Construction spending tops $8.1 billion

The value of construction projects started by New York City public and
private institutions amounted to $8.1 billion over a two-year period
ending April, according to a New York Building Congress report released
today. The public sector was responsible for 60 percent of spending.
More than 1,500 construction projects were started by city-based
institutions over the two-year period. Construction of new government facilities totaled $4.8 billion in value, in direct contrast with the office sector, which has seen very little ground-up construction outside the World Trade Center in recent years. New construction starts include: the $650 million Weill Cornell Medical College’s research building; the $381 million City University of New York’s Advanced Research Center and $210 million Fiterman Hall; a Mount Sinai School of Medicine research building, valued at $225 million; and a $117 million Staten Island courthouse complex. New York Building Congress President Richard Anderson noted that Columbia, NYU and Fordham have unveiled detailed campus expansion plans, and CUNY has more than $1 billion in projects in varying stages of development. TRD