Fort Smith building activity up 119% in August thanks to more roof repair

The Fort Smith region continues to make gains in building activity through the first eight months of 2016 after a bumpy start. For the first eight months of the year, permit values in Fort Smith, Greenwood and Van Buren totaled $139.668 million, up 12.85% from the $123.769 million in the same period of 2015.

Fort Smith building permit totals comprised $120.675 million of the figure versus $104.819 million through the same period last year. For the last 30 days, Fort Smith activity grew approximately 119% to $22.313 million on 1,064 permits against $10.19 million in August 2015.

In July, the three-city market turned the corner and logged a modest gain to $115.946 million from $112.092 million during the same period in 2015. Much of the growth comes on the residential side and is the result of repair work following an April 29 hailstorm which could spur roofing repair permits beyond the end of 2016.

Residential permits accounted for most of the August total with a $17.361 million valuation on 1,011 permits. The vast majority of those permits were specified as roof repair with additional roofing permits on the commercial, duplex, and multi-family housing sides.

Commercially, Fort Smith issued 58 permits totaling $5.499 million. Thirty-one commercial permits were specifically marked as roof repair with the rest falling under general repair, remodel, other, or new construction. Of the new construction items, there were only two — a Sparks Health System medical clinic at 520 Towson ($950,000) and Precision Packaging at 4907 Riverfront Drive ($500,000).

VAN BUREN, GREENWOOD
Van Buren’s August permits totaled $739,453 on 107 projects, just short of last August’s $856,000. However, through the first eight months of the year, the city continues to perform well, logging $12.043 million in permits against 2015’s $10.623 million figure, up 13.37% year-to-date. On the commercial side, the largest project was a $250,000 remodel of Frank’s Italian Restaurant. The majority fell on the residential side ($389,700 overall).

Greenwood’s numbers continue to trail for the year despite a slight gain in August. For the month, the city logged $670,237 on five permits with the largest being a $350,000 addition to the Greenwood School District. The remainder fell on the residential side. The number was up about 5.8% from August 2015, but it was not enough to catch up to the $8.327 million in permits logged through the first eight months of 2015. Year-to-date, Greenwood has a $6.95 million valuation, a decline of 16.54% from the same period last year.

REGIONAL BUILDING ACTIVITY RECAP
Combined total for the three cities
2015: $225.78 million (With 66.67% of the year complete, the 2016 YTD is at 61.86% of the 2015 total.)
2014: $198.983 million
2013: $202.389 million
2012: $154.64 million
2011: $201.079 million
2010: $149 million
2009: $164 million

Fort Smith
2015: $191.369 million (With 66.67% of the year complete, the 2016 YTD is at 63.06% of the 2015 total.)
2014: $174.252 million
2013: $185.057 million
2012: $136.248 million

Greenwood
2015: $20.708 million (With 66.67% of the year complete, the 2016 YTD is at 33.56% of the 2015 total.)
2014: $7.918 million
2013: $8.283 million
2012: $8.609 million

Van Buren
2015: $13.703 million (With 66.67% of the year complete, the 2016 YTD is at 87.89% of the 2015 total.)
2014: $16.813 million
2013: $9.049 million
2012: $9.983 million