New England’s construction industry was fortunate to have a sizable backlog of turnkey projects ready to be built as soon as the recession ended, including several luxury condo towers in Boston. And the market for high-end residential properties only grew as the economy continued to improve.
But in the time since the recession ended, there’s been a slight movement in market sectors from residential to institutional and higher education markets, says Gilbane Building Co.’s Ryan Hutchins. “If you look back at every cycle we’ve been through in the past 50 years,” says the senior vice president overseeing New England, “it always starts out as a big residential play and then shifts into this institutional-based market sector. I see that throughout New England.”