Public and private institutions initiated $4.6 billion worth of construction projects last year, the highest seen in New York City since at least 2009.
According to the latest report by the New York Building Congress, construction projects started by public and private institutions — including schools, hospitals, cultural facilities and courts — reached a seven-year high last year. Project starts increased by 22 percent from 2014, when $3.8 billion worth of projects were started. The report also notes that public and private construction starts totaled $26.1 billion over the last eight years — from July 2008 to June 2016. Of that volume, $9.6 billion was for school projects and $8 billion was for hospitals and healthcare facilities.
Construction starts in the first half of 2016, however, only reached $1.4 billion, less than half of the construction started during the same time period last year. But, according to the report, last year’s numbers were boosted by the construction of a few major projects, like the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center on the Upper East Side. Plus, last year’s numbers far outshine the construction starts in previous years — the value of construction starts only reached $796 million in the first half of 2014 and $1.2 billion in the first half of 2013.
The organization also points out that many of the biggest projects started this year are located in the outerboroughs, including the South Beach Psychiatric Center inpatient facility on Staten Island, which is valued at $180 million. In previous years, the biggest institutional construction projects were located in Manhattan.
“It is interesting to note that so many of the larger institutional projects undertaken in early 2016 are happening in the outer boroughs,” Richard Anderson, the Building Congress’ president, said in a statement. “This is a potential trend that is worth keeping an eye on, especially in light of all the new residential and commercial development we are seeing throughout Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island.”