Texas & SoutheastTexas & Southeast Construction News

North Carolina Contracts Take Off in June

A huge boost in the nonbuilding sector propelled the value of North Carolina’s June construction starts total to an estimated $2.2 billion, for a 98% improvement over the same period of a year ago, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of ENR Southeast.

New nonbuilding contracts—which include infrastructure projects—totaled more than $1.1 billion in June, or nearly $1 billion higher than last June’s total of $175.2 million.

Nonresidential contracts also got started at an increased pace in June, with this category registering $461.6 million in new projects, for a 28% improvement over a year ago. New residential contracts were flat, totaling $557.4 million.

Despite June’s surge, North Carolina’s overall year-to-date total remains negative. McGraw-Hill Construction estimates 2011 new contracts at slightly more than $6.9 billion, or 8% lower than the same period of a year ago.

On a year-to-date basis, nonbuilding is the only positive sector. Its $2 billion total through June represents a 27% improvement over the same pace of a year ago. Nonresidential construction starts are 21% lower than last year, with about $2.1 billion in new contracts so far this year. North Carolina’s residential market is 14% lower than 2010’s pace, with an estimated $2.8 billion in new contracts.

Scott Judy is ENR’s Managing Editor. His roughly 34 years as a construction journalist began with an 11-year stint visiting and writing about construction projects in the Midwest region of Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. Then, in 2000, Judy helped launch ENR Southeast, now known as ENR Texas & Southeast. After all these years, Judy says his favorite part of being an ENR editor is visiting job sites and learning how—and reporting on—a team’s approach to overcoming the project’s design and construction challenges. And Judy says he never turns down an invitation for a project visit.