World Fence News

72 • august 2016 • world fence news production areas in North Dakota to existing pipelines in Illinois. The river/harbor development category in May climbed 81%, re- bounding after a weak April. Sewer construction in May advanced 42%, helped by the start of a $149 million sewage pumping station in Kailua, Hawaii and a $130 million sewage treatment plant upgrade in the Bing- hamton, N.Y. area. Water supply construction was the one environmental public works category that declined in May, falling 40%. Highway and bridge construction edged up 1% in May, advancing for the second month in a row follow- ing the lackluster amount reported in March. The electric power and gas plant portion of nonbuilding construction soared 57% in May. There were four large natural gas-fired power plants included as construction starts, lo- cated in Pennsylvania ($1.2 billion), Ohio ($890 million), Florida ($750 million), and Texas ($575 million). There were also three large wind farms that reached groundbreaking in May, located in Kansas (two projects valued at $400 million and $220 mil- lion, respectively), and North Dakota ($249 million). Murray noted, "Last December, Congress approved an extension to the wind-energy production tax credit through 2019, which is contributing to the healthy pace for new wind power projects so far in 2016." Residential building, at $272.5 billion (annual rate), improved 1% in May. The multifamily side of the housing market provided the upward push, increasing 15%. There were eight multifamily projects valued at $100 million or more that reached groundbreaking in May, compared to five such projects in April. The May large projects were led by a $500 million apartment tower in Chicago, followed by a $453 mil- lion apartment tower in Jersey City, N.J., and the $345 million apartment portion of a $500 million mixed-use highrise in New York, N.Y. Through the first five months of 2016, New York, N.Y. continued to be the leading metropolitan area in terms of the dollar amount of multifamily starts, followed by Miami, Chicago, Boston, and Los Angeles. Metropolitan areas ranked six through 10 during this period were San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Denver, Atlanta, and Dallas-Ft. Worth. Of these 10 metropolitan areas, eight showed double-digit gains com- pared to a year ago, while two showed declines – New York, NY, down 16%; and Washington, D.C., down 25%. Single family housing in May slipped 4%, not yet able to re-estab- lish an upward trend in a sustainable manner despite continued low mort- gage rates. By major region, single family housing in May showed this pattern compared to April – the Midwest, down 7%; the South Atlantic, down 6%; the West, down 4%; the South Central, no change, and the Northeast, up 3%. Nonresidential building in May decreased 6% to $171.2 billion (annu- al rate), marking the second straight monthly decline after the heightened activity in March. The commercial building cate- gories as a group experienced a 9% shortfall in May. Hotel construction, which had been particularly strong during the initial months of 2016, fell 22%. Large projects that reached groundbreaking in May included the $97 million hotel portion of the $500 million mixed-use high-rise in New York, N.Y. and a $75 million Marriott hotel in Menlo Park, Calf. While noteworthy projects by themselves, they were smaller in scale than the substantial hotel and casino projects that reached groundbreaking in February and March. Office construction in May dropped 11%, despite the start of a $191 million office building in Brook- lyn, N.Y., a $139 million renovation of a federal government office building in Washington, D.C., and a $95 mil- lion renovation of an office campus in Akron, Ohio. Both stores and warehouses stayed close to their April levels, post- ing small declines of 1% and 3% re- spectively. The manufacturing plant catego- ry in May retreated 37%, following April's 38% hike that included the $717 million expansion to an alpha olefins plant in Louisiana. The institutional side of the non- residential building market held steady in May. The educational facilities cat- egory rose a moderate 4%, lifted by The Dodge Report continued from page 68 continued on page 86 World Fence News, Jr. Page Ad 7.25" x 9" PLEASE CENTER IN THE LIVE AREA

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