COVID-19 Affects Nonresidential Building

COVID-19 continues to impact industries left and right and is now hitting the nonresidential building sector. The Dodge Momentum Index declined 6% in April, according to a release from Dodge Data & Analytics. The index measures the initial report of nonresidential projects in planning.

Despite the significant drop, the full impact of COVID-19 has not been measured yet as the index is a three-month moving average. The commercial component dropped 7.6%, and the institutional component fell 3.2% in April. Dodge Data & Analytics expects June will be even weaker once the May data is incorporated into the index.

There were only six projects that entered planning valued at $100 million or more in April. The commercial sector was led by a $380 million office building in California and a $100 million hotel in Las Vegas. The top institutional projects were a $365 million medical building in Houston and A $100 million project in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. There were 14 projects valued at $100 million or more to enter planning in March.

-Michael Miller, managing editor