Top Starts: ENR Southeast Ranks the Largest Projects to Start in 2022

As the first month of 2023 comes to a close, ENR Southeast is taking its annual look back to tally the largest projects to get underway in the previous calendar year throughout the region. 

The top 25 projects that started construction in 2022 will be listed for the Top Starts ranking In the March 6 edition of ENR Southeast, but based on the preliminary list, the Southeast saw a year of large projects getting started following a long recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic that's still taking its toll on contractors. 

Manufacturing projects top the list for the largest projects of 2022 across ENR's Southeast region, covering Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Puerto Rico. Those projects are joined on the list by health care, residential and infrastructure projects, among others. 

Along with the ranking, contractors in the region will note how they are navigating lingering effects of the pandemic and other market challenges.

ENR Southeast gathers information from multiple sources, including Dodge Data & Analytics, ENR news reports and those from other publications, as well as information submitted by project teams. 

See below the preliminary version of the ranking, still subject to change as more survey responses come in and more information is reviewed. If you are part of a project to break ground during 2022 that would be eligible for ranking, please reach out to me, Derek Lacey, at laceyd@enr.com. 

• $5.5-billion Hyundai US EV Megaplant America Plant, Ellabell, Ga. – Hyundai Engineering
• $1.25-billion Novelis Low-Carbon Aluminum Recycling Plant, Bay Minette, Ala.
• $500-million Eli Lilly Manufacturing and Utilities Campus, Concord, N.C. – Gilbane Building Co.
• $450-million The Residences at 400 Central, St. Petersburg, Fla. – Suffolk Construction Co.
• $425-million Dixie and Dixie Ultra Manufacturing Plant, Jackson, Tenn. – JE Dunn
• $400-million Northside Gwinnett Hospital Patient Tower, Lawrenceville, Ga. – Batson-Cook Co. 
• $400-million St. Jude Outpatient Clinical Care Building, Memphis, Tenn. – Flintco LLC
• $357-million Tyndall Air Force Base Site Development and Utilities Phases I and II, Tyndall AFB, Fla. – Lane Construction Corp.
• $350-million St. Jude Clinical Office Building, Memphis, Tenn. – Flintco LLC
• $350-million YMCA of Middle Tennessee Residential Tower, Nashville, Tenn. – AECOM Hunt
• $300-million Jacksonville International Airport Concourse B Terminal, Jacksonville, Fla. – Balfour Beatty
• $280-million Nashville Yards Office Building Tower 3, Nashville, Tenn. – Bell & Associates Construction
• $275-million Cherokee Valley River Casino and Hotel Expansion, Murphy, N.C. – The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. 
• $250-million Nashville International Airport (BNA) Concourse D Extension, Nashville, Tenn. – Hensel Phelps
• $250-million Spark LS Life Science Campus Phase 1, Morrisville, N.C. – Brasfield & Gorrie 
• $247-million NCDOT I-95 Paving & Improvements, Lumberton, N.C. – Flatiron Constructors Inc.
• $242-million FLDOT SR 55 (US 19) Overpasses Improvements, St. Petersburg, Fla. – Johnson Bros. Corporation
• $200-million James Hardie Building Expansion, Prattville, Ala. – Dunn Building Co. LLC
• $200-million Williamson Medical Center Expansion, Franklin, Tenn. – JE Dunn Construction
• $199-million Five Park, Miami Beach, Fla. – Moss & Associates