SC Biz News Top Projects 2025

If you’ve been in downtown Greenville and Charleston lately; heck, even downtown Columbia, you’ve seen cranes and orange construction barrels dotting the landscape.

Construction is in high gear across South Carolina.

SCBIZ is doing its part to get in on the action. Welcome to our inaugural Top Projects recognition, where we honor the best building and construction projects in South Carolina in several key categories over a 12-month span. Top Projects is our new yearly look back to celebrate the innovative buildings and facilities that are reshaping South Carolina’s landscape.

We have a lot to celebrate.

According to LCK’s year-end construction report, total construction starts across South Carolina rebounded from a 2023 slowdown, growing 28% in 2024 behind a booming manufacturing sector. Manufacturing starts rose across the state, nearly tripling in total value to $3.8 billion in 2024 from $1.3 billion in 2023 and just $249 billion in 2022.

The education sector also saw substantial growth of 88% over relatively consistent low levels the prior three years. Health care and multi-family starts decreased slightly compared to previous years’ growth as the state’s COVID-era migration boom began to moderate, according to the report.

All this construction action translates into jobs.

South Carolina’s construction workforce mirrored the spike in construction starts, experiencing its largest annualized growth rate since 2019 at 6%, according to LCK’s report. The state’s unemployment rate rose to 3.85% from 3% in 2023, though it remains lower than the national average of 4.125%. Nationally, the Employment Cost Index for wages and salaries remained relatively flat as wages stabilized on higher unemployment, varying less than one index point as opposed to 2023’s four-point increase, according to the report. ​ ​

The future looks bright when it comes to manufacturing.

The industry is poised to remain the leading driver of construction starts throughout 2025, countering the usual fluctuations of development across sectors and markets throughout South Carolina, according to the report. A flurry of announced expansions and new construction is slated for the coming year in the Charleston, Columbia, Greenville and Spartanburg markets, the reports stated.

Construction is in full swing in South Carolina. Now, anyone know how I can arrange a ride on a crane?

Jason Thomas is executive editor of SCBIZ. Reach him via email at [email protected].