After energy-related projects boosted construction activity to start the year, groundbreakings reversed course in February, according to Dodge Construction Network.
Total construction starts tumbled 13.2% month to month in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.08 trillion. The drop came as nonbuilding activity pulled back significantly from elevated January levels. Nevertheless, despite that drop, other building types moved forward over the past month.
For example, nonresidential building starts increased 17.8% month to month in February. Residential kickoffs improved 8.3%.
“After a weak start to the year, nonresidential and residential building starts steadily rebounded throughout February,” said Sarah Martin, associate director of forecast at Dodge Construction Network. “Conversely, nonbuilding activity slowed down last month — normalizing from elevated levels in January.”
A handful of large nonbuilding megaprojects, including a $12 billion LNG project in Port Arthur, Texas, and a $6 billion energy campus in Homer City, Pennsylvania, drove up construction groundbreaking growth to kick off the year in January. The absence of those massive projects in February, however, consequently dragged down total starts in the latest report, according to Dodge.
Nonbuilding construction, which includes power and infrastructure projects, dropped 49.4% month to month in February, a noticeable whiplash from a 24.3% jump in January. Electric power and utility construction specifically, which had jumped nearly 200% in January, dropped 90.1% month over month in February, according to the report.
For the 12 months ending February 2026, total nonbuilding starts improved 17%, according to Dodge.
Commercial starts soared 48.5% month over month in February, led solely by a 159.6% surge in office and data center projects, according to the report. For the 12 months ending February 2026, total nonresidential starts grew 6.1%, according to the report.
Here are the largest projects to break ground in February, according to Dodge:
- The $3 billion Google data center campus in Miami, Texas
- The $3 billion Polaris Forge 2 AI data center in Harwood, North Dakota
- The $1.53 billion Tampa International Airport Airside D project in Tampa, Florida
- The $757 million Bay View Houses renovation project in Canarsie, New York
- The $311 million Universal Building North and the $265 million Universal Building South within the Geneva Residential Conversion project in Washington, D.C
- The $564 million SR 400 highway development in Celebration, Florida
- The $389 million I-94 reconstruction project in Romulus, Michigan
- The $386 million Allegheny County Wet Weather Pump Station in Pittsburgh
Some weakness still exists across several commercial categories, namely warehouse, hotel, retail and parking construction. All of those categories declined month to month in February, in addition to a 46.6% drop in healthcare construction. Manufacturing activity also cooled in February, falling 54.1% month to month, according to Dodge.
Multifamily starts led residential construction growth, up 15.9%, followed by a 4% jump in single-family starts, according to Dodge.
For the 12 months ending February 2026, total residential starts fell 6.3%, according to Dodge.
