For the seven-county Detroit region as a whole, commercial construction increased by 24.7%--an increase fueled largely by big jumps in Washtenaw, Livingston and Monroe counties--from 2002 to 2003; or an increase from 24.21 million sf to 30.20 million. Livingston County saw a jump of 117% and Monroe County saw a 70% increase. Bothg counties, however, accounted for less than 1 million sf of activity.

Oakland County saw an increase in commercial construction of 17.5% from 2002 to 2003, from 7.39 million sf to 8.69 million sf; Wayne County increased 2.1%, from 9.17 million to 9.36 million. The only decrease in the region was in Macomb County. In his annual economic forecast and review for Macomb County, Macomb Community College economist Jim Jacobs says the decline in Macomb actually is a bit misleading.

He says the completion of a massive renovation and expansion program at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren accounts for much of that reduction. The main Vehicle Engineering Center building alone, which constructed as part of GM's Tech Center work, accounted for about 1 million sf of that construction. That project was significantly completed in early 2003.