U.S. Mid-Atlantic to See More than $9 Billion in Projects Begin Construction in First-Quarter 2015

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Transportation projects and medical research are driving construction kick-offs in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region during the first quarter of 2015. These projects have a total investment value of $9.41 billion, according to Industrial Info's project database. About 85% of the activity can be found in four industries: Industrial Manufacturing, Metals & Minerals, Pharmaceutical & Biotech, and Power.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing planned first-quarter 2015 project kickoffs in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region by industry.

The Mid-Atlantic region includes Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, the Carolinas, and the District of Columbia.

The Industrial Manufacturing Industry leads with $4.26 billion in construction projects expected to kick off in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region in the first quarter, with $2.37 billion attributed to a single project: the Maryland Department of Transportation's (Baltimore) 16-mile East-West Light Rail Transit (LRT) line, which includes 21 stations and will run from Bethesda to New Carrolton. The highly anticipated project is not expected to be completed until the second quarter of 2020.

Another major rail project is Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's (Bethesda, Maryland) $232.9 million rehabilitation of the Rosslyn-to-Vienna line, which will include modifications and upgrades to nine stations and a wide variety of equipment and related facilities. The project is not expected to be completed until the second quarter of 2018.

The Metals & Minerals Industry comes in second with nearly $1.6 billion planned, including Romarco Minerals Incorporated's (TSX:R) (Toronto, Ontario) $320 million expansion and restart of a gold mine in Kershaw, South Carolina. At a site that has been closed since 1980, the company is planning an open-pit mining operation through the construction of a 7,000-ton-per-day processing plant that will produce 150,000 ounces per year of gold and 250,000 ounces per year of silver, over a 13-year mine life. The project is expected to be completed toward the middle of 2016.

The Pharmaceutical & Biotech Industry has almost $1.1 billion in projects expected to kick off in the first quarter in the Mid-Atlantic, with the largest being MedImmune LLC's (Gaithersburg, Maryland) addition to the Frederick Manufacturing Center's Biologics Plant in Frederick, Maryland. The project involves the construction of a 40,000-square-foot building that will boost the research, development, production and warehousing of monoclonal antibodies and related biologics. The project is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2017. MedImmune is owned by AstraZeneca plc (NYSE:AZN) (London, England).

The Power Industry rounds off the top four industries with a little more than $1 billion in projects expected to begin construction, the largest being Appalachian Power Company's (Roanoke, Virginia) $237 million expansion of the Cloverdale Substation in Troutville, Virginia. The additions include a third 500kV/345-kilovolt (kV) switchyard; an extra high-voltage, 765kV/500-kV transformer bank; two other 500kV/345kV transformer banks; a 500kV substation yard; and four 500-kV transmission lines to tie the existing switchyards together. The expansion is expected to be completed in December 2016. Appalachian Power Company is a subsidiary of American Electric Power Company (NYSE:AEP) (Columbus, Ohio).

More than half of the $9.41 billion total investment value for projects expected to kick off in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region in the first quarter--$5.55 billion--is attached to projects currently in the engineering stages. More than $3.5 billion worth are in the planning stages, where plenty of factors could increase, decrease or totally eliminate the expected spending, while $309 million worth already are in the early construction stages.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.