The construction business rebounded in 2021, proving an economic windfall as the industry started its recovery from Covid-19.
In just about every metro area but Greater Washington, that is.
This region is one of just a few of the largest American metros to record a second year of construction slowdowns in 2021, according to Dodge Data & Analytics, which tracks the business. A total of $8.4 billion in new construction started in the region during the year, which is 9% below 2020 levels — when it recorded $9.2 billion in construction starts, and 29% below the levels in 2019, when $11.8 billion in construction kicked off here.
Dodge pinned the decline firmly on the slowdown of the office and retail market. Commercial construction starts dropped 18% in the metro, Dodge noted, because fewer office and warehouse buildings started construction, even as the region saw a small uptick in starts of new hotels and parking structures. The largest commercial construction starts were data centers, including the $450 million Sterling 144 MW EdgeCore data center and the $225 million Vantage data center.
