The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that the United States needs to spend $3.6 trillion by 2020 just to bring the country’s infrastructure back to a level described as adequate.
A new report by Transwestern, a privately held real estate firm, makes a case that investing in infrastructure can also be beneficial to surrounding commercial real estate. Called “Cranes and Lanes,” the report identifies major infrastructure projects in nine markets, and describes how the projects are impacting—or are likely to impact—the larger built environment.
“Cities have recognized that in order to stay competitive and generate economic development, the city’s infrastructure must keep up,” adds Brian Landes, a GIS expert and the report’s author. “While projects analyzed in the report run the gamut from new stadiums to reworked interchanges to entirely new districts, they do have one thing in common: a relatively certain boost in rents and occupancy.”
Several of the projects cited revolve around transit, such as the ongoing Modernization Project at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, which Transwestern sees as a “catalyst for economic growth and job creation.” But there are a number of nonresidential building projects that are also expected to lead to ancillary development and construction.
Examples include:
• SunTrust Park, the new stadium for Major League Baseball’s Atlanta Braves designed by Populous, which should be completed next year. Transwestern says this stadium will bring with it a $400 million shopping, dining and entertainment district, as well as a new Omni Hotel and a 300,000-sf office building that Comcast will occupy.
• Seaport Square is a new neighborhood created from 23 acres of undeveloped land in South Boston’s emerging Seaport District. When it’s completed next year, it will encompass 2.75 million sf of residential, 1.25 million sf of office, 1.25 million ft of retail, 800,000 sf of hotels, 265,000 sf of cultural and civic space, and 2.25 million sf of parking. “The district will spur an evolution of Downtown Boston and shift the commercial center to the south and east,” the report states.
• Hudson Yards is the redevelopment of a vacant former industrial neighborhood along the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. It traces its roots to a 2005 rezoning aimed to transition the area into an extension of the Midtown business district. The project will eventually feature 6 million sf of office, 750,000 sf of retail, 5,000 apartments, 2 million sf of hotel and 14 acres of public space. Completion 2018.
• In San Francisco, Transbay District is currently under development. It will eventually house an intermodal transportation destination and 6 million sf of new office space. The new transit center will house three transportation options: (1) Caltrain will extend its terminus further downtown into the Transbay Transit Center; (2) The center will be the terminus for the future California High Speed Rail Line; and (3) the center will be the hub for regional bus service. Amidst the office build-out will be Salesforce Tower, the corporate headquarters for Salesforce and the second tallest building in the Western U.S. Completion 2020.
• Oakland Global Trade & Logistics Center will sit adjacent to the Port of Oakland on an Army base decommissioned in 1999. The project will bolster the West Coast’s third-largest port by adding an intermodal rail hub, additional railyards, a bulk terminal and more than 1 million sf of warehouse and distribution space. The project, which should be done next year, comes at an important time for the Port of Oakland, which moved nearly 2.3 million containers in 2015 and whose volume is expected to grow in the coming years.
Related Stories
Products and Materials | Jan 18, 2023
Is inflation easing? Construction input prices drop 2.7% in December 2022
Softwood lumber and steel mill products saw the biggest decline among building construction materials, according to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index.
ProConnect Events | Jan 17, 2023
3 ProConnect Single Family events for Home Builders and Product Manufacturers set for 2023
SGC Horizon, parent company of ProBuilder, will present 3 ProConnect Single Family Events this year. At ProConnect Single Family, Home Builders meet in confidential 20-minute sessions with Building Product Manufacturers to discuss upcoming projects, learn about new products, and discover practical solutions to technical problems.
University Buildings | Jan 17, 2023
Texas Christian University breaks ground on medical school for Dallas-Fort Worth region
Texas Christian University (TCU) has broken ground on the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine, which aims to help meet the expanding medical needs of the growing Dallas-Fort Worth region.
Green | Jan 17, 2023
Top 10 U.S. states for green building in 2022
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) released its annual ranking of U.S. states leading the way on green building, with Massachusetts topping the list. The USGBC ranking is based on LEED-certified gross square footage per capita over the past year.
AEC Tech Innovation | Jan 14, 2023
CES recognizes a Dutch firm’s wearable technology for construction management
The firm’s TokenMe product offers construction managers a real-time crowd- and asset-tracking solution via low-power, location-aware radio and RFID tags and multiple sensors through which data are processed with cloud-based artificial intelligence.
Market Data | Jan 10, 2023
Construction backlogs at highest level since Q2 2019, says ABC
Associated Builders and Contractors reports today that its Construction Backlog Indicator remained unchanged at 9.2 months in December 2022, according to an ABC member survey conducted Dec. 20, 2022, to Jan. 5, 2023. The reading is one month higher than in December 2021.
Religious Facilities | Jan 9, 2023
Santiago Calatrava-designed St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church opens in New York
In December, New York saw the reopening of the new St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine—the only religious structure destroyed on 9/11. Renowned architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava designed St. Nicholas Church to address the traditional Greek Orthodox liturgy while honoring the Church’s connection with the World Trade Center Memorial site.
Sustainability | Jan 9, 2023
Innovative solutions emerge to address New York’s new greenhouse gas law
New York City’s Local Law 97, an ambitious climate plan that includes fines for owners of large buildings that don’t significantly reduce carbon emissions, has spawned innovations to address the law’s provisions.
Fire and Life Safety | Jan 9, 2023
Why lithium-ion batteries pose fire safety concerns for buildings
Lithium-ion batteries have become the dominant technology in phones, laptops, scooters, electric bikes, electric vehicles, and large-scale battery energy storage facilities. Here’s what you need to know about the fire safety concerns they pose for building owners and occupants.
Market Data | Jan 6, 2023
Nonresidential construction spending rises in November 2022
Spending on nonresidential construction work in the U.S. was up 0.9% in November versus the previous month, and 11.8% versus the previous year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.