A building boom, on the inside

You see the cranes, but you probably don’t see the guys doing the drywall.

Money spent doing construction work on existing buildings rose for the third consecutive year in 2016, according to an analysis of Dodge Data & Analytics numbers by the New York Building Congress.

Total spending hit $9.3 billion across 5,641 construction projects, according to the reported costs on permits issued by New York City’s Department of Buildings. The split between Manhattan and the outer boroughs on the permit activity was 70-30, Politico reported.

The report noted that 46 percent of the construction activity came from commercial property owners, with office buildings accounting for approximately one-third of all interior work permits over the last six years. Institutional work, such as for schools and hospitals, was the second most prominent in the data.

It wasn’t long ago that more modest annual sums of $5.5 billion for alteration construction were the norm — that was the average between 2011 and 2013. But for 2014 through 2016, the average ballooned to $9 billion in projected spending.

“Interior construction work is the unsung hero of the current building boom,” New York Building Congress president Carlo Scissura said in a statement. “While all eyes are understandably focused on the brand new office and residential towers that are piercing the New York City skyline, an extraordinary amount of important construction work is occurring, largely under the radar, throughout the five boroughs.”

Scissura attributed the spending increases to heightened market competition and a need to comply with new environmental standards among other factors.
The Real Deal recently ranked the architecture firms with the most renovation work on interiors in New York. [Politico] — Will Parker

(To view a selection of largest permits issued in Manhattan, click here)