Area building permit values down in January

The value of building permits in Fort Smith, Greenwood and Van Buren were a combined $12.886 million in January, down 2.93% compared to $13.275 million in January 2012.

The decline in values continues a trend from the previous January when building permit values declined by 67% across the three cities.

The largest permit is the new Chaffee Crossing fire station to be built at 8900 Massard Road in Fort Smith. The permit for the station totaled $2.75 million.

Greenwood saw the largest percentage increase in building permit values. The increase of 424% from the previous year included three residential building permits.

One of the projects to increase Greenwood's permit values is a new pumping station being built for the city at 334 East Ash St., according to a representative with TNT Inc. in Van Buren, the general contractor on the project.

FORT SMITH
The city of Fort Smith issued 141 permits during the month of January with a total value of $9.11 million, down 16.8% compared to the $10.949 million in January 2012. The 17 new residential permits issued by the city totaled $4.155 million, up from the January 2012 total of $2.029 million for 10 new home permits.

GREENWOOD
Permits issued during January in Greenwood totaled $1.441 million, a dramatic increase from the $274,120 in permits issued in January 2012. New home construction permits totaled $646,360, compared to $226,320 the previous year.

VAN BUREN
Fifty-five building permits were issued in Van Buren during January 2012, totaling $2.333 million, compared to $2.050 the previous year. There were seven residential building permits issued in January totaling $693,000, compared to last January when no residential building permits were issued.

2012 RECAP
Combined values in the three cities during 2012 were $157.32 million, compared to $201.079 million during 2011. The 2012 value is above the $149 million in 2010, but below the $164 million during 2009.

Fort Smith closed 2012 with the largest share of valuations, logging $136.428 million (a one-year decline from $179.288 million of about 23.9%), while Van Buren was the next largest with $12.282 million (a one-year decrease from $12.39 million of approximately 0.87%). Greenwood posted an additional $8.609 million, which was down slightly from last year’s $9.461 million (down about 9%).

The 2012 figures were compared against a $28.5 million permit for the construction of a Mitsubishi wind-turbine assembly plant at Chaffee Crossing. The plant has been mothballed by the company. Even without that permit, the Fort Smith metro area lagged when compared to 2011 showing a decrease of around 8.8%.