Nineteen nonresidential projects worth at least $100 million broke ground in 2011, according to McGraw-Hill Construction. The Washington, D.C.,
metropolitan area has its share of this work and is recovering faster than most other metros in the United States. It boasts relatively low office vacancy rates; a 176- percent increase YTY through August in multi-family housing permits; and one of the nation's largest commercial developments in the $900 million City Center project. Big projects outside the D.C. Beltway include a Microsoft data center in Boydton, Va., and a Facebook data center in Forest City, N.C.; a $175 million automatic transmission factory in Laurens, S.C.; an airport expansion project in Myrtle Beach, S.C.; and plenty of new construction and retrofit work with government facilities.
