Dodge Data & Analytics report ranks NYC, Miami, Dallas at top

A new Dodge Data & Analytics report took a look at the top U.S. metros for commercial and multifamily building starts shows the Big Apple posted the big numbers.

And, the report said that an important trend in this sector has continued: for the sixth straight year, multifamily housing construction across the nation as a whole has seen double-digit increases year-over-year.

For the nation as a whole, commercial and multifamily building in 2015 was worth $162.7 billion, up 8 percent from the end of 2014. That averaged gain for 2015 was the result of commercial building holding relatively steady while multifamily housing advanced 18 percent. In 2014, the commercial and multifamily total jumped 26 percent, with sharp increases in both commercial building, up 22 percent; and multifamily housing, up 32 percent.

New York City groundbreakings in those two important categories jumped 66 percent over one year ago, for a total of $34.9 billion in new projects.

And, that big number makes a big imprint on the national numbers. Multifamily projects in the New York City metro area comprised 27 percent of the national multifamily total in 2015, up from 21 percent in 2014.

For the sake of comparison, second place Miami’s dollar amount of multifamily projects was 5 percent national multifamily total, compared to 7 percent in 2014.

The rest of top 10 metropolitan areas in 2015 with their percentage change from 2014 were:

• Miami, $6.3 billion, down 8 percent
• Dallas-Ft. Worth, $6 billion, up 35 percent
• Chicago, $5.9 billion, up 14 percent
• Washington DC, $5.9 billion, down 4 percent
• Los Angeles, $5.8 billion, up 10 percent
• Boston, $4.7 billion, no change
• Seattle, $4.2 billion, up 3 percent
• Houston, $4 billion, down 28 percent
• Denver, $3 billion, up 19 percent.

The top 10 are ranked by total dollar value for the year, even if that number represents a slide over the previous year.

Chicago and DC were a virtual tie, but one market was gaining, and the other losing.

Interestingly, the largest percentage gainer and loser are both within the same state– Dallas and Houston.

While the energy sector looks to be a dark cloud on the horizon for the Texas metros, signs of diversification are clear. For example, Dallas landed a new Facebook data center which made a significant impact on their construction starts. Phase one of the project was worth $570 million last year.

Commercial and multifamily construction in top metros

• New York City’s jump was the result of a 95 percent hike for commercial building combined with a 52 percent jump for multifamily housing. Three larger commercial projects reached the construction start stage in 2015. In 2015, there were 43 multifamily projects valued at $100 million or more that reached groundbreaking.
• Miami showed construction starts settling back 8 percent, with moderate reductions for both commercial building, down 11 percent and multifamily down 6 percent. In 2014, the Miami market had surged 92 percent, with commercial building up 51 percent and multifamily housing soaring 121 percent. There were 11 multifamily projects valued at $100 million or more that reached groundbreaking last year.
• Chicago’s 14 percent growth was the result of similar gains for commercial building, up 13 percent; and multifamily housing, up 17 percent. There were three commerical and three multifamily projects, each of which was worth more $100 million that broke ground last year.
• DC slipped 4 percent in 2015, with a substantial 9 percent drop in commercial building and an ever-so-slight lift of 1 percent in multifamily over 2014.

The commercial and multifamily total is comprised of office buildings, stores, hotels, warehouses, garages and service stations, and multifamily housing.  

Email Kimberley Sirk.