Portland’s crane count dropped nearly 35 percent this year to its lowest level since 2015, according to a new report.

Construction cranes in Portland’s skies fell from 23 in February to 15 in August. Crane counts, conducted twice annually by Rider Levett Bucknall, serve as a barometer of activity on major projects.

Several major projects – such as Adidas‘ expansion of its North American headquarters – have wrapped up. At the same time, developers and investors are largely sitting on the sidelines as the coronavirus pandemic, escalating construction costs and skilled labor shortages have interrupted normal business operations.

Portland’s number of cranes in August was the lowest since July 2015, when only 14 cranes dotted the city’s skies.

“As several large commercial and mixed-use projects have wrapped up, the Portland crane count has seen a substantial decrease,” RLB stated in its October report. “Large new projects that will require cranes (PDX T-Core and numerous transit projects) have not yet begun construction. The majority of new projects are mixed-use and residential properties that are located in the Northwest and downtown.”

Chris Nelson, co-founder of Portland developer Capstone Partners, said the pandemic has dented demand in three key sectors: office, multifamily and hospitality.

“I’d say all three of those categories were probably a little oversupplied before COVID,” he said. “That’s not a recipe for multistory new starts unless there are unusual circumstances.”

Nelson said he expects Portland’s crane count to continue to decline before recovering.

“The market I think just needs to burn off the supply that was delivered the last few years, and rents need to bounce back up to a level where it makes sense” to build new projects, he said.

Multifamily is already showing signs of recovery, with strong rent growth in some neighborhoods. The office sector may take longer to recover, Nelson said. Some companies, including Lululemon, On and Boggs Footwear, have recently signed leases, and others are rumored to be searching for space. Yet leasing activity overall has been very slow.

“It’s not a great time to be an office landlord, that’s for sure,” Nelson said.

Portland was far from alone in seeing a decline in cranes. Across 14 North American cities surveyed by RLB, cranes fell 4.5 percent.

Toronto had by far the most cranes in North America, with 225. Los Angeles was second, with 51. Among other Western cities, Seattle had 39 cranes, Denver had 15 and San Francisco had 13. Phoenix and Las Vegas had two each.

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Portland’s crane count slipped to 28 during the first quarter of the year, according to Rider Levett Bucknall.

That was down from 30 during the previous biannual crane count in July 2019.

Among other West Coast cities, Seattle had 36 fixed-tower cranes in the air, San Francisco had 33 and Los Angeles had 47 – the most in the United States. Elsewhere in the West, Denver had 25 cranes, Las Vegas had 17 and Phoenix had nine.

The crane count is monitored as an indicator of economic activity, and specifically large construction projects.

Toronto had by far the most cranes in North America, with 121.

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