ENR New York & New England Top Starts: Northeast Transportation Sector Builds Strong

Despite persistent economic and labor pressures across the industry, airport and health sciences projects as well as a critical bridge replacement are driving regional New York and New England construction activity on the 2024 ENR New York Top Starts list.

The value of 19 New York and New Jersey projects on the list total $27.19 billion, a 7.94% increase from the $25.19 billion for 20 projects on last year’s ranking. The top three listed projects—which includes those that broke ground in the two states in calendar year 2023—equal $6.44 billion, down from the combined $18.68 billion of last year’s top three.

A JFK International Airport project holds the top spot for the second straight year. The $9.5-billion Terminal One topped last year’s list. This year’s top project is the $4.2-billion JetBlue Terminal 6 project, which will connect to JetBlue’s existing Terminal 5. The public-private partnership between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and JFK Millennium Partners includes a 1.2-million-sq-ft international terminal. Built in two phases, the first of the terminal’s 10 new gates will open in 2026 before construction finishes in 2028. The project also includes more than 100,000 sq ft of shopping and dining.

The project comes 23 years after JetBlue’s first ever flights launched from JFK, said Robin Hayes, company CEO, at the project’s groundbreaking ceremony in February 2023. “We are so pleased to have an opportunity to expand our presence with new gates in a new terminal,” he said.

A separate $1.24-billion roadway, utility and ground transportation project at JFK is the No. 2 project on the ENR New York list this year, while the $1-billion Clarkson Square – Luxury Condos/Affordable Senior Apartments in New York City is third.

At $400 million, the Hudson West Exchange, Phase 2, Residential-Retail-Parking project in Jersey City, N.J., is the Garden State’s largest construction job on the list. The lowest valued project on this year’s ranking totaled $230 million, up $30 million from the lowest ranked job last year.

Construction is underway on the Walk Bridge replacement in Norwalk, Conn. The project ranks second on ENR New England’s Top Starts list.
Photo courtesy Cianbro Corp.

“Timing will be critical to maintaining the [Walk Bridge’s] schedule,”

—Kevin Washburn, Project Manager, WSP

Robust Health Sciences Sector

New England, the 21 projects on this year’s list total $8.8 billion, including 11 health sciences projects worth $6.7 billion. Topping the list is Massachusetts General Hospital’s clinical facility, which will include a cancer center and heart center. In Phase 1, crews will construct below-ground parking levels before erecting the first of two towers, according to the hospital. Demolition of the Parkman garage and construction of the second tower will begin in Phase 2, with opening expected in 2030.

The $1-billion replacement of the Amtrak/Metro North Norwalk Walk Bridge in Norwalk, Conn., ranks second. Work on the bridge will include building new lift tower foundations and a microtunnel beneath the river, with completion targeted by 2025. “Timing will be critical to maintaining the project’s schedule,” Kevin Washburn, WSP project manager, told ENR when the project started in May 2023. The $950-million Allston Labworks R&D-Lab-Office at 305 Western Ave. in Boston ranks third and the $240-million Downeast Turbine Wind Farm in Maine ranks 12th.