Dive Brief:

• New York City will build new jails worth nearly $7 billion in Queens and the Bronx, with completion dates potentially extending to 2031, according to city records.
• The Queens jail, awarded to Elmont, New York-based Leon D. DeMatteis Construction Corp., will cost at least $3.9 billion, while the Bronx facility, awarded to New York City-based Transformative Reform Group, will cost at least $2.9 billion.
• Both projects will use the design-build approach intended to speed up construction. The projects form part of the four-jail plan to replace the Rikers Island facility, according to the city records. The other two are in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Dive Insight:

Jails have become significant opportunities for contractors due to the scale and value of these projects.

For instance, Tutor Perini secured a $2.95 billion contract in May 2023 to build the proposed Brooklyn jail. The Los Angeles-based firm highlighted the Queens jail project as another potential opportunity it would bid on, though the New York City Department of Design and Construction ultimately awarded the contract to DeMatteis.

Elsewhere, the $1.2 billion prison in Westville, Indiana, will be the most expensive state building project in Indiana’s history. The construction team Build Westville — a joint venture comprising Granger Construction, F.A. Wilhelm Construction and Garmong Construction Services — recently broke ground on the Westville Correctional Facility. 

But high material costs combined with mounting financing issues are also adding to the time it takes to get projects across the finish line. For example, a jail project in Kansas City last year pushed its cost up 17% due to rising material costs. 

A spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams told Bloomberg that jail construction timelines reflected the challenges facing the broader building sector.

Design-build contracts

Design-build projects often have faster completion times because the design and construction phases can overlap, noted Brent Strength, senior vice president at JE Dunn, a Kansas City, Missouri-based construction company, also with experience in jail construction.

“The best way to achieve speed to market is via the design-build delivery method,” said Strength. “Design-build allows us to mitigate supply chain issues.”

That speed to market is crucial for these New York City jail projects, as construction teams race against time to finish before the legally mandated deadline to shut down the problem-plagued Rikers Island jail complex, which will close in 2027. 

However, despite the design-build approach to speed up the process, both projects are still slated for completion in 2031, meaning they will likely not finish in time to meet the 2027 deadline.