Skanska expects to start building a $42-million specialty clinic at the Harris County Hospital District’s Holly Hill campus. And the company plans to start construction soon on a parking garage and specialty clinic at LBJ General Hospital, also for the district.

Korte of St. Louis, Mo., is building a new $20.1-million Armed Forces Reserve Center training facility in Tyler, scheduled for completion in 2011. It will serve 800 soldiers.

SpawGlass is constructing the second, $47.5-million phase of an Armed Forces Reserve Center at Ellington Field. It consists of seven buildings.

Continued growth Although predictions are difficult, Scott anticipates construction will pick up in 2011.

Skanska’s Howe, on the other hand, says architects are not drawing, which will affect construction activity in the coming year.

Sahni says he expects “there will be a slight bettering of the market, but it will be slow.”

However, Houston continues to expand. U.S. Census data showed that 2.25 million called the city home in 2009, with 4 million residents in Harris County. The Institute for Regional Forecasting at the University of Houston reported earlier this year that it expects the eight-county Houston area to grow from 5.1 million people to 7.4 million people by 2020.

“It may be ’11 or ’12 before we see it going somewhere, but the thing that keeps the tempo up is the fact that the area continues to grow,” AGC’s Nevlud says. “But in the short term, there is a lot of concern.”