EDITOR'S NOTE: This post of contenders for ENR Southeast's annual "Top Starts" ranking was revised on 2/14/12 to an alphabetical listing of projects that may qualify for this year's list.

ENR Southeast is racing to rank the Southeast's "Top Starts" of 2011. This ranking will appear in the next, March 12 print edition of ENR Southeast.


blog post photo
The Piedmont Newnan Hospital Replacement Facility in Newnan, Ga., was included on last year's Top Starts ranking. (Image courtesy KBR Building Group)

To produce the annual ranking, we're scouring McGraw-Hill Construction's Dodge database, checking our previous editorial coverage and perusing the Internet for signs of those major projects. We've also sent out a call for entries that readers can use to inform us of their notable 2011 projects for possible inclusion in the ranking. To download this simple-to-use form, just click here.

We've published this ranking--previously known as "Top Projects"--for more than 10 years now. This ranking will include the Southeast's 25 largest construction projects, based on project value, that started construction during the preceding calendar year.

As we confirm projects as potential contenders for the final Top Starts ranking, we'll include them here, with project name, location and contractor information.

To give you an idea of how large a project may need to be to make the Top Starts ranking, you can check out last year's ranking here. The smallest project to make the grade last year was the $68.9-million Riverbend Correctional Facility in Milledgeville, Ga., being built by New South Construction. So that's the approximate value we're using to guide us in developing this year's list here.

Editor's Note: Since we are limiting the Top Starts ranking to 25 projects, it's possible that projects included here preliminarily could eventually be knocked off the list if we find and confirm enough contracts of larger value. Therefore, publication here is not a guarantee of inclusion on the final ranking published in the March 12 print edition.

That said, here are the contenders:

  • American Renewables’ Gainesville Renewable Energy Center biomass power plant, Gainesville, Fla.
  • Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Newnan, Ga.; a joint venture of Batson-Cook Co. and Okland Construction Co.
  • Chatham County Detention Center Expansion, Savannah, Ga.; Hunt/Mills, A Joint Venture
  • Charlotte Douglas International Airport Parking Deck, Charlotte, N.C.; contractor: Archer Western Contractors; construction manager: Turner Construction Co.
  • Dept. of Veterans Affairs' Bay Pines Mental Health Addition, Bay Pines, Fla.; joint venture of Archer Western Contractors and De Maria
  • Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, Orlando; contractor: Balfour Beatty Construction; owner’s representative: PCL Construction Services
  • Four Seasons Hotel at Walt Disney World, Orlando; Turner Construction
  • FPL’s Cape Canaveral Next Generation Natural Gas Power Plant project in Brevard County, Fla.; Zachry Construction Corp.
  • Gragg and Woodward Office Buildings and Parking Decks, near Charlotte, N.C.; Rodgers Builders
  • INEOS New Plant Bio Energy Waste-to-Ethanol Production Facility, Vero Beach, Fla.; AMEC Kamtech
  • Interstate 75 Widening, Pasco Co., Fla.; Prince Contracting Co.
  • Interstate 85/I-485 Interchange, Charlotte, N.C.; Lane Construction Corp.
  • Interstate 485, Mecklenburg County, N.C.; Blythe Construction Co.
  • Johnson Controls’ Battery Recycling Operations Building, Florence, S.C.; M.B. Kahn Construction Co.
  • Martin Army Community Hospital, Fort Benning, Ga.; Turner Construction Co.
  • Miami-Dade County Children's Courthouse, Miami; Suffolk Construction.
  • Miami Intermodal Center, Phase Six, Miami; Turner Construction Co.
  • Myrtle Beach International Airport Terminal Expansion, Myrtle Beach, S.C.; M.B. Kahn Construction
  • Orlando Regional Medical Center Bed Tower Expansion, Orlando; Brasfield & Gorrie
  • Palmetto Health Baptist Parkridge, Irmo, S.C.; Rodgers Builders
  • Progress Energy's Natural Gas-Fired Combined Cycle Sutton Plant, Wilmington, N.C.
  • SR-9/Interstate 95 Express Lanes, Phase 2; Miami-Dade and Broward counties, Fla.; Hubbard Construction
  • Terraces at Bonita Springs Retirement Facility, Bonita Springs, Fla.; Lend Lease
  • Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center Outpatient Comprehensive Cancer Center Expansion, Winston-Salem, N.C.; Lend Lease
  • ZF Transmissions Manufacturing Facility, Laurens Co., S.C.; Walbridge Southeast