Groundbreakings cooled in June after megaproject boom eased | Dump Trucks Charlotte NC

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Construction activity slowed in June after a busy month of multiple multibillion-dollar groundbreakings.

Total starts tumbled 19.9% month over month in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.42 trillion, according to a report from Dodge Construction Network. The decline followed a particularly strong period of activity during which contractors broke ground on several large-scale projects in sectors such as energy and infrastructure.

“After strong megaproject activity in May, construction starts came back down to earth throughout the month of June,” Sarah Martin, director of economic research at Dodge Construction Network, said in a statement. “Residential and institutional construction remain weak, while commercial, industrial and nonbuilding construction continue to show strong year-to-date growth.”

Nonresidential building starts fell 9.1% month over month in June, according to the report. In particular, manufacturing construction plummeted 62.9% for the period, while other sector starts, such as office and data centers, slipped 3.7%.

On a positive note, commercial construction rose 1.2% in the month, led by gains in warehouse, hotel and retail construction activity, according to Dodge.

Through the first six months of the year, total nonresidential starts increased 6.2%, driven by a 17.9% increase in commercial projects. Institutional construction activity, such as education and healthcare starts, decreased 7.3% on a year-to-date basis through June, per the report.

Nonbuilding construction, such as infrastructure groundbreakings, fell 37.7% month over month in June, according to the report. The dip included a 46.6% decline in the highway and bridge category, and a 70.3% drop in utility construction. These pullbacks followed a massive groundbreaking month in May, when the nonbuilding category posted a 91.9% jump month over month.

Despite the month-over-month drops, nonbuilding groundbreakings through the first half of the year were still up. Through the end of June, nonbuilding starts posted 33.8% growth compared to last year, according to the report.

Residential starts continued to soften month over month in June, according to the report. Single-family starts ticked down 3.4% month over month, while multifamily construction slipped 0.4% during the monthly span in June.

The largest projects to break ground in June included, according to Dodge:

• The $3.6 billion Delta Forge 1 hyperscale data center campus in Boyce, Louisiana.
• The $2.4 billion Cleveland Browns Huntington Bank Field Stadium in Brook Park, Ohio.
• The $2.1 billion Sentinel Midstream Deepwater Port in Freeport, Texas.
• The $2.1 billion Amtrak Sawtooth Bridge replacement in Kearny, New Jersey.
• The $2 billion AWS data center phase 2 in Canton, Mississippi.
• The $480 million 1740 Broadway residential conversion in New York City.
• The $251 million River Commons Residential and Community facility in Concourse, New York.
• The $191 million 40 Exchange Place residential conversion in New York City.