the country.
- Following The Spiral in order of value are the Washington State Convention & Trade Center Expansion in Seattle ($1.6 billion); St. Jude's research building in Memphis ($412 million); the second phase of the Lake Nona Town Center in Orlando ($300 million); the Ed Koch Queensborough Bridge upper roadway replacement ($274 million); the 661-unit River Point at Buzzard Point in Washington, D.C. ($250 million); a research and development building for Promega Corporation in Fitchburg, Wisconsin ($190 million); the Johnson County courthouse in Olathe, Kansas ($182 million); the Project Rose distribution facility in Spokane, Washington ($181 million); and the new Dayton Avenue educational district in Passaic, New Jersey ($164 million).
- ConstructConnect points out that there are a few big projects on the list, with medium- and small-sized projects making up the majority. The company noted that the largest projects can sometimes distort the local market forecast by drastically increasing total square footage and dollar volumes.
Dive Insight:
In April, The Spiral's developer Tishman Speyer secured a $1.8 billion construction loan from private equity company Blackstone, adding to the $2 billion of equity Tishman Speyer has sunk into the project. Chinese investors have also put an undisclosed amount of money into The Spiral. In addition, the developer announced earlier this year that pharmaceutical company Pfizer had signed on as the building's anchor tenant with a 20-year lease for 800,000 square feet of office space across 15 floors. The building's name comes from the landscaped terraces that will wind around its exterior.
And although the research facility at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is a hefty $412 million, it represents not even half of what the pediatric care organization has in store for downtown Memphis. The building is just one part of a $1 billion expansion. The 625,000-square-foot research facility itself will be seven stories and feature glass-walled, state-of-the-art laboratory space, open areas designed to spur collaboration, the latest technology, a penthouse, basement and specialized air-handling and other equipment. The project is expected to create approximately 5,000 construction jobs.
