COVID-19 took a toll on Dallas-Fort Worths construction starts in 2020 – The Dallas Morning News

Dallas-Fort Worth ranked among the top U.S. cities for commercial and apartment building in 2020.

D-FW landed in fourth place, even with a 20% decline in starts from 2019 totals.

North Texas trailed New York City, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles in the annual construction survey by Dodge Data & Analytics.

The D-FW areas commercial building and apartment start total for 2020 was the smallest in more than three years because the COVID-19 pandemic caused projects to be delayed or canceled.

Commercial building starts lost 23% in 2020, Dodge Data chief economist Richard Branch said. The decline was the result of sizable pullbacks in offices, hotels and parking structures.

The largest commercial building to get started in 2020 was the $135 million Epic Deep Ellum office building, he said. Retail construction starts were flat over the year, while warehouse starts posted a sizable gain.

Apartment builders also hit the brakes last year around North Texas.

Multifamily housing starts in the metro area dropped 15% during 2020, Branch said. The largest multifamily project to get underway was the $75 million Novel Turtle Creek residential tower.

Total U.S. commercial and multifamily building starts fell by 20% last year to the lowest level in more than three years, according to Dodge Data.

Phoenix, Denver and Kansas City were the only metro areas that saw an increase in construction. Austin ranked ninth nationally with almost $4.9 billion on construction starts. And Houston fell to 10th with a 47% drop in building activity.

Texas lost more than 30,000 construction industry jobs in 2020.

The pandemic is having a significant negative impact on commercial and multifamily construction across the country, Branch said. While some areas stabilized over the summer, the current wave of the virus has further hindered activity.

The construction sector will show signs of recovery in 2021, but, the road back to full recovery will be long and difficult, he said. The effects of the pandemic on the U.S. economy and building markets will be felt for several years.

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COVID-19 took a toll on Dallas-Fort Worths construction starts in 2020 - The Dallas Morning News