“After strong megaproject activity in May, construction starts came back down to earth throughout the month of June,” stated Sarah Martin, Director of Economic Research at Dodge Construction Network. “Residential and institutional construction remain weak, while commercial, industrial and nonbuilding construction continue to show strong year-to-date growth.” 

Nonresidential building starts receded 9.1% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $584 billion. Commercial starts were up 1.2% over the month, driven by a 29.5% m/m increase in parking garages, alongside growth in warehouses (+15.0% m/m), hotels (+8.1% m/m) and retail stores (+3.2% m/m). Offices and data centers, meanwhile, pulled back 3.7% m/m. Institutional starts improved 2.5% over the month, supported by an 8.0% m/m uptick in education and dormitory starts, as well as a 32.9% m/m gain in other institutional starts.

Nonbuilding construction stood at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $473 billion in June. After triple digit gains last month, highway and bridge starts fell 46.6% in June and utilities declined 70.3%. Meanwhile, environmental public works improved 26.3% m/m and miscellaneous nonbuilding surged 168.3% over the same period. On a year-to-date basis through June, nonbuilding construction was up 33.8% alongside the 119.6% year-to-date growth in electric power/utilities, 17.0% in miscellaneous nonbuilding, and 10.8% growth in highways and bridges. Environmental public works are down 5.5% year-to-date. 

The largest nonbuilding projects to break ground in June included the $3.6-billion CTA Red Line Extension Project in Chicago, the $2.4-billion Cleveland Browns Huntington Bank Field Stadium in Brook Park, OH  and the $2.1-billion Amtrak Sawtooth Bridge Replacement in Kearny, NJ.