The Tampa Bay area's housing market was the first to catch the bug. Now the epidemic has spread to retail and office construction.
Bay area office construction totaled $190-million through November, a 32 percent decline from a year earlier.
Retail construction plunged 29 percent in the same period to settle at $229-million.
The decline occurred despite such big-name shopping center projects as Wiregrass Mall in Pasco County and Ikea near downtown Tampa.
The construction forecast for 2009? More of the same.
"It's going to be a tough year in 2009, particularly for housing and commercial construction," said Jennifer Coskren, senior economist with McGraw-Hill Construction Analytics.
Coskren spoke Tuesday morning at a breakfast meeting of the Associated Builders and Contractors at the Tampa Marriott Westshore. The trade group represents 450 companies in west Florida.
Despite Tampa's double-digit declines in most construction categories, it's better off than much of the state. When it comes to condos, single-family housing, office and retail, Fort Myers, Miami and Orlando typically performed worse than the bay area.
Coskren predicted public works projects, particularly roads and bridges, would help keep construction workers employed.
The incoming Obama administration is promising hundreds of billions of new spending in that arena. Other bright spots are hospital and power plant construction.
When will housing recover? Coskren is looking for a tepid turnaround in 2010.
Commercial construction, reliant as it is upon population growth to boost demand for offices and stores, would start its comeback in 2011, she said.
James Thorner can be reached at jthorner@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3313.
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