Building activity down more than 16% in the Fort Smith metro area

Fort Smith metro region building activity — permits for Fort Smith, Greenwood, and Van Buren — began 2018 behind its year-to-date performance from last year, though the last 28 days saw a slight improvement from January.

The region posted $19.364 million in February, adding to the $11.293 million combined total from the previous month for a two-month tally of $30.657 million, a drop of 16.61% from the previous year’s $36.761 million. Fort Smith and Van Buren were up in February while Greenwood continued its decline from January, tumbling over 53% on the heels of a 65% drop the month before.

What happens in Fort Smith generally determines the course of the region’s monthly performance, and for the second month of 2018, the city reported $17.697 million on 146 permits against February 2017’s $17.125 million. Cumulatively, the city is behind by 14.22% with $28.016 million in valuations against 2017’s YTD of $32.662 million. Most of the last 28 days’ activities occurred on the commercial side with $12.67 million in values while $2.962 million went to residential.

The largest permit was for the “life plan community” (LPC) expansion at Methodist Village Health, Rehab, and Residential Living. The $6.162 million permit is part of a greater $55 million project that builds on a mission that started in 1974 when the site began a 40-year mortgage with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The agreement concluded in 2014, enabling Methodist Village to push through with the LPC concept. Fundraising efforts are ongoing, and the site named Melissa Curry as its first chief executive officer in November of 2017. Curry will oversee the expansion, which recently broke ground on the first of three phases to include a 28-bed Assisted Living Center and a 17-bed Alzheimer’s Special Care Unit. The development is expected to be completed in early 2019 and employ over 200 at that time.

Other major permits included a $1.84 million remodel at ABB/Baldor Electric, 5711 R.S. Boreham Drive, and a $1.668 million addition at Aldi’s, 8400 Phoenix Ave.

VAN BUREN, GREENWOOD
Van Buren, the region’s second largest city, posted $854,200 in values for February, up 99.95% from last February’s $427,200. The performance was enough to surge year-to-date numbers into the black with $1.534 million through the first two months against last year’s $1.501 million, an increase of 2.2%.

Greenwood building activity was not so fortunate. The city started the year with just $294,105 in permits and added only $813,633 in February for a two-month total of $1.107 million. By comparison, last February the city issued $1.745 million in permits, bringing it to a YTD tally of $2.598 million. Percentage-wise, the city is behind by 53.37% month-to-month and 57.39% for the year.

REGIONAL BUILDING ACTIVITY RECAP
Combined total for the three cities
2017: $210.844 million
2016: $211.345 million
2015: $218.899 million
2014: $198.983 million
2013: $202.389 million
2012: $154.64 million
2011: $201.079 million
2010: $149 million
2009: $164 million

Fort Smith
2017: $169.958 million
2016: $185.783 million
2015: $191.631 million
2014: $174.252 million
2013: $185.057 million
2012: $136.248 million

Van Buren
2017: $19.665 million
2016: $15.327 million
2015: $16.009 million
2014: $7.918 million
2013: $8.283 million
2012: $8.609 million

Greenwood
2017: $15.23 million
2016: $10.235 million
2015: $11.259 million
2014: $16.813 million
2013: $9.049 million
2012: $9.983 million