“The Dodge Momentum Index weakened in January, after 10 consecutive months of gains. While planning activity slowed, the Index remains elevated, and the volume of projects remains steady,” said Sarah Martin, associate director of forecasting for Dodge Construction Network, in the press release. “After such strong growth in 2022, we expect the Index to work its way back towards historical norms this year, in tandem with weaker economic growth. Overall, levels of planning activity remained comparatively strong over the month — which bodes well for the construction sector.”
Weakness in commercial planning in January was broad-based, with office, warehouse, retail and hotel activity declining. Slower activity in education and amusement projects drove down the institutional portion of the Index, nullifying the impact of gains in healthcare and public planning over the month. On a year-over-year basis, the DMI remains +32% higher than in January 2022. The commercial component was up +40%, and the institutional component was +16% higher.
A total of 26 projects with a value of $100 million or more entered planning in January. The leading commercial projects included the $325-million Westfield Data Center in Westfield, MA, and the $275-million Illinois Medical District Data Center in Chicago. The leading institutional projects comprised of the $315-million USC Discovery and Translational Hub laboratory building in Los Angeles, and the $211-million Granary Lab and Office Building in Salt Lake City, UT.