Georgia Report: Just Peachy

In 2004, Georgia Contractors Should see a Rebound in all Sectors

McGraw-Hill Construction is predicting a 6 percent increase in the value of Georgia construction contract activity in 2004. That's a notable swing from 2003, when activity declined by 9 percent.

By Scott Judy

Georgia contractors of all types should see improved market opportunities throughout 2004 as state construction activity ramps back up after a couple years of decline. McGraw-Hill Construction is predicting that total construction in Georgia will improve by 6 percent, after declining 9 percent last year.

"Members of the Associated Builders & Contractors of Georgia are much more upbeat about this year than anytime in the past two years," said Bill Anderson, president of the ABC chapter. "We regularly survey our members to gauge the state's overall economic health. Our last survey revealed that contractors are much more confident now about the state's economic prospects than any time since the association's polling began two years ago."

Charles Garbutt, president of C.E. Garbutt Construction Co. of Dublin, Ga., and current president of the Georgia Branch of Associated General Contractors, concurred. "It's all looking to trend upward," he added. "Everybody's looking for the market to be moderately better."

According to McGraw-Hill Construction, Georgia's residential sector will be the strongest, with an expected 6 percent upswing this year. Nonresidential construction will be strong, too, with 5 percent growth slated. Within this sector, warehouses, office buildings, hotels and parking garages should be the strongest, with growth rates ranging from 15 percent up to 32 percent.

Of course, Atlanta will see the majority of construction activity, and numerous high-dollar projects are under way there. The $2 billion Atlantic Station development, for example, will continue to be a hotbed of construction activity.

Under separate contracts, Beazer Homes and Lane Co. are currently constructing a variety of residential units. Also, Hardin Construction of Atlanta recently completed the development's first major commercial structure, the SouthTrust Tower.

In urban Atlanta, an approximately $1 billion revamping of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention's main campus continues at a heady pace. McCarthy Construction Co. of St. Louis is heading into the latter stages of its $130 million Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory/Building 18 project, while Turner Construction is moving forward with a $60 million Global Communications and Training Building.

Additionally, CDC recently awarded Skanska USA Building an $81 million construction management contract to build its new headquarters.

At Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport, a $5.4 billion redevelopment continues to move forward, including a $160 million Fifth Runway project that will span Interstate 285. Activity will also be progressing on a $456 million Consolidated Rental Car facility at the airport, and design work continues for a new $982 million international terminal.

In the health-care sector, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta in January announced its certificate-of-need application to the state for a $344 million expansion plan to ease current overoccupancy and accommodate future growth at its Scottish Rite and Egleston facilities. This is the largest hospital construction certificate-of-need application project in Georgia's history.

Georgia's amusements sector is another one that McGraw-Hill Construction predicts will show strong growth in '04, with a 66 percent increase expected. Here, Greenville, S.C.-based Suitt Construction Co. announced that it and W.G. Pitts Co. of Jacksonville, Fla., will serve as the construction services team for Steamboat City, a $100 million, 2,100-acre theme park near Brunswick that will include hotels, restaurants, shops, retail and a waterpark. Construction was slated to begin in April.

Other high-profile projects include Brasfield & Gorrie's construction of the $200 million Georgia Aquarium, Gilbert Southern's $114 million Chattahoochee Wastewater Tunnel project in Cobb County, as well as the continuing expansion of the F. Wayne Hill Water Resources Center in Gwinnett County.

In the highway infrastructure sector, Gov. Sonny Perdue recently announced a $424 million "Georgia Gets Going" bond package that includes funding for traffic-mitigation measures in the Atlanta area. Statewide, the largest DOT project currently under construction is in Lowndes County, where Douglas Asphalt Co. is leading a $75 million effort to expand 13.6 mi. of Interstate 75.

Overall, McGraw-Hill Construction expects the state's engineering sector to gain by 3 percent in '04.

Editor's Note:

There's much more to Georgia's construction economy. In the following pages, Southeast Construction provides in-depth looks at two high-profile projects, the $160 million new runway for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and the first commercial office structure at Atlantic Station, the SouthTrust Tower. The magazine also provides abbreviated articles on four other notable projects: The Regent at Tower Place; the Chattahoochee Wastewater Tunnel; and the Woodstock First Baptist Church.