Hudson Valley Building Trades Executives Confident Strong Project Pipeline Will Deliver in 2027
By JOHN JORDAN
TARRYTOWN – Despite economic headwinds that include tariffs, elevated material and diesel petroleum costs, high inflation and political discord that has produced project funding uncertainty, officials from Westchester-Putnam, Rockland County and the Mid-Hudson Valley regions tell CONSTRUCTION NEWS they are confident heavy highway, construction and building contractors should be busy in 2027.
Most building trades in the Hudson Valley have fared well thus far in 2026. Looking into their crystal balls, union leaders expect work to begin on as many as three major projects (Amazon in Orange County, Walmart in Orange County and IBM in Dutchess County) that, if local approvals and incentive packages are finalized, will involve approximately $5 billion in total investment.
Combined with major public infrastructure projects, school and health care construction and utility work, those projects mean the region’s building trades can expect a solid year in 2027 despite the conclusion of some major projects, such as the Champlain Hudson Power Express project that produced significant work in Rockland County and elsewhere in the region.
CONSTRUCTION NEWS spoke with Jeff Loughlin, president of the Building & Construction Trades Council of Westchester & Putnam Counties, Inc.; Edward Cooke, vice president of the Building & Construction Trades Council of Westchester & Putnam Counties, Inc.; Stephen Reich, co-vice president of the Building & Construction Trades Council of Rockland County; and L. Todd Diorio, president of the Hudson Valley Building & Construction Trades Council, on the prospects for project work in 2027 in the region. All were in agreement that the trades should be very busy in the coming year.
WESTCHESTER, PUTNAM COUNTIES
Jeff Loughlin, President – Building & Construction Trades Council of Westchester & Putnam Counties, Inc. Mr. Loughlin is also Business Manager of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 137 of Briarcliff Manor, NY.
Edward Cooke, Vice President – Building & Construction Trades Council
of Westchester & Putnam Counties, Inc. Mr. Cooke also serves as Business Representative of the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters and Local 279 in Hopewell Junction, NY.
Oservations: “Based on reports, 2027 will be very busy,” Mr. Loughlin said “Work will be strong through the first, second and third quarters of next year,” Mr. Cooke said. He noted that the recent apprentice legislation approved by Westchester County has resulted in more apprentice opportunities than ever before in Westchester County. He noted that Carpenters Local 279 has brought in 75 new apprentices in 2026. He also said that school construction has been and will continue to be a major driver of work for the building trades regionwide.
Prospects for 2027: Mr. Loughlin noted that work will continue at Westchester Medical Center, White Plains Hospital, the Elizabeth Seton expansion project in White Plains and the new headquarters for the New York Power Authority in downtown White Plains. Significant work is expected at the NYC DEP Kensico and Hillview projects, along with utility work that he described as a “shot in the arm” for the trades and NYSDOT projects. He noted that members of Local 137 are already on site, working on the $2.5-billion IBM Quantum project in Poughkeepsie, NY.
Other ongoing work includes the Westchester Joint Water Works Rye Lake Water Filtration Plant being built by Yonkers Contracting Co. Inc.; the multi-jurisdictional, nearly $94-million Bear Mountain Redecking project by the New York State Bridge Authority, awarded earlier this year to El Sol Contracting/ES II Enterprises Joint Venture of Maspeth, NY; and the recently begun $24.5-million project to replace two 59-year-old bridges along the ramp from Interstate 84 westbound to Interstate 684 southbound in the Town of Southeast in Putnam County by ECCO Enterprises of Yonkers.
Upcoming work includes a $38.9-million Westchester County DPW project involving replacement of the Tarrytown Force Main and rehabilitation of the Route 119 Gravity Sewer System, being undertaken by Deboe Construction Corp. Negotiations continue with the Town of Yorktown on a new firehouse project valued at approximately $36 million. A $30-million renovation project is out to bid by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation at the John Jay Homestead in Katonah, NY. The Stoneleigh Avenue interchange adjacent to Putnam Hospital is going out to bid under the second PLA negotiated between the building trades and the Kevin Byrne administration.
ROCKLAND COUNTY
Stephen Reich, Co-Vice President – Building & Construction Trades Council of Rockland County. Mr. Reich also serves as Business Manager of Laborers Local No. 754 of Chestnut Ridge, NY.
Observations: Mr. Reich said Rockland County’s building trades have been very busy in the last two years, bolstered at least in part by work on the Champlain Hudson Power Express project that is now completed. He said that if the projects in the pipeline come to fruition, the Rockland building trades can expect a “decent year. Will it be like the last two? No.”
He noted that state regulations governing the award of brownfield tax credits currently do not mandate prevailing wage requirements, which Mr. Reich said must be changed. He also is holding discussions with Orange & Rockland Utilities in an attempt to secure more union participation in the utility’s work and create more transparency on some significant projects let by the utility.
Prospects for 2027: A $50-million I-287-Garden State Parkway bridge replacement project is expected to go out to bid by NYSDOT in the fall of this year, along with renovation work on the nursing core at the Rockland Psychiatric Center that was put out to bid by the New York State Dormitory Authority in Orangeburg. Bids were due on Sept. 10, and the contract has been valued between $27 million and $29 million. Another $11-million building project is set to get underway also at the Rockland Psychiatric Center site.
Other work includes the Nyack Water Plant Upgrade project, valued at approximately $7 million; the Bear Mountain Bridge deck replacement project (Rockland has 50% jurisdiction); and significant culvert and drainage work valued between $35 million and $40 million by NYSDOT from Stony Point to Bear Mountain Circle, scheduled to go out to bid in early 2027. Rockland County and some municipalities (Haverstraw, Ramapo, Stony Point) are also planning some bridge repair or replacement projects next year.
In terms of private work, the building trades expect some work from the 454,000-square-foot Grassy Point warehouse project in West Haverstraw if approved and a potential high-end housing project at a portion of the Letchworth Village site that, when put out to bid, could provide some work for the union trades.
MID-HUDSON REGION
L. Todd Diorio, President – Hudson Valley Building & Construction Trades Council. Mr. Diorio also serves as Eastern New York Laborers District Council Business Manager.
Observations: “I see 2027 being a very good year,” Mr. Diorio said. “If all these (major) projects kick off, the local trades are going to have to expand membership, which I am pushing a lot of the guys to do.” He noted that expanding membership could mean reaching out to non-union workers and organizing. If all the projects come online, Mr. Diorio said the Hudson Valley Building Trades could very well reach 100% employment.
“Some of the trades have grown in the past five to 10 years and other trades have not. Some trades have to step up to the plate and do a better job recruiting members,” Mr. Diorio said.
Prospects for 2027: The Hudson Valley Building Trades are monitoring the approval process for three major projects—the Walmart distribution project in the Town of Wallkill valued at approximately $1.6 billion, the IBM Quantum project in the Town of Poughkeepsie in Dutchess County valued at $2.5 billion and the $607-million Amazon fulfillment center to be built in the Town of Wawayanda.
The controversial project is perhaps nearing the finish line, as a revised PILOT agreement was scheduled to be the subject of a public hearing on Sept. 10 and could be voted on by the Orange County Industrial Development Agency at its next Board of Directors meeting on Sept. 30.
A major project could advance in the coming months at West Point, Building 606, a project valued at approximately $400 million, as well as renovations to Thayer Hall at West Point (approximately $700 million). Mr. Diorio also expects significant school construction work regionwide, as well as a number of large NYSDOT and New York State Thruway projects, such as the $25-million bridge project in Woodbury in Orange County awarded to ECCO III Enterprises of Yonkers and the more than $83-million bridge job in Greene County to be performed by Harrison & Burrowes Bridge Constructors Inc. of Glenmont, NY.
He also noted that the trades will continue to see major water infrastructure project work from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection on watershed-related work. Recently, ECCO III Enterprises announced that the firm and its lead designer, STV, were awarded NYC DEP’s first-ever solicited Design-Build Contract: “Design-Build 1: Upstate Roadway Reconstruction & Improvements Project.”
This Design-Build Project involves work at three of NYC DEP’s reservoirs in its Upstate Watershed: the Croton Lake Reservoir in Yorktown, the Ashokan Reservoir in Olive and the Schoharie Reservoir in Prattsville. The primary scope of work at all three sites involves roadway reconstruction, culvert replacements and stormwater management upgrades.
All work discussed by the building trades involves projects that they expect to be built predominantly by union workers or under Project Labor Agreements.
Published: September 17, 2026.