Texas & SoutheastTexas & Southeast Construction News

Top Contractors Survey Shows Gradual Gains for Southeast Builders

By Scott Judy

The Southeast's long-anticipated construction revival has arrived for some firms but remains a mere promise for others. According to McGraw Hill Construction, the four-state region of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas saw an estimated $10-billion decline in the value of new contracts in 2013. Even so, ENR Southeast's annual Top Contractors survey and ranking reveals some continued regional momentum.

Photo courtesy of Balfour Beatty Construction

Georgia firms are seeing signs of life, such as the $1-billion Buckhead Atlanta project being built by Balfour Beatty.

Altogether, firms participating in this year's survey collectively reported $19.9 billion in revenue from the four-state region, a $2.6-billion gain over last year's $17.3-billion tally. Of this year's total, the top 10 firms contributed nearly 36%, or $7.1 billion—a roughly 9% gain in dollar volume compared with the $6.5 billion reported by last year's top 10.

Once again Brasfield & Gorrie took the top spot on the ranking and looks poised to remain No. 1 for some time to come, considering its recent win as joint-venture lead for the $672-million Atlanta Braves ballpark project. Indeed, some of the high-profile projects that ranked firms have recently been awarded or started—such as the $1.2-billion Atlanta Falcons stadium, the $2-billion reconstruction of Orlando's stretch of Interstate 4 or the $400-million, 1,000-ft-tall SkyRise observation tower in Miami—suggest continued forward movement.

The Ranking

ENR Southeast's Top Contractors list ranks firms based on 2013 regional revenue. Additionally, the main chart provides details about each firm's top markets as well as their biggest projects in the region. A series of breakout charts follows, with rankings based on state and market sector revenue.

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.