Drawing from Dodge Construction Network data and details provided by industry firms and other sources, ENR East’s Top Starts ranking reflects projects that started in 2025 across Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.

The $1-billion Netflix Studios Fort Monmouth project in Monmouth County, N.J., ranks ninth on the ENR East Top Starts list.
Rendering courtesy Netflix

Digital Infrastructure Drives Growth

Advanced technology projects and mission-critical work remain the strongest growth engines in the East, particularly in Northern Virginia and emerging corridors farther south, says Camilo Garcia, DPR Construction Northeast co-regional leader. “AI-driven computing demand is accelerating investment in data centers, and capital commitment remains strong for projects with secured power positions,” he says.

Project viability increasingly hinges on early infrastructure coordination, not just financing. “Electrical infrastructure planning and long-lead equipment procurement are now central to schedule strategy,” Garcia says.

The Caroline County data center campus exemplifies that shift, according to Matthew Englert, chief delivery officer for owner CleanArc Data Centers. “In the digital infrastructure sector, we’re seeing a fundamental shift in demand toward facilities that can support the next wave of AI and cloud innovation,” he says. “These technologies require data center campuses built for scale, flexibility and long-term growth.”

Englert adds that sustainability and community considerations are now integral to hyperscale development. He says the project’s closed-loop cooling system “significantly” reduces water use. “Growth must be responsible,” Englert says. “We’re prioritizing sustainable development, incorporating land conservation initiatives and engineering solutions which are less environmentally impactful than traditional data center designs.”

Chris Beck, managing director of Turner Construction Co., which is building the No. 10-ranked $925-million Bauxite III data center in Frederick, Md., says “momentum in the data center market in Maryland and Northern Virginia is spreading across the broader region. We’re in a smart-growth phase for construction. AI is transforming how we build; health care and education investment remain strong; and sustainable infrastructure demand will continue to drive meaningful opportunity. At the same time, our industry is placing greater emphasis on safety—recognizing that emotional well-being is just as important as physical safety on our jobsites.”

Megaprojects Hold Firm

Despite uncertain federal funding and broader market instability, transportation investment continued to anchor the region’s construction pipeline in 2025, with several multibillion-dollar public projects moving forward. At the same time, large institutional projects tied to health and safety are advancing, including the No. 6-ranked $1.7-billion Wadsworth Center laboratory in Albany, N.Y. In a statement announcing the project’s start, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the lab “will allow the state to better predict and prepare for emerging threats to public health.”

 

Market Reallocation, Not Retreat

While major projects continue to advance, some industry leaders see a clear rebalancing across sectors.

Traditional office work and some higher education projects have cooled, DPR’s Garcia says. “Overall, cooling in these sectors reflects capital discipline rather than structural collapse,” he says. “The market is not contracting broadly—it is reallocating toward sectors with durable demand and clearer long-term return profiles.”

Eric Reid, chief operating officer for AECOM Tishman’s New York region, sees continued opportunity in targeted commercial development, especially in a recently rezoned area of midtown Manhattan that “has unlocked tremendous potential in commercial development.” Ongoing work around Grand Central Terminal will create “an exciting hub of innovation, supporting the local economy for generations to come,” he adds.

Entertainment, media and experiential spaces are also emerging as durable drivers. In Monmouth County, N.J., contractor JT Magen & Co. is building the No. 9-ranked $1-billion Netflix Studios in Fort Monmouth. “Media and entertainment and high-performance commercial interiors continue to lead” regional opportunities, says Vincent Ryan, executive vice president at Magen. “As an experienced builder in the data center sector, we expect that market to continue to grow in the coming years, driven by increasing demand for digital infrastructure and AI-related capacity. More broadly, owners are prioritizing partners [that] can deliver certainty, speed and technical expertise as projects become more complex and capital intensive.”

Christian Giordano, the president and co‑owner of Mancini Duffy Architects, the architect on the Netflix project, said multifamily residential and industrial work have softened, especially in sub-sectors tied to distribution and warehouse expansion.

“We see office activity continuing, especially for projects focused on right sizing, upgrades, amenities, and experience driven workplaces,” Giordano says. “Hospitality should remain strong, with restaurants and retail continuing to move forward in high demand corridors and mixed use environments. We also expect film and production to stay active as more ‘Hollywood on the East Coast’ investment continues, particularly in New Jersey. As that ecosystem grows, it creates additional opportunities beyond studios themselves, including hotels and extended stay, food and beverage, support office, storage, and production related infrastructure for smaller and mid sized players entering the market.”