City Building Permits

beer city · PostApr 11, 2014#12014-04-11T03:11+00:00

The HBA of St. Louis tracks monthly Building reports - They track the city separate and do rehabs separate from new - which is awesome that a group that was once "new construction" focused has expanded to see the value of rehabs

http://www.stlhba.com//documents/Conten ... p_2-14.pdf

Last year their were 50 new houses built in the city - we have 11 for Jan and Feb alone -

177 new multi-family issued so far - 190 last year - 507 in 2012

Rehabs -

Single fam homes 39 so far - 55 this time last year 33 in 2012

And then multi-fam rehabs - this is kicking ass - 457 issued in Jan and Feb - compared to 320 last year and 281 in 2012 -

With the exception of single family rehabs (which I expect will improve with the UIC project and the weather improves)- things are looking like the best year in a long time

roger wyoming II · PostApr 11, 2014#22014-04-11T12:32+00:00

Thanks for posting. Business Journal also has a good article in the print edition about the numbers. These numbers also don't include the March numbers, which should include the new multifamily construction permit for West Pine Lofts' 206 unit and The Standard's 167 new units. And we're just getting started - should be a flood of new permits issued within the next few weeks (with OPUS tower and Arcade-Wright as headliners)!

The other great thing was the large increase in multifamily permits in '13 over '12.... a lot of those are still under construction and will begin leasing up this year.

Presbyterian · PostApr 11, 2014#32014-04-11T17:42+00:00

The numbers don't reflect county rehabs, so this isn't quite apples to apples. Still, the numbers are promising. If you include rehabs, the city issued permits for more new homes last year than St. Charles and St. Louis Counties combined. That's momentum.

roger wyoming II · PostApr 11, 2014#42014-04-11T18:09+00:00

Do we have historical data from St. Louis HBA or elsewhere to compare rehab permits from past years, particularly from the go-go pre-depression naughts? HUD has new permits but unfortunately not for rehabs, or at least I can't find it?

As one might imagine, the pre 2008 numbers show more new single family construction than in recent years but we've been doing very well comparatively on new construction multifamily.

PostNov 09, 2014#52014-11-09T23:36+00:00

Not surprisingly, the HBA is reporting some pretty good city numbers year-to-date over recent years, especially on multifamily permits for both new and rehab projects.

http://www.stlhba.com//documents/Conten ... p_9-14.pdf

Of course, Saint Chuck's is also picking up on new single family construction, including on zombie projects in the far reaches once left for dead.

http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ ... bb9e6.html

Presbyterian · PostNov 10, 2014#62014-11-10T00:40+00:00

Below are the most recent building permit numbers. For total new housing units (combined), St. Louis City is pulling in almost one fifth of the units region-wide.

When looking at combined new construction and rehabs, the City accounts for 60% of the housing units coming on line.

Granted, it probably also accounts for the majority of vacant units. But clearly the City is a player in regional residential construction right now in a way that it hasn't been for decades.

http://www.stlhba.com//documents/Conten ... p_9-14.pdf

quincunx · PostNov 10, 2014#72014-11-10T00:54+00:00

Even after filling in they won't be productive enough to cover those costs.

Zombie subdivisions are more than unsightly. They're costly, too.

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, a think tank in Cambridge, Mass., said in a report this year that zombies lower property values but still require road maintenance, infrastructure and emergency services coverage while contributing little to local tax bases.

roger wyoming II · PostNov 10, 2014#82014-11-10T02:07+00:00

^ but that quoted woman may no longer live "in hell" if neighbors arrive... at least that's something

^^ thanks.... I inadvertantly linked to the Jan. numbers. August was a killer month with 1,000 units and change permited and June wasn't too shabby either with 850. Also, the 700 new construction units surpasses Saint Louis County's tally and the county had had negligible multifamily action.

PostNov 10, 2014#92014-11-10T02:41+00:00

Presbyterian wrote: Granted, it probably also accounts for the majority of vacant units. But clearly the City is a player in regional residential construction right now in a way that it hasn't been for decades.

That might be a bit exaggerated as about a decade ago the City also was doing quite well both on total numbers and regional percentage.... look at '05 e.g. where y.t.d. #'s were higher than now and the regional percentage was also strong. But it is nice to see the current activity and hopefully it will be sustained.

Presbyterian · PostNov 11, 2014#102014-11-11T00:35+00:00

Yeah, I was thinking of the comparison between the past decade and previous decades. While I haven't looked at thebactual numbers, I suspect we've seen a lot more starts in the past ten years -- even with a recession -- than we saw 1984-1994 or 1994-2004.

ward17 · PostNov 12, 2014#112014-11-12T03:29+00:00

The year I was elected in '88--the TRA of '86 had kicked in and with the lengthened depreciation schedule and gutting the federal htc program the city hit a low of 25 for the year. I'm thinking the next it was still only about 125.

roger wyoming II · PostNov 12, 2014#122014-11-12T03:55+00:00

^ wow. btw, when did the MO HTC start?

PostNov 12, 2014#132014-11-12T04:18+00:00

I won't be surprised to see the Census estimate a gain for 2014 as multifamily permits really ramped up in 2013 over the prior few years and that growth has accelerated even further this year. The number grew from 1,786 in 2012 to 3,182 last year; this year we're already at 4,004 through the end of September. Census has estimated only small annual losses in recent years so perhaps this sharp increase is enough to earn an estimated gain for this year.

Presbyterian · PostNov 12, 2014#142014-11-12T05:13+00:00

ward17 wrote:The year I was elected in '88--the TRA of '86 had kicked in and with the lengthened depreciation schedule and gutting the federal htc program the city hit a low of 25 for the year. I'm thinking the next it was still only about 125.

Those were some bleak years. Even when I moved into the city in 1997, I remember being thrilled if I saw a notice that Subway was opening a franchise somewhere in the city. Things seemed so dry that any tiny drop of development -- no matter how bad -- seemed like relief.

The city has come a long way, baby.

roger wyoming II · PostNov 20, 2014#152014-11-20T14:11+00:00

October numbers are out and we're on track to beat numbers in all four categories for every year since the downturn.

http://www.stlhba.com//documents/Conten ... _10-14.pdf

I'm really hoping we can get to 1,000 new multi-family units which I think would be an impressive milestone and well ahead even of the performance of the years during the housing boom.... if the OPUS project gets permitted by the end of year I think we just might make it. Multi-family rehab also is soaring and we have a good chance to surpass 4,000. (We're already at 3,632 compared to a total of 1,279 for 2012 and 2,992 for last year.)

PostJan 05, 2015#162015-01-05T17:13+00:00

November numbers were rather slow and no new construction permits were issued for either single or multi-family.

http://www.stlhba.com//documents/Conten ... _11-14.pdf

But if December brought 4+ new construction single family permits and 9+ rehab single-family permits, we still will have outperformed every year since the recession in all 4 categories. We'll also break the 4,000 mark for multi-family rehab units if permits were issued in December for 249 units.

beer city · PostJan 22, 2015#172015-01-22T17:27+00:00

roger wyoming II wrote:November numbers were rather slow and no new construction permits were issued for either single or multi-family.

http://www.stlhba.com//documents/Conten ... _11-14.pdf

But if December brought 4+ new construction single family permits and 9+ rehab single-family permits, we still will have outperformed every year since the recession in all 4 categories. We'll also break the 4,000 mark for multi-family rehab units if permits were issued in December for 249 units.

How about some good news! -

St. Louis had its best year for permits since 2005 - the height of the loft boom -even beating out the respectable year of 2006 for new construction

For rehabs -it may be the best year ever for single family rehabs

http://www.stlhba.com//documents/Conten ... _12-14.pdf

roger wyoming II · PostJan 22, 2015#182015-01-22T17:50+00:00

^ nice to close out the year with a good December... I think we did break the record (at least since 2002) for single-family rehab.

wabash · PostJan 29, 2015#192015-01-29T19:55+00:00

It's kind of amazing what's going on just in CWE right now. If I remember correctly, in the last economic expansion there were three major new construction projects in the heart of the CWE: Park East Tower, 9 N Euclid, and 4545 Lindell, for a total of 177 new units. Between the CityWalk and Lindell Opus projects, there are currently 393 units under construction.

The Forest Park Hotel renovation (2003 - 115 units) and 3949 Lindell development (2008 - 197 units) added significant apartment stock at the far ends of the CWE (and at either end of the last economic expansion). But post-recession projects have already caught up, namely York Apartments (2011 - 33 units), 245 Union (2014 - 82 units), and West Pint Lofts (2015 - 206).

Based on these projects post-recession projects are already way ahead: 489 pre-recession, 714 post-recession. Although, the entire Gaslight Square redevelopment occurred during the last expansion, which still wouldn't bring the units up to 714, but was important for the neighborhood considering its location and footprint.

roger wyoming II · PostFeb 20, 2015#202015-02-20T00:11+00:00

Interesting comment from a researcher at the Chamber on multi-family permits:

Ruth Sergenian, director of economic research and analysis at the St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association, said much of that pent-up demand is among younger adults, who moved back in with their parents after college. As they leave their parents' home, their step will be to rent housing.

Sergenian said that the number of building permits issued in metro St. Louis haven't bounced back to pre-recession levels, “and perhaps they won't.” The driver to what recovery has occurred in housing construction is multi-family housing.

“There has been a huge surge in project size, from an average of 15 units/building to 88 units/building,” she said.

Sergenian projected that the number of building permits issued will increase this year and next year, but fall in 2017, fall more in 2018, and fall again in 2019.

http://www.stlouiscnr.com/features/arti ... ding_year/

PostFeb 20, 2015#212015-02-20T16:46+00:00

STLCity issued over 1,000 multi-family rehab permits last month.

http://www.stlhba.com//documents/Conten ... p_1-15.pdf

wow.

wabash · PostFeb 20, 2015#222015-02-20T16:53+00:00

That looks/sounds great. I'm curious, how big does a project have to be to require a permit/be considered (for these purposes) a rehab. Also, is that number per building or per unit? And finally, how do you know this is just for rehabs and not inclusive of new construction.

Basically I'm curious if something like the Opus Lindell project would be included here and if so, if it would add 1 or 220 to the total.

roger wyoming II · PostFeb 20, 2015#232015-02-20T16:59+00:00

^ the report I believe gathers all residential permits issued so projects don't have to be big at all.... e.g. the HBA report also tracks single-family rehabs (and new construction). When the permits are issued for the Opus project, it will be for the 220 or whatever the number of units is for new multifamily.

PostMar 24, 2015#242015-03-24T15:39+00:00

Mutlifamily rehab permits continued to roll in for February:

http://www.stlhba.com//documents/Conten ... p_2-15.pdf

We're already at 1,723 after just two months; for all of 2013 we had 2,992 and for all of 2014 we had 4,084. No new construction multi-family yet but that should come soon with the OPUS project.

dbInSouthCity · PostMar 24, 2015#252015-03-24T18:07+00:00

did a quick tally of these from 2005-2009 compared to 2010-2014 and i think based on these, the city is about to take another hit in the population for the 7/01/14 estimate update when it comes out Thursday.

there was about 1100 new muli family units between 2003-2004, once that data is added from 2003-2009 the city added on average 410 per yet