A surge of multibillion-dollar megaprojects is reshaping the U.S. construction landscape in 2025, with nine of the largest breaking ground in October highlighted in new Dodge Construction Network (DCN) statistics.
Why It Matters
These megaprojects are driving overall industry growth even as traditional commercial and residential work shows signs of strain.
The success and distribution of these enormous builds—such as new data centers, liquefied natural gas export terminals, and manufacturing facilities—not only provide jobs and economic growth, but also highlight evolving industrial priorities and ongoing labor and infrastructure challenges.
What To Know
U.S. construction starts rose sharply in October 2025, fueled by projects valued at more than $1 billion breaking ground, according to DCN figures.
These so-called megaprojects are massive, complex initiatives that cost billions and span many years, and usually involve a mix of multiple public, private, federal, and sometimes international stakeholders.
Last month, these big-ticket infrastructure projects propelled total construction starts up 21.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.53 trillion.
Nonresidential construction led the rebound, rising 17.9 percent. The spike was most dramatic in office and data center projects, which climbed 45.5 percent, and manufacturing starts, which more than doubled with a 107.2 percent increase.
Retail construction saw a 15.1 percent uptick, while hotel and warehouse projects declined.
Over the first 10 months of 2025, commercial groundbreakings have grown 13.6 percent, although institutional projects—such as those in healthcare and education—are down 2.2 percent.
Year-over-year nonresidential construction starts increased by 5.6 percent through October 2025, compared to the first ten months of 2024.
The nine largest projects breaking ground across the industry in October were:
- $15.1 billion Calcasieu Pass LNG Export Terminal and Pipeline, Cameron, Louisiana
- $9 billion Rio Grande LNG Phase 2, Brownsville, Texas
- $7.5 billion Meta Hyperion Data Centre, Richland, Louisiana
- $5.9 billion Frederick Douglass Tunnel Improvement, Maryland
- $1.9 billion Los Angeles Convention Center Expansion
- $1.7 billion Eli Lilly Manufacturing Facility, Lebanon, Indiana
- $214 million Andare Residences, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- $165 million 6 East 43rd St. Office-to-Residential Conversion, New York City
- $132 million Jefferson Bonnie Brae Apartments, Denton, Texas
Infrastructure, transportation, and utility starts also saw impressive growth, with project volumes jumping 59.4 percent in October. Utility construction alone spiked 384.5 percent, offsetting a 23.7 percent decline in highway and bridge work.
By contrast, residential construction declined 15.4 percent in October, led by a steep 38.5 percent drop in multifamily starts.
Single-family starts grew slightly, up 2.2 percent. For the 12 months ending in October 2025, total residential groundbreakings fell 3.1 percent.
What People Are Saying
Sarah Martin, associate director of forecasting at DCN, said: “Much of the momentum we’re seeing is still concentrated in big-ticket, high-tech projects. Outside those categories, the pace of expansion is noticeably steadier and more restrained.”
She added: “Growth in construction starts continued to be propped up by high-value megaproject activity last month. Outside of these high-tech buildings, however, growth appears more moderate. In square footage terms, for example, nonresidential and residential starts declined by 4.3 percent over the month and are down 5.4 percent year-to-date through October.”
What Happens Next
While the megaproject surge is currently propping up national statistics, growth is not uniform across all industry sectors, as cautioned by DCN.
Data center and energy investments are likely to continue dominating expansion in the near term, but broader commercial, retail, and smaller-scale institutional categories remain subdued.