Ready to tackle a large-scale commercial construction project? Mortenson has some advice: Build now.
That’s because Mortenson’s quarterly Construction Cost Index predicts that commercial construction costs will rise in six major markets across the country, including three in the Midwest. And that’s a good sign that construction costs across the country will rise in 2017 and beyond, too.
Milwaukee is a good example. According to Mortenson, building owners should plan on an annual increase of 4 percent in project costs during the coming year.
Mortenson predicts a construction cost increase of 4 percent, too, in Chicago during 2017 and an increase of 3 percent to 3.3 percent for Minneapolis.
Rising construction costs are not a new development in either of these markets. Mortenson reported that in the fourth quarter, the construction cost index in Milwaukee rose 1.7 percent compared to where it stood in the third quarter. For 2016 overall, construction costs rose 3.5 percent in Milwaukee, Mortenson reported.
In Minneapolis, commercial construction costs rose 1.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016 versus the third. These costs rose a total of 2.7 percent during all of 2016. In Chicago, commercial construction costs rose 4.3 percent in 2016.
The message here is simple: If you want to build, don’t put off your work. The costs of construction should only increase.
