Area building permit values down in 2010

BusinessFort SmithNews on the Wire

by The City Wire staff ([email protected]) January 12, 2011 7:48 am 63 views 

Despite a December that saw the collective value of building permits issued in Fort Smith, Greenwood and Van Buren increase 103.6% over December 2009, permit values for 2010 in the cities were down almost 6%.

Permit gains in Van Buren and Greenwood during 2010 weren’t enough to offset a $24.176 million decline, or 17.39%, in the value of permits issued in Fort Smith for the year.

Building permit values in the three cities during 2010 totaled $154.358 million, down 5.77% compared to $163.824 million in 2009.

FORT SMITH
In 2010, Fort Smith officials issued permits valued at $114.77 million, compared to $138.946 million in 2009. Most of the decline was the result of lower commercial construction because new home construction sector in Fort Smith was hot for most of the year. New home construction permit values between May and December totaled $26.52 million, up 53% over the $17.325 million during the same period in 2009.

The 2010 numbers were up against some significant commercial construction permitted in 2009. November 2009 saw a $6 million permit for expansion at St. Gobain’s (formerly Norton Proppants) proppant plant in north Fort Smith. March 2009 brought a $12 million expansion at Gerber Foods’ Fort Smith plant. Also permitted in 2009 was the $4 million permit for the Best Western hotel at 6501 Rogers Ave., more than $3.2 million in permits for the Mars Petcare plant at Chaffee Crossing, and a $3.12 million permit for the Eastside Baptist Outreach Center.

In December, Fort Smith issued permits valued at $9.688 million, up 133.6% compared to the $4.145 million in December 2009.

GREENWOOD
For the year, Greenwood officials issued permits valued at $18.258 million, up 21.6% over the $15.008 million in all of 2009. The gain is even more impressive considering that the city issued no permits in November.

The city issued permits valued at $1.16 million during December, up 3% compared to December 2009.

VAN BUREN
Van Buren officials issued building permits valued at $21.33 million in 2010, up 116% compared to all of 2009. The bulk of the 2010 permit value came from the $13.587 million permit for construction of the new King Elementary. Without the King permit, permit values would have declined 21.5% in 2010 compared to 2009.

The value of residential construction permits during 2010 marked a three-year decline in Van Buren. In 2010, the city issued $5.583 million in residential permits, down 20.3% from 2009 and down more than 77% compared to the peak of $24.621 million in 2007.

Since 2000, the peak year for construction in Van Buren was 2004, when commercial and residential permits were $20.628 million and $19.087 million, respectively, for a total of $39.716 million.