Franchise · Wednesdays 12:00 p.m. PT

The Crane Count

Nobody publishes a recurring number for how much of Las Vegas is actually under construction right now. So we are going to count it, the same way, every week, and show our work.

The method, published before the first count

A number is only useful if the way it was produced does not change. Ours is fixed, and it is written down here so you can hold us to it.

Tower cranes only. Not mobile cranes, not boom lifts, not concrete pumps. A tower crane means a project committed to vertical construction for months.
Five defined corridors. The boundaries are listed below and do not move. If we ever change them, we will say so and restate the history.
One count, one time window. Wednesday mornings, from public rights of way only.
Date and time stamped. Every count is published with when it was taken.
Labeled as our count. This is not an official statistic and we will never present it as one. It is a consistent observation, which is a different and still useful thing.
Every crane tied to a project. A crane we cannot attribute to a named project is reported as unattributed rather than assigned to a guess.

The first published count runs Wednesday, September 9, 2026. Until then this page carries the baseline below: the 12 projects in our database that are in or entering vertical construction inside these corridors, each with the source for its current status. That baseline is what the count will be measured against.

Baseline · as of August 30, 2026

The corridors and what is standing in them

Tracked projects in vertical construction or immediately entering it. Status source linked on every row.

Full database →

Resort corridor — Strip and Convention Center

Las Vegas Blvd from Sahara Ave to Blue Diamond Rd, plus the Convention Center district east to Paradise Rd.

4tracked
projects

Hard Rock Las Vegas / Guitar Hotel Topped out May 1, 2026; curtain wall nearing completion Aug 20	Review-Journal
Athletics MLB Ballpark Second truss arch completed Aug 18, 2026	Ballpark Digest
Venetian Convention & Expo Center Under construction, $188M, Q4 2026	LVCVA
Category 10 by Luke Combs Under construction at the Flamingo, 34,000 sf	Lou's Vegas

Downtown and the Arts District

US-95 to Charleston Blvd, I-15 to Maryland Pkwy, including Symphony Park and the Medical District.

2tracked
projects

Midtown Las Vegas Phase 1 began October 2025; 3,000 units planned	Lou's Vegas
Circa Resort floors 49–50 Two top floors completed, opening Sept 1, 2026	NVBEX

Southwest and Durango corridor

I-215 south beltway from Rainbow Blvd to Blue Diamond Rd, plus the Durango and Warm Springs nodes.

2tracked
projects

Durango Phase 2 Expansion Under construction, $385M, 275,000 sf, 2027	LVCVA
Switch Warm Springs Data Center Approved June 17, 2026; ~57,000 sf on 9 acres	Route Fifty

North Las Vegas and Apex

I-15 north from Cheyenne Ave to the Apex Industrial Park, plus the Lake Mead Blvd corridor.

3tracked
projects

Switch Apex Data Center Campus 300+ acres assembled for ~$200M; construction rolling	View Vegas Now
Hylo Park Under construction, $380M, former Texas Station site	LVCVA
Nevada State University NLV Campus Under construction; three-story academic building, Fall 2027	NVBEX

Southeast and the hospital corridor

I-215 east from Eastern Ave to Boulder Hwy, plus the Tropicana and Cameron nodes.

1tracked
projects

Intermountain Health Children's Hospital

Zoning approved May 20, 2026; 830,400 sf, 8 stories

NVBEX

Why a count and not a list

Lists of projects already exist. What does not exist is a consistent time series, and a time series is the only thing that answers the question people actually ask: is this slowing down or speeding up?

The valleywide indicators disagree with each other right now, which is exactly why an independent physical count is worth keeping. New-home permits are down 25% year to date (Review-Journal), metro construction employment is flat at 81,900 (FRED / BLS), and yet statewide specialty trade employment added 2,900 jobs while building construction shed 600 (NVBEX).

Those three facts can all be true at once, and a crane count is one of the few ways to see which one is winning. In twelve months this series will exist and cannot be recreated retroactively by anyone.