2017 West North Central Region Forecast

Several sizeable projects broke ground this year  in this region and one mega-project is in the early planning stages in Omaha, Neb., a $1.2 billion mixed-use development being considered near Boys Town. The other larger projects now underway or under consideration include a proposed $500 million addition to the Des Moines airport; a $128.9 million renovation of Minneapolis’ Target Center Arena; the construction of a $60 million training center for the NHL’s Minnesota Wild hockey team in St. Paul, Minn.; a $125 million pipe mill in Norfolk, Neb.; and a $80 million warehouse in St. Peters, Mo. CBRE Research’s data for several of the region’s largest cities also points toward a sluggish climate for office construction, with the downtown office vacancy rates for Minneapolis (14.1%), St. Louis (26.7%) and Kansas City (16.5%) all squarely above the national average of 10.5% in 2Q 2016.

Key Economic Indicators

Need a quick read on the economic health of the key metros in this region? Just click on the region's largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) outlined in red. Once the pop-up window you can use the vertical scroll bar to see statistics on local Construction & Manufacturing Employment; building permits; unemployment and population growth.