The Dodge Momentum Index (DMI), issued by Dodge Construction Network, improved 5.7 percent (2000=100) in September to 183.2 from the revised August reading of 173.4. The index is a monthly measure of the initial report for nonresidential building projects in planning, shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year. In September, the commercial component of the index rose 2.9 percent, while the institutional component also increased, seeing a double-digit gain of 11.7 percent.
After a solid performance in September, the index landed less than 5 percent below an all-time high. On the commercial side, the figure was primarily bolstered by an influx of data centers entering the planning queue. The institutional component saw a notable increase in research and development laboratory projects in the education sector, with solid contributions from healthcare and recreation projects entering the planning process. On a year-over-year basis, the DMI was 26 percent higher than September in 2021; the commercial component was up 25 percent, and institutional planning was 28 percent higher.
A total of 39 projects with a value of $100 million or more entered planning in September. The leading commercial projects included a $500 million data center campus on the Tech Park at Brambleton site in Ashburn, Virginia, and the $500 million construction of two warehousing buildings at the Matrix Global Logistics Park’s West Campus in Bloomfield, New York. The leading institutional projects were the $311 million Shoshone-Bannock Casino in Mountain Home, Idaho, and a $300 million laboratory project at 120 Middlesex Avenue in Somerville, Massachusetts.
