New Warehouse Construction Seeing Big Increase Nationally

Warehouse construction projects are leading the most recent Dodge Momentum Index, with the overall commercial side of that index showing a healthy 7.4% gain in the third quarter of this year.

The Index, which measures nonresidential building projects in the planning stage, showed that overall there was a 3.7% increase for all construction activity nationally in September.

Published by Dodge Data & Analytics, the Index also indicated that commercial projects were up by 3.9%, followed by institutional projects, with a 3.2% gain.

After a dramatic pandemic economy-induced decline in June, the Index has lowly inched upward since and has now gained overall some 2.2% since mid-summer.

The warehouse sector has proven particularly buoyant, especially with online retail giant Amazon announcing plans to build several new massive distribution centers.

The Index additionally showed that as of last month, “seven projects with a value of $100 million or more,” had entered the planning stage, with projects valued between $110 million and $250 million in Alabama, California, and Illinois.

Dodge Data & Analytics provides construction project data and marketing forecasting, among other services.

A press release issued by the company notes that through the first nine months of the year, total non-residential building starts were down 18%, with decreases recorded in environmental public works and utility/gas plant categories.
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One bright spot: the highway and bridge category, which posted a 2% gain in September.

​By Garry Boulard

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