Boosted by some big-ticket projects and continued strength in residential construction, building permit activity in the Spokane area has surged this year.


Through the first 11 months of 2004, the city of Spokane, city of Spokane Valley, and Spokane County issued building permits for projects totaling $647.9 million. Even though Decembers results arent in, thats 30 percent ahead of the $496.5 million in permitted work in all of 2003.


Weve come out of some tough economic times, and were seeing some movement in the different market sectors, says Ken Schwartz, president of the Inland Northwest chapter of Associated General Contractors and a vice president at Spokane-based Lydig Construction Inc. Were hearing more and more positive comments from members about how 04 has been for them and how 05 is shaping up for them.


The activity so far this year already is far ahead of the industrys recent high-water mark of 1998, when $565.7 million in building permits were issued here for the entire year.


Five large projects account for more than $100 million in permit activity so far this year. Those include $45.9 million in permitted work for the Spokane Convention Center expansion, in downtown Spokane; $24.1 million in work at a planned Lancze G. Douglass Inc. apartment complex, along Regal Street on Spokanes South Hill; $15.6 million for the Washington State University at Spokane Academic Center, at the Riverpoint Higher Education Park, near downtown; $13.2 million for the Life Center Foursquare Church, in northwest Spokane; and $12.3 million for the Canyon Bluffs apartments, in West Spokane.


Also, the city of Spokane has issued more than $15 million in permits throughout the year for various new buildings and renovation projects at Gonzaga University.


The two cities and the county issued a number of other permits for new multifamily complexes, in addition to the two apartment projects listed above.


Schwartz suspects that the increase in apartment-complex construction projects is occurring now because a relatively small number of such projects have been undertaken in recent years.


Developers are responding to the fact that (apartments) have been underbuilt in recent years, he says.


Randy Barcus, chief economist at Spokane-based Avista Corp., says that when the increase in multifamily activity is viewed along with the continued strength in the number of permits for single-family homes, it indicates a dramatic increase in the number of dwellings being added here. That, he says, will lead to other types of activity in coming years.


After a lot of housing comes, the retail and services follow, he says. What well start to see is the population-serving expansion.


Consequently, Barcus expects to see many relatively small projects start in 2005, which will supplement the big projects that got under way this year and will continue into next year.


Activity appears to be up in most categories of construction areawide, but by precisely how much is unclear.


The city of Spokane Valley incorporated in April 2003 and didnt have an electronic system for issuing and tracking its building permits through its first few months.


While that city since has calculated its total construction volume for those few monthsand 2003 as a wholeit hasnt broken down activity for that period into individual categories, making comparative data from last year somewhat incomplete.


Taking Spokane Valley out of the equation, figures for Spokane city and Spokane County show sizable activity gains in a number of sectors through the first 11 months of 2004.


The city and county issued permits for $83.5 million in multifamily housing through November, more than twice the $33.4 million in multifamily permit activity during the year-earlier period.


While permit activity for single-family homes didnt rise as sharply, it did increase through the first 11 months of the year. The city and county issued permits for 1,475 homes worth a total of $235.1 million, up from 1,414 homes worth $209.5 million in the year-earlier period.


Total new construction, including housing, in the city and county increased to $437.8 million through the first 11 months of this year, up dramatically from $311.3 million in the year-earlier period.


Remodeling, addition, and alteration work in the city and county through November decreased slightly to 11,287 permits worth a total of $102.5 million, from 11,051 permits worth $107.1 million, in the first 11 months of 2003.


Activity also is on the rise in Kootenai County. Through the first 11 months of this year, that county issued 1,586 permits for $137 million in work, up from 1,502 permits for $112 million in activity during the year-earlier period.


The city of Coeur dAlene issued 605 permits for $110.5 million in work during 2004s first 11 months, up from 466 permits for $79.1 million in the year-earlier period.