U.S. Northeast to See Almost $6 Billion in Projects Kick Off in Second-Quarter 2015, Driven by Transportation

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The U.S. Northeast region is expected to see $5.84 billion in projects begin construction in the second quarter of 2015, according to Industrial Info's Project Database, with natural gas and transportation-related projects accounting for almost $3 billion of the total. A little less than 90% of the amount is attributed to four industries: Industrial Manufacturing, Power, Pharmaceutical & Biotech, and Food & Beverage.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing active projects scheduled to kick off in the second quarter of 2015 in the U.S. Northeast region by industry.

The Northeast region includes Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

The Industrial Manufacturing Industry leads all others with $2.13 billion in projects set to kick off in the Northeast in the second quarter, the largest of which is New Jersey Transit Corporation's (Newark, New Jersey) $514 million, Phase II reconstruction of about 81 miles of railroad that runs from Andover, New Jersey, to Scranton, Pennsylvania. The project includes the construction of seven new stations, plus a yard facility in Scranton. It is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2018.

The Power Industry, which leads in most other U.S. regions, comes in second place for the total investment value for projects set to kick off from April through June, with more than $1.65 billion. The largest of these is Calpine Corporation's (NYSE:CPN) (Houston, Texas) $760 million addition of a natural gas/diesel-fired, combined-cycle power block at the York Energy Center in Delta, Pennsylvania. The 2-on-1 unit will consist of two 227-megawatt (MW) General Electric (NYSE:GE) 7F.05 MS7001FA natural gas-fired combustion turbines, with duct-fired heat-recovery steam generators, and a 212-MW General Electric steam turbine generator. Chicago Bridge & Iron Company (NYSE:CBI) (The Hague, Netherlands) is performing engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for the project.

The Pharmaceutical & Biotech Industry is in a somewhat distant third place, with $784 million in projects set to kick off construction. Among them is the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute's (Utica, New York) $150 million, Phase II expansion of its Quad C technology complex. The project involves constructing and equipping a three-story, 30,000-square-foot building to expand research and manufacturing; support services for private nanotechnology companies; and house the Center for Advanced Technology. The project is set to be competed in second-quarter 2017.

The Food & Beverage Industry's $620 million of Northeastern projects set to kick off in the second quarter include Allen Harim Foods' (Seaford, Delaware) $110 million construction of a chicken-processing plant in Millsboro, Delaware. At a 487,000-square-foot site previously owned by Pinnacle Foods (NYSE:PF) (Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey), the company plans to build a 2 million-chicken-per-week plant in several phases, including new poultry-slaughtering and processing lines. The project is set to be competed in second-quarter 2017.

More than half of the region's total investment value (TIV)--about $3.45 billion--is related to 83 projects that are now in the planning stages, where plenty of factors could increase, decrease or eliminate the expected spending. The region also has 47 projects worth about $2.12 billion in the engineering stages, while 72 projects worth $258 million already have kicked off the first stage of construction and will kick off the next in the second quarter.

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.