The announcement of the $170 million expansion Pala Casino Spa & Resort in San Diego County was one of the few bright spots in new project announcements in July, where the Dodge Momentum Index declined 3.3% to 135.0 (2000=100) from its revised June reading of 139.6.
The Pala project, scheduled to begin construction in October and be completed in May 2019, was listed as one of the leading commercial projects nation-wide in the Dodge Index.
The construction company selected for the renovation and expansion is Level 10 Construction with headquarters in San Francisco and offices in Sunnyvale and San Diego. The architect is Klai Juba Wald of Las Vegas, NV. The contributing architect is Marks Architects of San Diego.
The Dodge Momentum Index is a monthly measure of the first (or initial) report for nonresidential building projects in planning, which have been shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year. The move lower in July was due to a 6.6% decline in the institutional component of the Momentum Index, while the commercial component fell 1.1%.
This month continues a recent trend of volatility in the Momentum Index where a string of gains is interrupted by a step backwards in planning intentions. Despite the decline from June to July, the Momentum Index is 6.9% higher than one year ago, which suggests further moderate gains in construction activity throughout the year. The commercial component of the Momentum Index is 8.0% higher than last year, while the Institutional component is 5.3% higher.
In July, nine projects entered planning each with a value of $100 million or more. For the institutional building sector, the leading projects were the $200 million Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Woodbridge VA and the $200 million phase 2B of the Thompson Education Center in Rocky Hill NY.
