The Ozarks region is slated to host 132 construction projects totaling more than $417.7 million during the next 13 months – and that may be the tip of the iceberg.
The results of a joint study by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, Springfield Contractors Association and Missouri State University, 83 owners and 23 architecture firms were surveyed regarding projects in the design process within a 50-mile radius of Springfield. More than 200 industry leaders got a chance to review the data during the Springfield Regional Construction Bidding Forecast, Sept. 20 at MSU's William H. Darr Agricultural Center.
"The lion's share of these projects are public, about 80 percent, so that means they are fully funded and ready to go," said presenter Rick Quint, an SCA board member and Q & Co. LLC president. "These are only the projects we know about. We know there are more Cox and Mercy projects, more projects in outlying schools and more private projects people aren't ready to talk about yet."
Quint said on average, about 10 projects for $32 million will be bid each month until next September. However, in real time, the projects are not spaced out as evenly, he said, noting 50 percent of projects identified go to bid within the first four months of 2014.
"In October, we have 35 projects going to bid for a total of about $35 million," he said. "However, in April, we only have seven projects, but they represent upwards of $60 million."
Missouri State University is poised to be one of the largest players in Springfield's construction boom. Doug Sampson, MSU architect and director of planning, design and construction, said as of 8 a.m. Friday morning, the school had 131 fully-funded project requests on tap for coming months, including a $4 million welcome center and a $25 million renovation and addition to Glass Hall.
"Not all of these are huge projects, but there are a lot of them," Sampson said. "This peak in projects exceeds 2007, when we built JQH Arena.
"The university is concerned about bidding against itself. There needs to be a system is place to sort through these bid days and ensure everyone is on the same page."
To that end, the SCA recently launched a
website incorporating a construction bid calendar to log projects.
"We have to plan to work with each other on this," Quint said. "We know the public projects and that's going to be a challenge in itself, but your guess is as good as mine to what's coming on the private side. So, we all need to be on the same page."
Projects submitted through the new site will be posted to the calendar, enabling owners, architects and general contractors to get a glimpse at the days and months ahead.
Sampson also said he hopes to host a monthly industry meeting to keep the planning conversation going. No dates have been set.[[In-content Ad]]
