Accompanying this report are tables and charts based on RSMeans’ measures of dollar-per-square-foot construction costs. The results for 25 major cities are shown for four hotel, motel and mid-rise residential types of structure. Means has updated specifications with regard to its building cost models. For this reason, it is not valid to directly compare this year’s figures with last year’s. That is why the percentage change columns read “not applicable”.

Ranking of Accommodation and Residential Buildings by Expense

Among the four categories of buildings shown in the table and graphs, it is most expensive to build an eight- to 24-story hotel. The second-most expensive is a four- to seven-story apartment building. In third and fourth spots respectively, with not much difference between them, are a four- to seven-story hotel and a two- to three-story motel. On a square footage basis, it is only 8% cheaper to build a motel (i.e., the cheapest of the four structure types) than an eight- to 24-story hotel (i.e., the “dearest”).

New York is the Most Expensive; Cities in the South are Least Expensive

New York has the highest dollar-per-square-foot construction costs in the country. San Francisco, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia round out the top five. Relatively low-cost cities are mainly in the southeast and southwest, including Miami, Atlanta, Phoenix, Houston and Dallas.

The nation’s capital, Washington, is in the low mid-range for construction costs among the 25 cities considered in the table and graphs. The same holds true for Pittsburgh and Denver. Seattle, Detroit and St. Louis are in the upper mid-range. In California, dollar-per-square foot construction costs in Los Angeles and San Diego are between 12% and 15% lower than in San Francisco.

Some City Comparisons

It is interesting to make some regional comparisons. It now costs about 28% more to build in Chicago than in Atlanta. The relationship is about the same (26%) between higher-cost Philadelphia and lower-cost Miami. The mark-up in New York, the most expensive city among the 25 shown, and Winston Salem, the least expensive, is slightly more than two-thirds or 70%.

These charts and tables were abstracted from RSMeans cost data publications for the A/E/C industry. For more information about RSMeans Square Foot Cost Guide and RSMeans CCI (Construction Cost Index), which indexes square foot costs for cities in the U.S. and Canada, visit the online bookstore at www.rsmeans.com and click on cost data publications (or call 1-800-448-8182).

"n/a" means not applicable. Recent adjustments to specifications mean that year-over-year percentage changes will not be valid in 2009.

Data source: Reed Construction Data – RSMeans (www.rsmeans.com).
Tables: Reed Construction Data – CanaData

Hotel (4 to 7 Stories) Construction Cost:
June 2009 Ranking of Major U.S. Cities

Hotel (8 to 24 Stories) Construction Cost:
June 2009 Ranking of Major U.S. Cities

Motel (2 to 3 Stories) Construction Cost:
June 2009 Ranking of Major U.S. Cities

Apartment Building (4 to 7 Stories) Construction Cost:
June 2009 Ranking of Major U.S. Cities

Data source: Reed Construction Data – RSMeans (www.rsmeans.com).
Charts: Reed Construction Data – CanaData