New York State Leads U.S. for Third-Quarter Project Starts

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--As the third quarter of 2009 draws to close, New York state leads the U.S. in terms of the value new project starts this quarter. The state's top billing is largely thanks to a single project: GlobalFoundries Incorporated's (Sunnyvale, California) grassroot semiconductor-manufacturing plant, located on the Luther Forest Technology Campus near Saratoga Springs. Groundbreaking for the estimated $4.2 billion plant began in late July, with building construction planned to begin this month. The 1.3 million-square-foot LEED-certified facility will manufacture silicon wafers using the latest 32-nanometer technology.

Click here for a breakdown by industry of project starts in New York in 3Q09.

This newest semiconductor technology is leading to substantial project investment in the U.S., as two Intel projects worth a combined $5.5 billion kicked off earlier this year in Arizona and New Mexico in order to upgrade plants to produce the 32-nanometer technology. For additional information, see article from June 18, 2009 - Intel Gives Boost to Project Starts in Rocky Mountain Region. GlobalFoundries' projects ranks as one of the largest projects to kick off in the U.S. for both this quarter and the entire year.

Weill Cornell Medical College's $700 million biomedical research building addition comes next in line in terms of value for the state's project starts this quarter. Construction of the 16-story, 500,000-square-foot building, also LEED-certified, began in August and is expected to be completed in 2014. The project is representative of a wave of new laboratory and research facilities occurring across U.S. colleges and universities as described in August 28, 2009, article - Classes and Construction Cranes Now in Session: $15.6 Billion of Construction for Laboratory Projects Occurring on North American Campuses.

Rounding out the top-three projects in the state is Astoria Energy LLC's 500-megawatt (MW) combined-cycle expansion of the company's facility in Astoria. Site preparation for the project began in August, with construction planned to start later this year. The facility will consist of two 160-MW combustion turbines with heat-recovery steam generators and a 180-MW steam turbine/generator set.

In addition to these larger projects, Industrial Info is also tracking 46 other projects that kicked off in New York this quarter with a combined total investment value of more than $1 billion. Information on these and other projects can be found in Industrial Info's North American Industrial Database.

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Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy related markets. For more than 26 years, Industrial Info has provided plant and project opportunity databases, market forecasts, high resolution maps, and daily industry news.