Construction
Charts:
Nonresidential construction recorded a $289 million decline from 2006 to 2007 to $682 million. This 22% decline followed a very strong 61.5% increase from 2005 to 2006. The State recorded a very small .1% decline.
Atlantic County recorded the largest decrease of 33% while Salem increased nonresidential construction from only $29 million in 2006 to $60 million in 2007. Both Atlantic and Salem counties exhibit wide fluctuations due to the large construction projects that occur in the casino-hotel and chemical industries respectively.
Major projects in Atlantic County included hotel tower projects at the Borgata, Harrah's and Trump Taj Mahal. All three projects are scheduled to be finished by the end of 2008. In addition, the first up-scale non-casino hotel was being refurbished and opened in mid-2008 as the Chelsea Hotel. Finally, a large addition to AtlantiCare's medical center in Atlantic City was in the later stages of construction in 2007 and opened partially in 2008.
In Cape May County, the largest project by far is the new Grand Resort and Hotel in Wildwood Crest.
Cumberland County saw construction spending bolstered by wok on the now opened Motorsports Park in Millville. The construction of a Wal-Mart superstore also helped the county increase its nonresidential construction from $116 million in 2006 to $133 million in 2007.
Salem County has finally seen its industrial park become a reality with the occupancy of a 200,000 square foot facility in the Gateway Business Park. Salem County doubled the amount of non-residential construction activity with business and storage categories leading the way. In addition, there are several large energy projects being undertaken in Salem County.
The current housing crisis has put a temporary halt to both residential and nonresidential construction. When the crisis resolves itself, the pent-up demand from retiring baby boomers will drive the home and retail space markets closer to pre-2007 levels.