Report: Manhattan dominating NYC commercial, residential construction activity

Dive Brief:

Despite increased construction activity in Brooklyn, Queens and other New York City outer boroughs, Manhattan still garnered nearly 60% of the value of all construction starts from January through September of 2016, as well as from 2011 to 2015, the New York Building Congress reported.
The NYBC valued Manhattan's January-September 2016 nonresidential construction starts at $8.8 billion, 70% of all city activity. From 2011 to 2015, Manhattan was home to 68% of the value of all nonresidential starts.
The value of Manhattan's residential starts from January through September of this year came in a little lower than that of nonresidential projects — 50% of the total $9.4 billlion in residential starts across the city.

Dive Insight:

Despite dominating the nonresidential and residential sectors, Manhattan saw only 22% of all public works starts for the first nine months of this year, coming in third behind Queens (29%) and Brooklyn (23%). However, for the period 2011-2015, Manhattan led the other boroughs with 36% of all starts. The NYBC noted that public works projects are typically spread more evenly throughout the city.

NYBC President Richard T. Anderson said in a release that "it will be interesting" to follow Manhattan's place among the city's starts, as there are fewer sites suitable for building. In addition, he said Brooklyn and Queens have a large number of nonresidential and residential projects getting ready to begin soon.

Manhattan's nonresidential start figures for the year were helped along by mammoth office tower projects like 3 Hudson Boulevard and One Vanderbilt. The Hudson Yards 66-story "supertall" high-rise should be complete in 2019, and the $3 billion Grand Central-adjacent One Vanderbilt is scheduled to open in 2020. Hudson Yards alone represents $25 billion in total commercial and residential development and is expected to provide the city with $18.9 billion in benefit by the time it is complete.

Earlier this month, the NYBC reported that 2015 institutional starts — both public and private — came in at $4.6 billion, the largest figure since 2009. The group also reported in September that Manhattan is in line to add 20 million square feet to its office space stock by 2021, with Brooklyn and Queens bringing another 13 million square feet. The NYBC also said in an October report that construction spending in the entire city should reach $127.5 billion by the end of 2018, driven by housing and office demand.