Construction Spending Is Still Moving. Financing Still Has To Cover Soft Costs Early.

By Dave Johnson | Chief Operating Officer, Commercial Funding Partners

CFP Pulse | June 7, 2026

Construction spending is still moving. Financing still has to cover soft costs early.

Read this if

You have site work, utility costs, deposits, or progress draws before the project is producing.

Main risk

Active project spending can hide the timing gap between early cash outlays and later equipment or site revenue.

Best next step

Bring financing structure into the project before soft costs and delivery timing become a liquidity problem.

What changed in the latest construction report

The latest Census construction-spending release says project activity is still moving across both private and public work.

$2.172T

Total spend

April construction spending, up 0.4% from March.

$1.640T

Private

Private construction spend, also up 0.4%.

$532.7B

Public

Public construction spend, up 0.4%.

$729.8B

Private nonresidential

Still large even after a 0.2% monthly dip.

For CFP readers, those numbers are not just a market headline. They are a financing-timing signal. When project spend is active, companies often need capital for more than the core equipment invoice.

Why soft costs create financing pressure first

Projects can stay operationally attractive while still becoming harder to fund cleanly once the real sequence is visible.

Where the timing breaks

site preparation and utility work before the asset is online,
engineering, mobilization, and permitting costs,
deposits and progress payments before final delivery,
soft costs running ahead of revenue,
working-capital needs during install or commissioning, and
bank timing or collateral limits after the full project calendar becomes clear.

CFP angle

Commercial Funding Partners is most relevant when the project makes operating sense, but the capital structure still has to reflect soft costs, lead times, cash sequencing, and lender fit.

That can include equipment financing, progress funding, sale-leaseback, structured lease terms, and multi-site or infrastructure-linked transactions.

The activity backdrop is still constructive, not friction-free

The latest BLS Employment Situation said May payrolls rose by 172,000 and unemployment held at 4.3%. The latest ELFA CapEx Finance Index said April new business volume was $10.6 billion and the average approval rate was 77.1%.

The latest factory-orders data and the June Beige Book point to the same caution: demand may still justify the project, but timing, cost pressure, and lender caution have not disappeared.

What borrowers should do now

If project spend is already moving, the financing structure should move before the soft costs become a cash problem.

Practical takeaway

If site work, soft costs, or progress draws come before revenue, bring financing into the project before the timeline is fixed.

Talk with CFP before soft costs box in the structure

If the project depends on site work, deposits, progress draws, utility upgrades, or lender-fit questions, bring CFP in before the financing path narrows.

Discuss a project financing structure

Infrastructure proof

See CFP’s power-infrastructure case study.

Manufacturing proof

See CFP’s onshore manufacturing case study.

Proof library

See CFP’s case-studies archive.

Source notes

Census Monthly Construction Spending, April 2026.
BLS Employment Situation, May 2026.
ELFA CapEx Finance Index, April 2026.
Census Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders.
Federal Reserve Beige Book and EIA diesel update for market backdrop.