Written by Greg on August 30, 2018
A Look Up at High Rise Construction
High rise construction of buildings greater than 10 stories is one of the most cyclical segments of the U.S. construction market. During a recession the volume of these high rise buildings can fall to virtually nothing, and in strong markets it can rebound significantly, as seen in the infographic below. You can see that high rise construction was strongest in the few years before the 2008 recession, but has rebounded well in the years following the recession.
Looking more closely at the purely nonresidential building types, the pattern is repeated, but it’s important to note that even in the strongest periods, nationally there are under 200 projects over 10 stories high started in any year.
Additionally, the very super high rise building category (high rise buildings with 20 or more stories) is dominated by just three building categories, apartments, hotels and motels, and finally, office and bank buildings.
Unsurprisingly, high rise construction of buildings is concentrated in major cities, led by an incredible margin in the New York metro area. From 2013 to 2017 there were only 10 metro areas that had 50 buildings or more over 10 stories break ground. These metropolitan areas include New York, Miami, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Seattle, Dallas-Fort Worth, Boston, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
