Sep. 16—Several large projects, including the restoration of a historic downtown building and a new restaurant coming to Range Line Road, drove construction in August.
Building permits filed with the city of Joplin indicate $23 million in construction that month, with $11.5 million of that for new commercial and $5.1 million of that new residential. The rest is for improvements to existing commercial and residential properties.
That brings construction so far during the city's fiscal year to $188.2 million. The fiscal year runs from Nov. 1 to Oct. 31, and the figure reflects only that construction taking place inside the city limits.
The largest permit filed in August was for $5 million for a new commercial warehouse for Expansion Industries at 8225 E. 23rd St. Officials with the company could not be reached for comment.
Other large commercial permits for August:
—$2.1 million for renovation of 223 W. Third St., currently the home of Create & Sip Art Studio. Building owner Jon Koucky said there will be two storefronts on the bottom floor, including the art studio, and lofts on the upper floor providing "upscale" downtown living.
"There is far more demand than availability," he said of the downtown apartments, adding that completion is "probably a year out or so."
—$1.6 million for a new Hawaiian Brothers restaurant at 2601 S. Range Line Road. Attempts to reach the company were unsuccessful.
—$1.5 million for a new commercial building at 3011 S. Main St.
—$1.45 million for a truck stop coming to 2101 S. Prigmor Ave.
According to city building permits, Ledford Construction also is building a number of new homes at from 2801 to 2820 Nellie Mae Ave. The eight permits are valued at more than $1.5 million.
So far this year, 140 new homes have been built in Joplin, valued at $29.3 million, or an average of more than $209,000 per home.
June was Joplin's best month for construction since the rebuilding that went on after the May 2011 tornado. More than $62 million in construction was reported in June, according to city building permits, with most of that for two apartment projects.
In the previous fiscal year, building permits for Joplin reflected $168.2 million in construction. Construction in Joplin in the previous fiscal year was nearly $246 million, rivaling the construction that took place in 2012 and 2013, when tornado building was taking place.
Other large projects filed so far this fiscal year include:
—$34.5 million by Springfield-based Ross Construction for new apartments from 3301 to 3329 S. Hammons Blvd.