California currently has six of the 10 largest projects in this region. Many of these projects are distinctly green, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, including the state's $2.5 billion Blythe Solar Parabolic Trough Power Plant, $1 billion Genesis Solar Power Plant and $500 million Ivanpah Solar Energy Complex. Oregon scored some large projects during the past year, too, with the $919 million Shepherds Flat wind farm in Arlington, Ore., and a $900 million Intel plant in Hillsboro, Ore. Multi-family construction is showing some huge increases in virtually all of the market's major metros, but outside of the Los Angeles metro's 14 percent increase YTD in building permits for single-family homes through August, there's not much reason to cheer for this segment of the housing market in this region. One hot spot in California's construction market is warehouse development in Riverside County's Inland Empire, where Grubb & Ellis anticipates 7 million square feet of speculative construction to be underway by year-end.

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