Data Centers Continue to Increase in Size But Other Projects Join $1-Billion Club

Although the overall construction climate isn’t too inspiring right now in many cities and regions of the country, there always seem to be a few new mega-projects to capture the imagination of construction professionals.
Data centers campuses continue to increase in scale, led by Microsoft’s Jan. 2026 proposal for a $13-billion campus that would include 15 data centers in Mount Pleasant, WI; Amazon’s Feb. 2026 announcement for a $12-billion multi-site data center campus in Caddo and Bossier Parishes, LA; a $10-billion Meta data center campus in Lebanon, IN; and Penzance’s  plans announced this month for a $4-billion data center in Falling Waters, WV. In the chart on page 2, 19 of the 50 projects are data centers, which is a pretty solid indicator that they will continue to dominate the construction market in the near future.
Other projects that made news over the past two weeks include the plans for a $1-billion expansion of Miami International Airport; the groundbreaking for a $750-million soccer stadium for the Chicago Fire FC soccer team in Chicago, IL; and Rowan University’s announcement for an innovative $690-million West Campus Development Project in Glassboro, NJ. The project includes an integrated district for health, manufacturing innovation and that would tap into the school’s focus on health care and advanced manufacturing. Features of the project include multi- and single- family housing, a retirement community; hotel and conference center; medical offices; and a manufacturing center that would include R&D labs, a virtual reality center and manufacturing space for private companies.
Arizona State University also has plans for two interesting projects —  the $187-million John S. McCain III Library and Museum, which had a ceremonial groundbreaking on the university’s Tempe, AZ, campus in January, and the $200-million Arizona State University Health Building expected to start construction in July, 2026 approximately 12.6  miles west nearby downtown Phoenix, AZ
Another large project that made headlines is the new American Express headquarters planned for part of the old World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan. While the company did not release the project’s total contract value, it will easily be one of the largest office projects in the nation. The 55-story office tower will be 1,226-ft tall and include 2 million square feet of space. The company said the building’s capacity would be up to 10,000 workers and is expected to be complete by 2031.