Fort Smith metro building permit numbers up 160% in January

Following a significant decline in 2024, building activity gained momentum in the Fort Smith metro as 2025 started. January building permit values were up 160% in the three regional cities compared to the same time last year.

Building permits in Fort Smith, Greenwood, and Van Buren totaled $33.31 million in January, up 251% from $9.49 million issued in the three cities in December and up 160% from $12.8 million reported in January 2024.

Fort Smith issued 181 permits in January with a value of $30.83 million, up 252% from the $8.77 million value of 159 permits issued in December and up 232% from the $9.28 million value of 138 permits issued in January 2024.

There were seven permits issued for new residential construction in the city in January with a value of $2.86 million, down 1.7% from the $2.91 million value of 14 new residential construction permits issued in December but up 3.9% from the $2.75 million value of eight new residential construction permits issued in the first 31 days of 2024.

Along with new single-family homes in residential construction, building activity in Fort Smith got a boost from 28 new duplex construction projects with a value of $9.98 million during the month. Several of those duplexes will be located on Olivia and Catherine streets behind the Links at Fort Smith, located at 5100 S. Zero St.

There were 48 permits issued for new duplex construction in all of 2024 with a value of $17.07 million.

There were three permits for new commercial construction in January. Those included a $450,000 new guard shack at Mars Petcare at 10000 Roberts Blvd.; a $1.1 million new Starbucks at 3850 Park South Road, near the Walmart Neighborhood Market on U.S. Highway 71 South; and $10 million new 36,000-square-foot car dealership for Crain Hyundai at 3300 River Valley Drive. No completion date has been given on the new Starbucks. The new Crain Hyundai is expected to be completed in January 2026, at which time the current Crain Hyundai, located at 3600 Zero St., will close, said Brian Trumbly, project manager with Petree for the construction project.

New commercial construction in January was almost 70 times more than the $165,000 value of one new commercial construction project permitted in January 2024. There were no new commercial construction projects permitted in December.

VAN BUREN, GREENWOOD

Van Buren, the region’s second largest city, had 68 projects permitted in January with a value of $1.31 million, up 172% from the $483,900 value of 73 permits issued in December and up 35.7% from the $969,500 value of 58 projects permitted in January of last year.

The city issued seven permits for residential construction with a value of $974,000, a 400% increase from the $194,900 value of eight residential projects permitted in December and an 85.5% increase from the $525,000 value of three residential construction projects permitted in the first month of 2025.

There was one commercial permit issued in January with a value of $31,500, down 78.9% from the value of three commercial permits issued in December and down 93.6% from the $426,500 value of two commercial permits issued in January 2024.

Greenwood issued 18 permits in January with a combined value of $1.16 million, a 383% increase from the $240,289 value of nine permits issued in December but a 54.5% decrease from the $2.55 million value of 19 permits issued during the same time in 2024.

Fort Smith, Greenwood and Van Buren building permit values in 2024 totaled $271.09 million, a 45% decline from $492.29 million in 2023. That was the first year since 2017 that regional building activity has declined in the region.

REGIONAL BUILDING ACTIVITY RECAP
Combined total for the three cities
2024: $271.09 million
2023: $520.64 million
2022: $480.37 million
2021: $343.28 million
2020: $265.97 million
2019: $241.74 million
2018: $231.78 million
2017: $210.84 million
2016: $211.34 million
2015: $218.89 million
2014: $198.98 million