Area building permit values down in April, up for the year

Building permit values in Fort Smith, Greenwood and Van Buren were down more than 62% in April, but are up more than 21% for the first four months of 2011.

The year-to-date increase is courtesy of a $28.5 million permit issued in January by Fort Smith for construction of Mitsubishi’s wind-turbine assembly plant at Chaffee Crossing.

Combined permit values in the three cities during April totaled $9.976 million, down 62.83% from the $26.843 million in April 2010. The city of Van Buren issued a $13.587 million permit in April 2010 for construction of King Elementary school.

For the first four months of 2011, permit values in the three cities total $76.35 million, up 21.3% compared to the $62.926 million during the 2010 period. Possibly a good sign is that permit values are up 15.8% in the three cities during the first four months when removing the Mitsubishi permit value.

FORT SMITH
The city of Fort Smith issued 180 permits during April with a total value of $8.199 million, down 22.4% compared to the $10.57 million in April 2010. The 19 new residential permits issued by the city totaled $3.439 million, down from the April 2010 value of $3.791 million.

GREENWOOD
Permits issued during April in Greenwood posted a total value of $971,726, down considerably from the $2.671 million value in April 2010. New home construction permits totaled $460,720, compared to $2.403 million in April 2010.

VAN BUREN
The more than $13 million permit issued in April 2010 for the King Elementary construction creates a tough comparison for the city. April permits issued in Van Buren totaled $805,865 compared to the $13.601 million in April 2010. However, residential construction permits issued in April had a value of $370,000, up over the $310,500 in April 2010.

2010 RECAP
Building permit values in the three cities during 2010 totaled $158.358 million, down 5.77% compared to $163.824 million in 2009. In 2010, Fort Smith officials issued permits valued at $114.77 million, compared to $138.946 million in 2009.

For the year, Greenwood officials issued permits valued at $18.258 million, up 21.6% over the $15.008 million in all of 2009. However, the city changed its permit assessment process during 2010 in a way that increased the estimated value of construction.

Van Buren officials issued building permits valued at $21.33 million in 2010, up 116% compared to all of 2009. The bulk of the 2010 permit value came from the $13.587 million permit for construction of the new King Elementary.