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August 17, 2008

Joplin construction continues at sluggish pace

From staff reports

news@joplinglobe.com

Construction in Joplin continues to lag behind the pace set last year, according to building permits filed with the city in July.

Nearly $6.8 million in construction projects were issued permits in July in the city, compared with $11.2 million in July 2007, according to the city’s monthly reports.

Construction from Nov. 1, 2007, through July 31 — the first nine months of the city’s fiscal year — came to $58.8 million, compared with $103.7 million for the same period a year earlier.

That’s off nearly $45 million from the pace set last year, which was a record for Joplin building. In 2007, $128.1 million in construction projects received permits in Joplin.

The city’s fiscal year runs from Nov. 1 to Oct. 31. The permits do not include any work taking place outside the city limits, such as construction of the two new middle schools for the Joplin R-8 School District or the Downstream Casino Resort and hotel just across the Oklahoma line.

No seven-figure permits were filed for July, with the largest project — for a shopping center at 1702 S. Range Line Road — having an estimated value of $700,000. The next largest permit was $475,000 for a single-family dwelling in Arbor Hills.

Million-dollar-plus projects have been hard to come by this year in the city, with only three such permits filed since November. They are $3.6 million to finish out Freeman Health System’s new Women’s Health Center, and two permits, each at about $12 million, to build a recreation center and a health sciences building at Missouri Southern State University.

Housing and new-business construction have both dropped in Joplin, according to building permits.

In the first nine months of the city’s fiscal year, 68 new-home permits were filed, valued at $10.9 million, compared with 113 permits last year, valued at $15.2 million.

Thirteen new-business permits have been filed so far this fiscal year, valued at $28.4 million, compared with 34 for the same period last year, valued at $61.4 million.





Year by year

Construction totals for Joplin over the past decade are as follows. (The numbers, based on building permits issued by the city, are for the fiscal year, which runs from Nov. 1 to Oct. 31.)

2007 $128.1 million

2006 $97.8 million

2005 $124.5 million

2004 $75.4 million

2003 $64.2 million

2002 $86.6 million

2001 $71.0 million

2000 $60.7 million

1999 $70.7 million

1998 $56.3 million

Source: City of Joplin

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