Award Totals Rebound

Thanks in no small measure to a suddenly robust privately financed building construction market, the February volume of construction contract awards in the states of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota rebounded from a sluggish January to nearly equal totals achieved in the first two months of

Another significant factor in the recovery was a strong Dakota showing for road and bridge contract awards.

For the first two months of 2005, the total volume of construction contract awards in the Tri-State Region amounted to $739.4 million, just short of the $742.6 million in awards totaled in the corresponding period of the previous year.

This was due to a contract award total in Minnesota and the Dakotas of $445.3 million in February of this year, up 10 percent from the $404.4 million in awards reported in the same month of 2004.

Privately financed building construction (not including single-family residences) is easily the leading category in 2005 contract awards with $318.3 million, up 53 percent from the $207.8 million in awards reported in the January-through-February period of the previous year.

February 2005 contracts in this category totaled $165.9 million, a significant 95-percent increase when compared with the approximately $85 million in awards totaled in the same month of last year.

Major privately financed building projects reported this February included:

Private Building Projects

• $47 million for a 15-story, 102-unit condominium construction project in downtown St. Paul. General contractor — Kraus-Anderson Construction Company, St. Paul.

• A $14-million improvement project at the Abbot Northwestern Hospital complex in Minneapolis. General contractor — M.A. Mortenson Company, Minneapolis.

• $12 million for a 250,000-square-foot, three-story Scheels All-Sports department store construction project on 15th Avenue in Fargo. Construction manager — R.L. Engebretson, Fargo.

• A $9-million, 148,000-square-foot Costco Wholesale Corporation construction project in Eden Prairie, Minn. General contractor — Jackson Dean Construction, Seattle

• $8 million for a 60,000-square-foot headquarters building construction project for Anderson Trucking Service Inc., St. Cloud, Minn. Construction manager — R.A. Morton & Associates, St. Cloud.

• A $6.5-million religious auditorium construction project for the St. Mary's Church of Alexandria, Minn. Construction manager — 3D/I, Minneapolis.

• $6 million for a 55,000-square-foot clinic construction project for the St. Cloud Medical Group in St. Cloud, Minn. Design-builder — Miller Architects & Builders, St. Cloud.

• A $5.5-million, 68,000-square-foot, 59-unit condominium construction project on NE Broadway Avenue in Minneapolis. General contractor — Amcon Corporation, Eagan, Minn.

A conspicuous area of decline continues to be the publicly financed building construction category.

This category has not seen an increase in contract awards since August of 2004 and continues to drop.

For the first two months of 2005, the volume of construction contract awards for public building projects in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota amounted to only $193.5 million, or 38-percent below the $288.4 million in awards recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year.

This February's totals for publicly financed building projects amounted to $86.3 million, or 30-percent below the $123.6 million in awards reported in this category in the same month of 2004.

February's public building construction projects of note included:

Public Building Projects

• $12.8 million for the 72,000-square-foot Crow Wing County jail construction project in Brainerd, Minn. Construction manager — Construction Analysis & Management, Brainerd.

• A $7.6-million, 71,000-square-foot public school building construction project in Madison, S.D. General contractor — Gray Construction Company, Watertown, S.D.

• $4.3 million for a middle school improvement project for Independent School District No. 535, Rochester, Minn. General contractor — Alvin E. Benike Inc., Rochester.

The volume of construction contract awards for road and bridge projects in Minnesota and the Dakotas in the first two months of 2005 amounted to $134.2 million, slightly above the $132.2 million in awards totaled in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Contract awards for road and bridge projects in the three states were at $119.2 million this February, up 6 percent from 112.6 million in the same month of 2004. A number of major projects in both North Dakota and South Dakota accounted for the increase.

Construction contract awards for road and bridge projects in the Tri-State Region this February included:

Road And Bridge Projects

• $14.6 million for an excavation, grading, asphalt paving, culverts, and bridge project on I-90 in Jones County, S.D. General contractor — Border States Paving Inc., Fargo.

• A $12.3-million bridges, culverts and PCC paving project on I-29 in Deuel County, S.D. General contractor — Progressive Contractors Inc. (PCI), St. Michael, Minn.

• $10.9 million for an excavation, grading and highway improvement project on I-94 in Morton County, N.D. General contractor — Northern Improvement Company, Fargo.

• An $8.3-million excavation, grading, structure removal, curb and gutter, pavement repair, and asphalt paving project on I-94 in Valley City, N.D. General contractor — Central Specialties Inc., Alexandria, Minn.

• $6.5 million for an excavation, grading, culverts, seeding, and asphalt paving project on N.D. Hwy. 19 in Benson County. General contractor — Riley Brothers Construction Inc., Morris, Minn.

• $4.4 million for an excavation, aggregate base, curb and gutter, sidewalks, utilities, seeding, and asphalt paving project in Apple Valley, Minn. General contractor — Enebak Construction Company, Northfield, Minn.

• A $4.3-million excavation, grading and highway improvement project on U.S. Hwy. 2 in Mountrail County, N.D. General contractor — Anderson Western, Bismarck.

• $3.6 million for an excavation, concrete pavement removal, culverts, asphalt paving, utilities, and flood control project on S.D. Hwy. 50 in Bon Homme County. General contractor — Brower Construction Company, Sioux City, Iowa.

The volume of contract awards in the three states for sewer and water projects in the first two months of 2005 totaled $72.9 million, or 4-percent above the $69.8 million in awards totaled in this category in the January-through-February period of the previous year.

This February, award totals in the sewer and water category amounted to $59.2 million, due largely to the following projects:

Sewer and Water Projects

• $10.3 million for the Mid-Dakota Rural Water System pipeline construction project in Beadle County, S.D. General contractor — Enemy Swim Construction, Waubay, S.D.

• A $9.6-million pipeline project for the North Dakota State Water Commission in McLean County. General contractor — Molstad Excavating Inc., Grand Forks.

• $9 million for wastewater treatment plant construction project in Otsego, Minn. General contractor — Gridor Construction Company, Minneapolis.

• A $4.3-million water treatment plant building construction project in Blaine, Minn. General contractor — Municipal Builders Inc., Anoka, Minn.

The volume of contract awards in the miscellaneous category, which includes light and power, dams, rivers, and airport projects in Minnesota and the Dakotas totaled $20.3 million in the first two months of 2005, or 54-percent below the $44.4 million in awards reported in the same period of the previous year.

This February was a slow month in this category with only $14.7 million in awards, down from $29.6 million in the same month of 2004.

As usual, Minnesota led the way this year with $528.2 million in awards in the first two months of 2005, down 2 percent from $540.3 million in the January-through-February period of 2004.

Meanwhile, a strong resurgence in contract awards in North Dakota during the first two months of 2005 resulted in awards totaling $111.9 million, a sharp 125-percent increase from the $49.6 million in awards recorded in the state in the first two months of the previous year.

However, totals from South Dakota in the first two months of 2005 were not as encouraging. While the volume of South Dakota construction contract awards was $99.3 million (not that far from North Dakota's total), this represented a 35-percent decline from the $152.7 million reported in that state in the January-through-February period of last year.