Specialty Firms Continue to Flourish in Region
Construction is thriving in the New York area, and specialty contractors are taking advantage of the opportunity
O’Connell Electric installed electric infrastructure in the new headquarters for G.A. Braun in North Syracuse, N.Y.
PHOTO COURTESY OF O’CONNELL ELECTRIC CO.
A soil recycling facility run by Clean Earth Inc., Carteret, N.J., has been busy handling spoils from more active commercial and infrastructure projects in New York and New Jersey.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CLEAN EARTH INC.
W&W Glass was active in glazing and curtain wall work, including on this high-rise underway at the Hudson Yards site.
PHOTO COURTESY OF W&W GLASS
Revenue for the Top Specialty Contractors in New York and New Jersey reached $2.6 billion in 2015, with the top 10 firms on ENR New York’s 2016 ranking accounting for nearly $2 billion of that. EMCOR Group Inc., No. 1 for the second year in a row, reported that revenue rose 5.4%, to $696 million, with work booming in both mechanical and electrical construction in both states.
O’Connell Electric Co. rose one notch to fourth place on the list this year and CEO Victor Salerno expects another lucrative year moving forward.
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View ENR's 2016 New York Top Specialty Contracting Firms |
“Construction in our primary New York state markets has been reasonably robust over the past year, leading to our largest sales volume ever,” says Salerno. He notes several very large utility projects, including a large transmission line and substation. “We anticipate that these opportunities will continue into the next year,” he says.
Electrical construction is a busy specialty for firms on the list: E-J Electric Installation Co., which rose to second place this year from No. 3 in 2015, is engaged in work on the $71.5-million Queens Midtown Tunnel project. Chairman J. Robert Mann says the future is bright. “There is a terrific amount of P3 (public-private partnership) work in New York that should materialize in the next year,” he says. “This will be a big spike in construction for the next five to 10 years. We don’t expect this to happen again so everyone is trying to take opportunities as they come along.”
Among mechanical contractors, Comfort Systems USA rose four places on the list to No. 7 with 2015 regional revenue increasing to $110 million from $105 million.
Contractors in other specialities also made appearances among the top 10 firms. P.A.L. Environmental Safety Corp., No. 9 on this year’s list, is doing asbestos and lead abatement work at 370 Jay Street, a $6.66-million project in Brooklyn for New York University. The firm reported revenue of $104 million in 2015, up from the $100 million it reported in 2014.
W&W Glass LLC, No. 6 on this year’s list, is doing glazing and curtain wall work as part of a $68-million project at 1271 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan. The company climbed from No. 10 in last year’s ranking, with a revenue increase of 18%.
According to the New York Building Congress, regional construction is on pace for continued growth. President Richard T. Anderson says new office construction will continue to push the market through 2019. “If all goes right, we could see upward of 13 million square feet of additional office space under construction when 2020 rolls around,” he says.
