Southeast’s Top Projects

Value of Contracts for This Year’s Ranking is Bigger Than Ever – But Will it Last?

By Scott Judy

Was 2007 the ultimate boom before the coming bust? The beginning of the end? And, with overall Southeast construction activity on an apparent decline so far in 2008, will next year’s list prove to be just a shadow of the rankings of the past few years?

Those are just some of the questions posed by this year’s Top Projects ranking, which smashed last year’s record total volume of approximately $6.9 billion on its way to this year’s total of about $10.9 billion. (Of course, if this year’s top-ranked, $4 billion Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project in Aiken, S.C., is cut out, then the two lists are comparable in size.)

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As it does every year, Southeast Construction’s annual “Top Projects” report, a ranking by construction contract value of the biggest projects to break ground during the preceding calendar year within Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, provides a snapshot of the sectors that are helping to drive and define the Southeast’s construction market. And though the size of that snapshot is roughly the same as last year’s, things have changed notably.

This year’s ranking includes all projects with a construction value of $100 million or more. Last year’s Top Projects list included 42 such projects; this year’s features 37.

Our initial sources included reports generated by the McGraw-Hill Construction Network, a survey of general contractors working in the region, information from the various state transportation agencies, items previously reported in Southeast Construction and other sources.

After assembling a preliminary list, we followed up with general contractors, owners and other sources for the latest information on their projects. Again, the project costs listed here are the reported values of the construction contracts and are not intended to represent overall development costs.

In a few cases, we verified approximate values of the project. For example, the Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility is widely reported as having an overall cost of $4.8 billion. As with all of the projects included in this ranking, we needed the construction contract value and sought that information from our sources.

The project owner, the U.S. Department of Energy, could only verify that the value of the joint venture’s contract was “at least $4 billion,” so we erred on the side of caution and published it as a $4 billion contract value.

Additionally, if we could not obtain verification of a project’s contract value or other criteria, we did not include that project in our ranking. At the same time, if you think we “missed” a project, please feel free to inform us. We’re happy to receive the information for consideration of possible future editorial coverage.

In short, we made every effort to ensure that this Top Projects ranking was as accurate and complete as possible.

Project Rankings

This year, we featured profiles of the projects to gain the top 20 spots. (Actually, there was a four-way tie at 18, resulting in 21 projects.) These projects, coincidentally, all total at least $150 million in project cost.

The remainder of this year’s Top Projects ranking, another 16 projects, is included in a chart.

Additionally, all of this year’s Top Projects will be published as an online slideshow at www.southeast.construction.com, beginning June 1.

Snapshot

Again, the picture developed by this year’s listing is notably different than last year’s. For example, when comparing the two years, it’s apparent that the Top Projects ranking we published last year definitely caught the end of the condo boom.

Last year’s list featured 11 condo projects, located throughout the Southeast, that were more than $100 million in value. The highest-ranked of those, Jade Ocean in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., ranked eighth. This year, however, our Top Projects ranking includes only four projects that are entirely residential.

Further, only one of them, the 18th-ranked, $150 million Trump Hollywood in Hollywood Beach, Fla., is located in Florida. The others include the $143.5 million Vue in Charlotte; the $143 million North Beach Plantation project in Myrtle Beach, S.C.; and the $136.6 million Atlantic project in Atlanta.

Another residential project is the $243.9 million Military Barracks Project at Fort Benning, Ga.

Other projects that feature a strong residential makeup also rely upon either a hospitality component or a mixed-use strategy, often including office space, to move forward. These include the $480 million St. Regis Resort and Residences in Bal Harbour, Fla.; and the $126 million 3630 Peachtree project in Atlanta.

Health care is again another sector with multiple projects in this year’s Top Projects ranking, but with only about half of many as last year’s list. This year, five health care-related projects made the grade: the $242 million Shands Cancer Hospital at the University of Florida in Gainesville; the $160 million Sarasota Hospital Central Energy Plant and Patient Tower in Sarasota, Fla.; the $150 million expansion of Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Fla.; the $142 million St. Joseph’s Hospital – North project in Lutz, Fla.; and the $115 million Parker H. Petit Science Center at Georgia State University in Atlanta.

The number of transportation projects – both vertical and horizontal – on this year’s ranking stayed steady and strong compared to last year.

They include the $430 million Interstate 75 Road Expansion project in Lee and Collier counties, Fla.; the $325.5 million Rental Car Center at the Miami Intermodal Center; the $191.9 million Interstate 20/I-520 Interchange Reconstruction in Richmond County, Ga.; the $125.9 million Palmetto Parkway, Phase II project in North Augusta, S.C.; the $119.7 million Interstate 95 widening project in Glynn and McIntosh counties, Ga.; the $105.6 million State Route 414/John Land Apopka Expressway project in Orlando; the $104.3 million U.S. Highway 311 project in Archdale, N.C.; and the $103.7 million Interstate 275 Reconstruction in Tampa.

Another transportation-related project, the $160 million Dames Point Container Terminal in Jacksonville, Fla., will provided expanded service for cargo ships.

The office sector increased its contribution to the Top Projects ranking. Last year, only two projects that were primarily office buildings made the list – Bank of America’s headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., and Office Depot’s new home in Boca Raton, Fla.

This year, there are four office projects included in the ranking (with notably three of them located in Miami): the $360 million Wachovia First Street Office project in Charlotte; and in Miami the $310 Met 2 development, the $150 million Brickell Financial Centre office tower and the $140 million 1450 Brickell project.

The hospitality sector also increased its contribution to the Top Projects ranking, compared to last year when there were only two such projects included. This year’s ranking includes four such projects – all of which are in Florida and three of which involve Hilton. The first is the $480 million St. Regis Resort and Residences, followed by the $277.8 million Bonnet Creek Resort in Orlando; the $205 million Orlando Convention Center Hilton in Orlando; and the $150 million Hilton Pompano Beach Resort in Pompano Beach.

Two major retail-focused projects made the list this year – the $184.7 million Prospect Park project in Atlanta and the $165 million Mercato in Naples, Fla.