Fort Smith metro building permits up in November, down almost 49% year-to-date

Building activity in the Fort Smith metro in November regained momentum with an almost 120% increase in building permit values, but it’s not enough to catch up with the record-breaking 2023.

Fort Smith, Greenwood and Van Buren reported combined November building permit values of $32.261 million, up 119.9% from the $14.672 million in November 2023. The total for the month was 187% higher than the $11.241 million reported in October. Year-to-date the region has issued $238.198 million in building permits, down 48.7% from the $463.875 million reported in the first 11 months of 2023.

Fort Smith issued 188 permits in November with a value of $30.342 million, up 134.2% from the $12.957 million value of 197 permits in November 2023. Year-to-date, Fort Smith has reported $230.285 million in building projects through November, down 45.1% from the $419.448 million reported during the same period in 2023.

There were 16 permits issued for new residential construction in November with a combined value of $4.259 million, up 382% from the $883,356 value of five permits issued for residential new construction in October and up 152.6% from the $1.686 million value of eight new residential construction projects permitted in November 2023.

There was one new commercial construction permit issued in the month, a $12.2 million permitted project that will become the new Harps grocery store near the Arkansas College for Health Education campus at 6400 Veterans Ave. There were no new commercial construction projects permitted in October and one permitted in November 2023 for $600,000.

VAN BUREN AND GREENWOOD
Van Buren, the region’s second largest city, had 69 projects permitted in November with a value of $1.767 million, a 39% increase from the $1.271 million value of 89 projects permitted in October and a 67.6% increase from the $1.054 million value of 89 projects permitted in November 2023.

The city issued eight permits for residential construction in the month with a value of $963,300 million, up 59.6% from the $$603,500 value of six residential projects permitted in November 2023. There were two commercial construction projects permitted in November for a value of $802,500, including an $800,000 remodel of the Harps grocery store at 120 Cloverleaf in Cloverleaf Plaza. The total commercial construction was significantly higher than the $13,000 value of one commercial project permitted in October and the $135,000 value of one commercial project permitted in November 2023.

The city has had $22.324 million in permitted activity in the first 10 months of the year, down 31.8% from the $32.732 million permitted through the same time period in 2023.

Greenwood issued 17 permits in November with a value of $151,945, down 92.9 % from the $2.135 million value of 30 projects permitted in October and down 77% from the $660,873 value of 14 projects permitted in November 2023. The city has had $12.272 million in permitted activity so far in 2024, down 22.3% from the $15.8 million in the first 11 months of 2023.

The Fort Smith metro ended 2023 with building permits totaling a record $520.644 million, 8.4% more than the previous record of $480.376 million in 2022.

REGIONAL BUILDING ACTIVITY RECAP
Combined total for the three cities
2023: $520.644 million
2022: $480.376 million
2021: $343.289 million
2020: $265.975 million
2019: $241.741 million
2018: $231.78 million
2017: $210.844 million
2016: $211.345 million
2015: $218.899 million
2014: $198.983 million
2013: $202.389 million