Construction shows no sign of flagging in Texas, according to a recent Forbes report. Dallas, Houston and Austin all rank among the top 20 U.S. cities where building is booming.
The business publication and McGraw Hill Construction looked at new construction data — the total dollar amount of building starts, including residential and commercial — in U.S. metropolitan statistical areas. Forbes notes new construction was up 10 percent in 2012 across the country, and McGraw Hill projects it will climb another 12 percent in 2013.
Dallas-Fort-Worth-Arlington ranks No. 2 among Building Boom Cities, with $5.2 billion spent on construction projects between January and May 2013 — a 21 percent increase over the same period last year. New York, which has seen an upsurge in construction projects — mostly residential towers and mixed-use developments — took the No. 1 spot.
With $4.8 billion already logged before May, Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land comes in at No. 3. Austin-Round Rock ranks No. 15, with $1.8 billion spent on projects year-to-date.
The figures account for all "total building" structures, including single-family and multi-family homes, office space, retail space, warehouses, heath care facilities, educational buildings, manufacturing plants, and research facilities. It does not include money spent on public works projects such as bridges, streets and parks.
The country's real estate recovery largely stems from homebuilding, in particular muli-family housing. According to McGraw Hill estimates, apartment building starts were up 33 percent nationally in 2012 and will rise another 23 percent this year.
About Dallas and Houston, Forbes has this to say:
The largest projects [in the Dallas area] include the $113 million T5 office space addition at the Dallas Data Center in Plano, a new $91 million high school campus in the suburb of Flower Mound, and several warehouse sites that will serve as distribution centers for companies like Nebraska Furniture Mart, ACE Hardware and Amazon.
While Dallas is welcoming a tremendous amount of building related to business operations and infrastructure, Houston's largest projects have typically revolved around health care and housing, such as the $72 million MD Anderson Pavilion begun in May and the $45 million Hanover Post Oak rental high rise begun in April.
Ken Rosen, chairman of the Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, considers Houston one of his building hot spots, along with Phoenix, San Francisco and San Jose.
Dallas ranks No. 2 on Forbes' list of Building Boom Cities.
