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Contractors continued pouring concrete at large data centers and power plants in April. This time, however, a number of other types of projects also went sour.
Total starts rose 9% month over month in April at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.33 trillion, according to the Dodge Construction Network. Unlike in recent months, however, this increase was not solely based on data centers or a handful of giant projects.
“April’s construction starts were robust, with only three categories posting month-over-month losses,” said Eric Gaus, chief economist at Dodge Construction Network. “Large data centers and power generation supported growth, but nine of the 15 categories experienced double- or triple-digit growth.”
Although artificial intelligence and energy construction still drove global activity, with sectors such as highways, bridges, education and warehouses also posting monthly gains, the Dodge report said.
Nonresidential building starts, for example, rose 18.6% month over month in April, largely due to a 41.4% increase in commercial construction. Of course, office projects, which include data centers in Dodge’s analysis, led commercial construction in April with a 46.1% monthly increase. But new developments in warehouse and hotel construction also posted month-over-month gains of 25% and 12.8%, respectively, in April.
Institutional building, which includes both education and health, also posted solid growth during the month, up 12.3% month-on-month in April. Manufacturing construction, on the other hand, fell 29.3% month over month after a 251.4% increase in March, according to Dodge.
Non-building construction, boosted by infrastructure work, improved 7% month-on-month in April. Highway and bridge projects rose 17% during the month, along with a 16.3% increase in environmental public works.
The electric power and utilities segment declined 9.7% month over month in April after several months of massive gains in natural gas and renewables. Despite the decline, utility and gas starts remained the strongest long-term growth category in the non-construction market, up 62% over the past 12 months and up 79.3% through April.
Housing starts fell 0.7% from March to April, the report said. Single-family starts rose 4.2% in April, but multifamily construction fell 7.2% over the month.
According to Dodge, the biggest projects that began work in April included:
- Phase 1 of the $5 billion Provident/PowerHouse Prairie Ridge data center in Midlothian, Texas.
- The $3.8 billion Bison Generation Station natural gas power plant in North Dakota.
- Cayuga Natural Gas’ $3.3 billion power replacement in Cayuga, Indiana.
- The $1.9 billion SK Hynix HBM Advanced Packaging and R&D project in West Lafayette, Indiana.
- The $1.3 billion Stargate data center campus project in Saline Township, Michigan.
- The billion dollar Tradepoint Atlantic container terminal in Edgemere, Maryland.
- The $850 million Gowanus Wharf 175 3rd Street mixed-use development in Gowanus, New York.
- The $354 million Deerfield Episcopal Retirement Community III expansion project in Asheville, North Carolina.
- Phase 2 of the $303 million Archer Towers mixed-use garage development in Jamaica, New York.
