Construct-A-Lead’s Research Team detected a significant resurgence in major project planning throughout the month of March 2022, including a noticeable upswing in hotel and high rise planning. Throughout March 2021, the CAL team recorded 2,015 planned new projects, including 65 hotels and 73 projects valued over $100 million, however in March 2022 (as of March 27th) CAL’s researchers have already logged 2,506 planned new projects, with 96 hotels and 137 projects valued over $100 million being added during the month to the CAL database. Given current trends, it’s likely that the month will end with over 3,000 projects and 100+ hotels being added to the CAL database.

This renaissance comes as many states and Canada have opted to ease back on restrictions that have inhibited hospitality, entertainment, and other types of recreational and commercial planning for the last two years. While residential planning, which accounted for over 44% of CAL projects in 2021, remains the primary force driving new construction, CAL researchers have detected a noticeable rise in non-residential planning in areas where new housing dominated the market in 2021. Overall project values have also risen, as 1,852 projects between $25 and $100 million and 394 projects over $100 million have been logged in the first quarter of 2022.

As of March 27th the CAL team has reported on a total of 7,959 new projects for the year. During the same time period in 2021 it uncovered a combined 6,066 projects.

Many of the trends from 2020 and 2021 have carried over into 2022, however, including the leading role the Southern US has taken in new project planning. In 2021, the CAL team recorded approximately 7,100 projects in the state of Texas, making it the leading state for new project generation. This position has been retained in 2022, as CAL’s researchers have logged 2,366 new projects in the Lone Star State as of March 27th. Florida, which came in third in terms of new project planning in 2021, has leapfrogged ahead of California for second place among the states in 2022, with CAL reporting on 699 new projects in the Sunshine State so far this year.  Developments in North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee have also remained robust in 2022.

The strength of new project planning in the South reflects recent data for the mid-2020 to mid-2021 timeframe from the US Census Bureau which indicates that the region received a significant boost in population due to migration from other areas of the country, with Texas and Florida each gaining over 200,000 residents in that period.

The CAL team has also detected several possible micro-trends in 2022, including a recent upswing in research facility planning, with 52 new projects having been reported so far this year, and what appears to be a restoration of bar/club and restaurant planning throughout the country. 

While new planning has risen in recent months, it is unclear if older projects that had been in the pipeline prior to 2020 will all be moving forward, even with revised schedules, as most work sites continue to experience supply disruptions and other challenges. If trends seen in the March 2022 data continue, however, new project planning for 2022 should outpace that of 2021, particularly for large-scale, high value projects.

Sources: 2021 and 2022 Construct-A-Lead data, US Census Bureau

Director of Research