Dive Brief:

• The New York Building Congress (NYBC), a consortium of almost 400 building industry organizations, predicts construction spending will break the $40 billion mark next year for the first time in the city’s history, with private sector residential development accounting for a record-breaking 38% of dollars spent, reported the Real Deal.
• With government spending at 32% and other nonresidential, like offices and hotels, at 30%, this is the first year since 1994, according to the NYBC, that government infrastructure and public works projects don't account for the majority of construction spending.
• New York is also the most expensive city in the U.S. to build office space, with hard construction costs from $500-$550 per square foot, according to commercial real estate company CBRE, and additional indirect costs — professional fees, administration marketing, financing, tenant improvements — adding an additional 30%-40%. San Francisco has the second-highest office construction hard costs at $350-$400 per square foot.

Dive Insight:

"The numbers bear out what most in the industry have long suspected – the current building boom is being driven to a remarkable extent by private sector investment," said NYBC President Richard T. Anderson. "The residential sector, in particular, is on a run that is nothing short of epic."

The NYBC also identified issues it believes need to be addressed to be able to sustain and build upon the current construction environment: affordable housing, continuation of the 421-a tax credit, worker safety and transportation and infrastructure funding.