A rush of projects broke ground in August, but momentum has yet to find consistency.
Total construction starts rebounded 1.7% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.23 trillion, according to Dodge Construction Network. The uptick in groundbreakings follows a roughly 10% drop in July.
“Construction activity continues to present a mixed picture,” said Sarah Martin, associate director of forecasting at Dodge Construction Network. “Large-scale megaprojects continue to support overall activity, but with mounting signs of economic softness, the pace of growth is beginning to moderate.”
Nonresidential building starts, which include commercial and institutional projects, slipped 5.4% in August after a weak July. The commercial category, specifically, dropped 12% in August as every major subsector posted declines, according to Dodge. The notable losers last month were warehouse starts, which fell 25.3%, and retail kickoffs, which slumped 11.3%.
Manufacturing construction starts also continued their decline, dropping 24.4% in August. That followed an 84.8% drop in July, according to Dodge.
Nevertheless, nonresidential groundbreakings still outpace last year’s level, up 3.4% year-to-date. Over the first eight months of the year, commercial activity climbed 7.6%, though institutional starts, which include education and healthcare, ticked down 0.7%, according to Dodge.
For the 12 months ending August 2025, total nonresidential starts were up 4.8%, with the commercial and institutional categories up 17.4% and 6.1%, respectively.
Here are the nine largest U.S. projects to break ground in August, according to Dodge:
- The $5.1 billion Woodside Louisiana LNG facility in Sulphur, Louisiana.
- The $2.9 billion Cheniere Corpus Christi LNG facility in Gregory, Texas.
- The $1.8 billion Kingston Energy Complex with battery storage in Kingston, Tennessee.
- The $880 million Geisinger Medical Center Tower in Danville, Pennsylvania.
- The $666 million Fort Meade East Campus office building in Fort Meade, Maryland.
- The $619 million Kuilei Place mixed-use residential tower in Honolulu.
- The $540 million UM Shore Medical Center in Easton, Maryland.
- The $413 million 120 Brickell Residences in Miami.
- The $383 million Coles Street mixed-use development in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Though some concern is beginning to appear in infrastructure construction, overall nonbuilding starts expanded 9.3% in August, a positive sign for contractors. A bulk of that growth however stems from a 39.7% jump in utility-related work, as highway and bridge construction fell 5.6% in August, according to Dodge.
Over the past 12 months ending August 2025, total nonbuilding groundbreakings improved 12.1%.
Residential building starts increased 2.4% in August due to a strong 15.5% growth in multifamily starts during the month, according to Dodge. For the 12 months ending August 2025, total residential starts fell 1.2%.
