New York, San Francisco most costly U.S. cities for office construction, RSMeans reports

With an average construction cost of $224 a square foot, New York City ranks as the country’s most expensive metro region in which to build an office building or medical office complex, according to a recent RSMeans report. The annual report compares the average construction cost of four office building types—office 2-4 story, office 5-10 story, office 11-20 story, and medical office—across 25 U.S. metropolitan areas. San Francisco ranks second at $212 per square foot on average.

Note: RSMeans' formula for calculating square foot costs for office building and medical offices has been adjusted to more accurately reflect modern construction costs and practices. Therefore, the percentage change numbers from '09 and '08 are somewhat skewed.
                        
         
RSMeans cost comparisons: Office buildings, medical offices 

'09 '08 % chg. '09 '08 % chg. '09 '08 % chg. '09 '08 % chg. Office, 2–4 story Office, 5–10 story Office, 11–20 story Medical office Costs in dollars per square foot
For more data, visit RSMeans atwww.rsmeans.com, or call (800) 448-8182. Atlanta 158.75 136.95 15.9 150.72 128.17 17.6 138.19 118.76 16.4 171.79 154.52 11.2 Baltimore 163.86 140.93 16.3 155.57 131.89 18.0 142.63 122.21 16.7 177.31 159.00 11.5 Boston 203.10 177.92 14.2 192.83 166.51 15.8 176.79 154.29 14.6 219.78 200.73 9.5 Chicago 202.22 175.32 15.3 192.00 164.08 17.0 176.03 152.03 15.8 218.83 197.80 10.6 Cleveland 175.12 152.85 14.6 166.26 143.05 16.2 152.43 132.55 15.0 189.50 172.45 9.9 Dallas 150.30 129.31 16.2 142.70 121.02 17.9 130.83 112.14 16.7 162.64 145.89 11.5 Denver 167.20 143.83 16.2 158.75 134.61 17.9 145.54 124.73 16.7 180.93 162.28 11.5 Detroit 181.63 158.81 14.4 172.45 148.63 16.0 158.10 137.72 14.8 196.54 179.18 9.7 Houston 155.41 134.20 15.8 147.55 125.60 17.5 135.28 116.38 16.2 168.17 151.41 11.1 Kansas City 179.70 156.52 14.8 170.61 146.48 16.5 156.42 135.73 15.2 194.45 176.59 10.1 Los Angeles 190.61 165.54 15.1 180.97 154.92 16.8 165.92 143.55 15.6 206.26 186.76 10.4 Miami 158.93 136.65 16.3 150.89 127.89 18.0 138.34 118.50 16.7 171.98 154.17 11.5 Minneapolis 193.25 170.43 13.4 183.48 159.50 15.0 168.21 147.79 13.8 209.11 192.28 8.8 New Orleans 156.46 133.29 17.4 148.55 124.74 19.1 136.19 115.58 17.8 169.31 150.38 12.6 New York City 230.03 200.69 14.6 218.40 187.82 16.3 200.23 174.04 15.1 248.92 226.43 9.9 Philadelphia 199.23 176.08 13.1 189.16 164.79 14.8 173.42 152.70 13.6 215.59 198.66 8.5 Phoenix 156.64 136.19 15.0 148.72 127.46 16.7 136.35 118.10 15.4 169.50 153.65 10.3 Pittsburgh 171.78 150.86 13.9 163.09 141.19 15.5 149.52 130.83 14.3 185.88 170.21 9.2 Portland, Ore. 177.76 157.13 13.1 168.77 147.06 14.8 154.73 136.26 13.6 192.35 177.28 8.5 St. Louis 181.10 158.05 14.6 171.95 147.91 16.2 157.64 137.06 15.0 195.97 178.31 9.9 San Diego 184.98 161.10 14.8 175.62 150.77 16.5 161.01 139.71 15.3 200.16 181.76 10.1 San Francisco 217.89 188.31 15.7 206.87 176.24 17.4 189.66 163.30 16.1 235.78 212.46 11.0 Seattle 182.86 158.35 15.5 173.62 148.20 17.2 159.17 137.32 15.9 197.88 178.66 10.8 Washington, D.C. 175.47 151.47 15.8 166.60 141.76 17.5 152.74 131.36 16.3 189.88 170.90 11.1 Winston-Salem, N.C. 138.51 119.83 15.6 131.51 112.15 17.3 120.57 103.92 16.0 149.88 135.20 10.9