'03 building permits on pace for banner year

Permits for multi-family

residences valued

at $7.1 million

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- With just one month left, it's clear that 2003 is going to be another banner building year in New Ulm. However, it's also clear that because of the city's sales tax referendum projects last year, it won't get the credit it deserves as a record year for total value.

While the 501 permits issued this year ties 2002's pace, those permits' total value amounts to $17,896,690, well short of the $26,571,598 rung up last year.

If the nearly $10 million value of the sales-tax-referendum permits is deducted, 2003 is over $1 million ahead of last year's total-value pace. Because December is not a big building start month, little is expected to change as far as the building race is concerned. And, remember, 2002's total permits are inflated by the sales tax referendum project permits.

Largely overlooked, too, is that 2003 will be remembered as a good year for single-family housing starts. Through November, 26 permits valued at $3,513,000 were issued. That's one fewer permits than were issued in 2001 when a record 27 having a total value of $4,094,000 were issued. The 2003 permit total is eight more than the 18 permits issued in 2002 through November.

It's clearly going to be a record year for multi-family residence starts. Permits for 110 assisted living units with a total value of $7,120,000 were issued through November. In 2002, there were 18 units valued at $1,608,000 permitted through November; in 2001, only four permits with a value of $788,000 had been issued.

While the only major building activity in November 2003 was in industrial/commercial where four permits totaling $197,000 were issued, 2003 trails 2002 in permits issued (42/36) and trails both 2002 and 2001 in total value with $4,354,400.

(November building permits are published on page 3A.)