NYC on record $43B construction pace

New York City construction spending is expected to climb 26 percent this year to a record, driven by a surge in commercial and residential property development, according to a local trade organization.

The New York Building Congress estimates that spending will reach $43.1 billion, topping $40 billion for the first time and surpassing the peak in 2007 on an inflationadjusted basis. Private-sector investment is outpacing government spending, whereas the split was more even in the last boom, the group said in a report Tuesday.

Investors are reshaping New York’s skyline with new office and residential buildings to capitalize on demand for new properties. Last week, SL Green Realty Corp. broke ground on 1 Vanderbilt, a 1.7 million-square-foot skyscraper next to Grand Central Terminal, with an expectation of attracting some of the highest office rents in the market. Luxury condominium and rental towers have proliferated, creating a pile-up of high-end homes.