“I hope with a new governor we can revitalize those discussions and begin to finance the infrastructure projects we so desperately need to create an economic development platform,” says Lou Coletti, president and CEO of the Building Trades Employer’s Association in New York.

New Jersey

McGraw-Hill Analytics antici-pates $3.04 billion in nonbuilding construction in New Jersey in 2011, down from $3.87 billion in 2010; $3.63 billion in nonresidential building, up from $2.73 billion in 2010; and $2.55 billion in residential construction, up from $1.99 billion in 2010.

“It doesn’t look bright, and we might be progressing a little slower than other states around us,” says Jack Kocsis, chief executive officer of Associated General Contractors of New Jersey and Building Contractors Association of New Jersey, in Edison. “There is reluctance in the development community to put their money at risk. We don’t have a time frame we can give the development community for getting projects approved. The governor is trying to unravel it, but it will take time.”

In addition, Kocsis says the state is broke, which will affect public projects.

The New Jersey Alliance for Action’s 26th annual Construction Forecast estimates public and private construction will be down $11 billion or 30% to $25.2 billion in 2011 and 2012. Much of the decline is related to transportation projects and the expectation that the New Jersey Transportation Trust will run out of money in 2011.

The Alliance projects utilities will spend $5.7 billion in the next two years and pharmaceutical and medical technologies companies will invest $2.6 billion

Kocsis calls the Alliance’s forecast “probably accurate.”

“Thirty percent is a reality check,” Kocsis says. “We’ve been going through three years of a down cycle and I don’t see any drastic improvement. We are probably at the bottom and will climb slightly [but] it will take several to get out.”

Connecticut

McGraw-Hill Analytics projects $1.21 billion in nonbuilding construction in Connecticut in 2011, up from $1.05 billion in 2010; $1.93 billion in nonresidential building, up from $1.75 billion in 2010; and $1.44 billion in residential construction, up from $1.12 billion in 2010.

However, Donald J. Shubert, president of the Connecticut Construction Industries Alliance in Wethersfield, reports virtually no vertical construction, with state university, schools and other projects drying up. Some private university work has started.

“They realize they are getting a lot of construction for the dollar and are taking advantage of the lower prices,” Shubert says. “The big thing is the competition. The pool competing for jobs is so big.”

Work is continuing on the Metropolitan District’s $2.1 Billion Clean Water Project in Hartford, including sewer separation, inflow and infiltration reduction, a 13,000-ft storage and conveyance tunnel, 200 million gallon per day treatment plant expansion for wet weather control, nitrogen treatment facilities, ultraviolet light disinfection, and a heat recovery facility to produce electricity from incinerator waste heat. The district is starting its fifth year of the 15-year project.

“It was slow starting over the last couple of years, but we are see activity there,” says Shubert. In addition the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funded some clean water projects in the state that are now getting under way.

Shubert says there has been some renovation of small retail spaces. However, retail, schools and other commercial building often follow rooftops, and Bureau of Economic Analysis data manipulated by the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis shows new home construction in Connecticut continues to shrink, with home prices not near to overcoming the value they lost in 2009, says Peter Gunther, a senior research fellow at the center. He adds that the center is a little more optimistic than it has been about jobs, but they are “not rebounding in a big way.”

Shubert adds that he expects the new Gov. Dan Malloy will address the state’s infrastructure needs, despite a $3 billion state budget deficit. Four major projects, including the Q-Bridge in New Haven have consumed most of the available dollars.

“He knows that investing in infrastructure will be part of the solution to getting Connecticut’s economy going again,” says Shubert, adding that there is no indication the state is climbing out of the doldrums. “We always planned for 2011 to be the worst year [for construction], and it looks like that is going to happen.”