...After construction costs increased 4.6 percent in 2015, the Chicago, Illinois non-residential construction market can expect costs to rise 3.5 percent to 4 percent in 2016, according to Mortenson Construction’s Construction Cost Index for Chicago. Of the six major markets that Mortenson measures, only Denver, Colorado and Seattle, Washington can expect comparable increases in 2016 following a 4.2 percent cost increase for Denver and 3.6 percent increase for Seattle last year.
“After lagging compared to other cities in the early years after the 2008 recession, the Chicago construction market continues to recover,” says Dennis McGreal, chief estimator for the Mortenson Construction’s Chicago office. “We’ve had two years of steady growth. While the rates for new employment and construction starts moderated in the second half of 2015, they both will remain at healthy levels this year.”