Maybe.
A little bit.
The
Chicago and northeastern Illinois area had 14 of the top 35 construction starts
in the Midwest in 2011, totaling nearly two billion dollars. The top 35 starts
were in Illinois, with 14, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin. The Chicago
area top starts include 5 residential projects totaling $616 million dollars, 4
higher education projects totaling $457 million, two health care projects
totaling $319 million, one infrastructure project at $300 million, and two
industrial projects totaling $290 million, for a grand total of $1.982 billion
in very major new construction jobs breaking ground before year’s end.
These
top projects were garnered by contractors with household names in the region,
including McHugh with 3 projects, W. E. O’Neil with 2, Benesch, Pepper, Lend Lease
and Power with one each, and five less well known builders grabbing the rest of
the work. Two of the higher education projects are at the University of
Illinois, one at the University of Chicago, and one at DePaul University in
Chicago. The new hospital construction is located in suburban Oak Lawn and
Hoffman Estates, and the infrastructure project is phase 2 of the Wacker Drive
reconstruction in Chicago’s loop, which no one driving or walking in the
downtown area could possibly miss.
Add to
these projects the $7 billion in Chicago Infrastructure Trust projects
estimated yesterday by Mayor Emmanuel in a speech at the West Side Laborers’
Union Hall, and you have some significant employment for skilled tradespeople
in the northeastern Illinois area. While still awaiting City Council approval,
the Chicago Infrastructure Trust already has one project on the drawing boards –
energy efficiency improvements to existing City of Chicago buildings – and includes
acceleration of construction of two runways at O’Hare International Airport,
all to be paid for by City cost savings or user fees – no new taxes on Chicago’s
citizens. Mayor Emmanuel also mentioned repair of many miles of aging City
water mains, and construction of new parks and schools, without any specifics
as to locations or how the projects will be funded by the trust.
Mayor
Emmanuel predicted in his speech that the Chicago Infrastructure Trust projects
should create 30,000 jobs in the coming years. Add that $7 billion in
construction spending to the nearly $2 billion already underway, and you have
the beginnings of some sort of construction recovery.
