flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Nonres construction spending down again in May

Contractors

Nonres construction spending down again in May

And the industry is still beset with labor and materials issues that could impede future growth


By John Caulfield, Senior Editor | July 1, 2021
Since May 2020, spending on nonresidential construction has been on a downward trend.
Since May 2020, spending on nonresidential construction has been on a downward trend.

In its first-quarter index of Construction Confidence, the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) found that 55% of contractors expected their sales to increase over the following six months, and only 19% thought their sales would decline in that period.

They might need to recalibrate their exuberance, in light of the trade group’s latest analysis of data published by the U.S. Census Bureau, which ABC released today. It estimates that national nonresidential construction spending in May, at $784.5 billion, was down 7.1% from the same month a year ago, and off 0.7% from spending levels in April 2021.

On a year-over-year basis, spending for every nonresidential category that ABC tracks, except sewage and waste disposal, was negative. Spending on public safety projects—which surged during the early months of the pandemic—showed the greatest decline in May, 39.6%, and lodging also took a big hit (off 23.3% to $22.6 billion). On the other hand, spending in May on healthcare construction, nearly $47 billion, was down only marginally, by 1.5%, compared to the same month a year ago.

 

WORKER SHORTAGES AND MATERIAL PRICING REMAIN PROJECT ROADBLOCKS

Spending for public safety and lodging projects took the steepest hit in May

Construction spending for public safety and lodging projects showed the steepest declines in May compared to the same month a year ago.

 

A red-hot data center market hasn’t spelled more office construction, notes Anirban Basu, ABC’s Chief Economist. Basu also points out that while some private construction segments are struggling under the dislocating impacts of the pandemic, public nonresidential construction actually has declined more rapidly than the private sector over the past year.

Basu sees some hope for the future. Public construction spending should benefit from improvements in state and local governments’ financial conditions. But he tempers his predictions because of still-high construction materials prices and “deeply problematic” worker shortages. Basu expressed some concern, too, about the disproportionate amount of spending moving toward residential construction, which accounted for 41% of the pre-pandemic total and 49% in May.

Related Stories

| Mar 11, 2011

Texas A&M mixed-use community will focus on green living

HOK, Realty Appreciation, and Texas A&M University are working on the Urban Living Laboratory, a 1.2-million-sf mixed-use project owned by the university. The five-phase, live-work-play project will include offices, retail, multifamily apartments, and two hotels.

| Mar 11, 2011

Chicago office building will serve tenants and historic church

The Alter Group is partnering with White Oak Realty Partners to develop a 490,000-sf high-performance office building in Chicago’s West Loop. The tower will be located on land owned by Old St. Patrick’s Church (a neighborhood landmark that survived the Chicago Fire of 1871) that’s currently being used as a parking lot.

| Mar 11, 2011

Community sports center in Nashville features NCAA-grade training facility

A multisport community facility in Nashville featuring a training facility that will meet NCAA Division I standards is being constructed by St. Louis-based Clayco and Chicago-based Pinnacle.

| Mar 11, 2011

Slam dunk for the University of Nebraska’s basketball arena

The University of Nebraska men’s and women’s basketball programs will have a new home beginning in 2013. Designed by the DLR Group, the $344 million West Haymarket Civic Arena in Lincoln, Neb., will have 16,000 seats, suites, club amenities, loge, dedicated locker rooms, training rooms, and support space for game operations.

| Mar 10, 2011

How AEC Professionals Are Using Social Media

You like LinkedIn. You’re not too sure about blogs. For many AEC professionals, it’s still wait-and-see when it comes to social media.

| Mar 7, 2011

Sika Sarnafil announces 2010 roofing Contractor Project of the Year winners

Sika Sarnafil announced winners of its 2010 Contractor Project of the Year Competition. Twelve contractors were recognized for outstanding workmanship in completing a project using a Sika Sarnafil thermoplastic membrane for roofing or waterproofing applications.  A winner and two finalists were chosen from each of four different categories: Low Slope, Steep Slope, Waterproofing and Sustainability.

| Mar 3, 2011

Webcor Builders and Shangri-La Construction form partnership

Webcor Builders and Shangri-La Construction announced today that the two general contractors have formed an exclusive partnership to pursue and provide general contracting and construction management services in select western states including California, Arizona, Nevada and Texas. The partnership, which will be named Webcor LA, will pursue construction projects across aviation, commercial real estate and tenant improvement, hospitality, institutional, healthcare, industrial, public works, and multi-family categories.

| Mar 2, 2011

Design professionals grow leery of green promises

Legal claims over sustainability promises vs. performance of certified green buildings are beginning to mount—and so are warnings to A/E/P and environmental consulting firms, according to a ZweigWhite report.

| Mar 2, 2011

How skyscrapers can save the city

Besides making cities more affordable and architecturally interesting, tall buildings are greener than sprawl, and they foster social capital and creativity. Yet some urban planners and preservationists seem to have a misplaced fear of heights that yields damaging restrictions on how tall a building can be. From New York to Paris to Mumbai, there’s a powerful case for building up, not out.

| Mar 1, 2011

How to make rentals more attractive as the American dream evolves, adapts

Roger K. Lewis, architect and professor emeritus of architecture at the University of Maryland, writes in the Washington Post about the rising market demand for rental housing and how Building Teams can make these properties a desirable choice for consumer, not just an economically prudent and necessary one.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category

Construction Costs

Data center construction costs for 2024

Gordian’s data features more than 100 building models, including computer data centers. These localized models allow architects, engineers, and other preconstruction professionals to quickly and accurately create conceptual estimates for future builds. This table shows a five-year view of costs per square foot for one-story computer data centers. 


Sustainability

Grimshaw launches free online tool to help accelerate decarbonization of buildings

Minoro, an online platform to help accelerate the decarbonization of buildings, was recently launched by architecture firm Grimshaw, in collaboration with more than 20 supporting organizations including World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), RIBA, Architecture 2030, the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) and several national Green Building Councils from across the globe.



Healthcare Facilities

Watch on-demand: Key Trends in the Healthcare Facilities Market for 2024-2025

Join the Building Design+Construction editorial team for this on-demand webinar on key trends, innovations, and opportunities in the $65 billion U.S. healthcare buildings market. A panel of healthcare design and construction experts present their latest projects, trends, innovations, opportunities, and data/research on key healthcare facilities sub-sectors. A 2024-2025 U.S. healthcare facilities market outlook is also presented.

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021