Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/588129
46 • NOVEMBER 2015 • WORLD FENCE NEWS housing was still 21% above the aver- age monthly amount reported during 2014. There were eight multifamily projects valued each at $100 million or more that reached groundbreaking in August, led by the $530 million multifamily portion of the $550 mil- lion Metropolis Residential Towers (phase 2) in Los Angeles, a $300 mil- lion apartment building on W. 53rd St. in New York, N.Y., and a $290 million residential tower in Boston. At the eight-month point of 2015, the top five metropolitan markets ranked by the dollar volume of mul- tifamily starts were the following – New York, N.Y., Miami, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Boston. Single family housing in August edged up 1%, regaining slight up- ward momentum after slipping 4% in July. The August pace for single family housing was 12% higher than the average monthly amount reported during 2014. By geography, single family hous- ing in August showed a moderate in- crease for the Northeast, up 8%; while the other four regions were basically flat – the South Atlantic and the West, each up 1%; the Midwest, no change; and the South Central, down 2%. Nonbuilding construction in Au- gust dropped 12% to $128.3 billion (annual rate), declining for the third month in a row. The public works cat- egories as a group were down 15% in August, slipping to the lowest volume so far in 2015. Highway and bridge construction (like public works overall) fell 15% in August, and has generally lost momen- tum since this year's first quarter. De- spite the decline, highway and bridge construction in August did include the start of a $237 million rehabilitation project for the Manhattan exit plaza of the Queens Midtown Tunnel in New York, N.Y. The "other public works" category (which includes such diverse project types as site work, mass tran- sit, and outdoor sports stadiums) fell 29% in August, even with the start of a $155 million soccer stadium in Or- lando, Fla. The environmental public works categories in August were mixed, with river/harbor development down 16% and water supply systems down 17%, while sewer construction increased 23%. The electric power and gas plant category in August was unchanged from the previous month. Large electric power projects that were entered as August starts includ- ed a $408 million solar power plant in California and a $323 million wind farm in Minnesota. The 15% gain for total construc- tion starts on an unadjusted basis during the January-August period of 2015 reflected double-digit increases for residential building and nonbuild- ing construction, while nonresidential building was down moderately. Residential building year-to-date advanced 18%, due to a 30% jump for multifamily housing combined with 14% growth for single family housing. Nonbuilding construction year-to- date surged 43%, with electric utilities and gas plants up 245% and public works up 8%. As 2015 is progressing, the sub- stantial year-to-date increase for non- building construction is becoming smaller. Dodge Report: August construction starts fall continued from page 42 FenceTech Booth 1500