Cape city sees jump in building construction in 'odd' fiscal 2017

Five months into its 2018 fiscal year, Cape Girardeau has seen a sizable amount of construction, but the city most likely will not keep pace with an unusually active 2017 fiscal year, a city official said Wednesday.

Cape Girardeau experienced more than $287 million in building construction in fiscal 2017, more than three times the estimated value of construction for the previous year, city building and code enforcement manager Anna Kangas said.

The 2017 fiscal year ended June 30.

For the first five months of fiscal 2018, building construction totaled $37.8 million, according to city building-permit records.

The city issued 368 building permits in fiscal 2017 compared to 189 in fiscal 2016, records show.

For the period from July 1 to Nov. 30, 2017, the city issued 99 building permits, which equates to nearly 20 projects a month. That number of construction projects puts the city ahead of the monthly average for fiscal 2016, records indicate.

In fiscal 2016, the city averaged more than 15 projects per month.

In construction-heavy fiscal 2017, the city issued permits for an average of 30 projects a month, city data indicates.

Kangas said this fiscal year likely won’t equal construction totals for the past fiscal year. But she said fiscal 2018 could be “pretty comparable” to 2016 when the city experienced $90.3 million worth of commercial and residential construction.

“Last year, it was kind of odd,” she said, explaining the dollar totals included construction of several city projects, among them a new fire station and a new police station, and improvements to two other fire stations.

Several major apartment projects also commenced this past fiscal year, adding to the totals, Kangas said.

“There are a lot of apartments under construction right now,” she said.

Kangas credited an improving economy for boosting construction.

“Things are picking up,” she said.

In fiscal 2016, the city experienced $3.5 million in apartment construction for six projects compared to $32 million for 10 projects this past fiscal year, records show.

So far in fiscal 2018, new apartment construction has totaled $10.2 million for seven projects, Kangas said.

New commercial construction totaled $76.5 million in fiscal 2017, up more than $16 million from a year earlier. There were 81 new commercial projects in fiscal 2017 compared to 32 the previous fiscal year.

So far this fiscal year, the city has seen more than $7.4 million in new commercial construction involving 13 projects, according to city records.

Commercial remodels totaled nearly $128 million in fiscal 2017, a dramatic increase over the $10.5 million worth of remodel projects in fiscal 2016, city records show.

While the dollar amount was vastly different, the number of commercial remodels was similar, according to city data. There were 40 commercial remodels in 2017 compared to 36 in 2016.

For the first five months of this fiscal year, commercial remodels have totaled $14.2 million involving 28 projects. Kangas said that figure includes about $8 million for the ongoing remodeling of the H-H Building on Broadway, which is being turned into a Marriott hotel.

New residential construction totaled $29.4 million in fiscal 2017, more than double the $12.1 million worth of new residential construction the previous year.

For the first five months of this fiscal year, Cape Girardeau has experienced $5.73 million in new residential construction involving 45 projects.

By comparison, there were 83 new residential construction projects in fiscal 2016 and 171 last fiscal year, city records show.

Kangas said city government has taken steps to aid development through expedited plan reviews that allow projects to proceed at a faster pace.

Since the program was implemented in September, nine commercial projects have been handled through the expedited process, she said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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