Editor’s note: This story is a component of The Compass Report. The quarterly Compass Report is managed by The City Wire, and sponsored by Arvest Bank. Supporting sponsors of The Compass Report are Cox Communications and the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce.
January building permit values in Fort Smith, Greenwood and Van Buren totaled $8.777 million, down 7.29% compared to January 2014. However, Fort Smith and Greenwood did see big value gains during the month.
Fort Smith issued 129 permits in January valued at $6.344 million, up 37% compared to the $4.63 million in January 2013.
Driving the January growth was commercial activity. The city issued 29 commercial permits with a combined value of $3.785 million, well ahead of the $1.259 million in January 2013. Some of the commercial permits issued in January included:
• $613,209 for work at Baldor corporate offices at 5711 R.S. Boreham Drive;
• $583,000 for renovation at Walmart Stores at 8301 Rogers Ave.; and
• $450,000 for work with the Fort Smith Public School District.
New home construction in January was slightly off the January 2014 pace. Fort Smith officials issued eight new home permits with a combined value of $1.61 million, down from the $1.821 million in January 2013. Overall, permits for residential work in Fort Smith had a value of $2.124 million, down from $2.377 million in January 2014.
The city issued $189.445 million in permits during all of 2014, up 6.61% compared to 2013.
GREENWOOD, VAN BUREN PERMITS
Greenwood issued 10 new permits in January with a combined value of $1.729 million, a big jump over three permits valued at $182,960 in January 2014. The first month of the year can be a roller coaster for the city. January 2013 permit values totaled $1.441 million.
Permit values were driven by five residential projects with a combined value of $1.692 million.
Greenwood permit values totaled $7.918 million in 2014, down 4.4% compared to 2013.
January was a slow month for permits in Van Buren. All construction permits issued in the month totaled $704,700, well below the $4.655 million in January 2014 and below the $2.333 million in January 2013. The January 2014 permit tally reflected a $4 million permit for the Legacy Heights Retirement Center expansion.
Of the January total, residential construction permits totaled $527,700.
Van Buren officials issued $16.813 million in permit during 2014, up an impressive 85.8% over 2013.
BUILDING PERMIT VALUES, 2014 TOTALS
Building permit value gains in Fort Smith and Van Buren helped push regional permit values up almost 6% in 2014 compared to 2013. Several taxpayer-funding projects – water park, police station and schools – helped boost the 2014 regional numbers.
For the year, Fort Smith permit values were up 6.61% and Van Buren permit values were up an impressive 85.7%. Greenwood had a 4.4% decline in permit values compared to 2013.
Fort Smith
2014: $189.445 million
2013: $177.687 million
2012: $136.248 million
Greenwood
2014: $7.918 million
2013: $8.283 million
2012: $8.609 million
Van Buren
2014: $16.813 million
2013: $9.049 million
2012: $9.983 million
Combined total for the three cities
2014: $214.176 million
2013: $195.019 million
2012: $154.840 million