Area permit values down 67% in January

Building permit values in Fort Smith, Greenwood and Van Buren combined to total $13.275 million in January, down 67% compared to the $40.175 million in January 2011.

The January loss in area building activity comes primarily courtesy of a $27.403 million decline in Fort Smith construction, while Van Buren showed significant gains.

A commercial construction project at Coleman Junior High School accounted for $1.156 million of Van Buren's growth, while another $228,190 commercial project is underway at the city's Bekaert Corporation location.

Meanwhile, Greenwood’s numbers fell from $1.096 million in January 2011 to $275,120 last month.

Fort Smith’s year-to-date decrease results from the $28.5 million permit issued in January 2011 for construction of Mitsubishi’s wind-turbine assembly plant at Chaffee Crossing.

FORT SMITH
The city of Fort Smith issued 136 permits during January with a total value of $10.949 million, down 71.45% compared to the $38.353 million in January 2011. The 10 new residential permits issued by the city totaled $2.029 million, down from the January 2011 value of $3.246 million for 15 new home permits.

GREENWOOD
Permits issued during January in Greenwood posted a total value of $275,120, down considerably from the substantial $1.096 million issued in January 2011. New home construction permits totaled $226,320, compared to three permits totaling $444,080 issued in January 2011.

VAN BUREN
January permits issued in Van Buren totaled $2.050 million compared to just $725,100 in January 2011. No residential construction permits for new construction were issued in January, down compared to $645,000 in January 2011.

2011 RECAP
Building permit values in the three cities during 2011 totaled $201.079 million, up close to 34.47% compared to $149.529 million in 2010. In 2011, Fort Smith officials issued permits valued at $179.228 million, compared to $109.941 million in 2010.

For the year, Greenwood officials issued permits valued at $9.461 million, down close to 48.18% over the $18.258 million in 2010. The final 2011 tally is the lowest valuation for Greenwood since 2008's $11.904 million, and the lowest number in The City Wire's coverage, which dates back to 2007.

Van Buren officials issued building permits valued at $12.39 million in 2011, down approximately 41.19% compared to $21.33 million in 2010. Van Buren's valuation would have increased had it not been for a $13.587 million permit issued to Nabholz Construction for King Elementary School in April 2010.