Residential, commercial permits on rise.

Boise officials said Thursday that local construction activity continues to defy a predicted slowdown for 2006.

Building permits totalling $35 million were issued last month, or 14 percent higher than the $31 million in permits for the same month a year ago.

Commercial activity in Boise was 84 percent higher in February than the same period a year ago, and accounted for 60 percent of the city's total construction activity.

"Usually January and February are slow months, but not this year," said Jenifer Gilliland, building manager with the Boise Department of Planning and Development Services.

Moreover, with a week remaining in March, the city has already issued permits with values exceeding all of February, Gilliland added.

"People are still building and investing. As a result, construction is hot right now," she said.

The largest commercial project permitted in Boise in February was a $1.7 million, 34,900-square-foot warehouse under construction at 641 W. McGregor Court near South Federal Way in Southeast Boise.

The building is a "spec" building, which means it does not have a tenant planning to move in yet, said Jerry Van Engen, the Thornton Oliver Keller broker marketing the project.

"It's an 'if you build it, they will come,'" Van Engen said.

Even multi-family housing which has been in the doldrums throughout the Treasure Valley because of consumer flight to single-family homes had a strong month in February, with 58 permits issued, compared with 36 a year ago.

"You have a lot of out-of-state investors looking for a place to put their money," Gilliland said.

The largest commercial project permitted in the Treasure Valley was a $9 million, 26,000-square-foot Target store that will go up at 16300 N. Marketplace Blvd. in Nampa, according to city building official Maggie DeLeon.

However, that was not enough to prevent Nampa from seeing a 27 percent decline in overall construction activity, as the number and value of all commercial and multi-family projects fell dramatically from a year ago.

Meridian managed to squeeze out a slight increase in overall construction activity last month.

The city permitted $52 million in construction or a 2 percent increase from the comparable period in 2005.

Single-family housing led the way, with 245 single-family residential permits valued at $49 million, compared with 230 permits worth $42 million a year ago.

Commercial building in the West Ada County community fell 63 percent to $3 million, compared with $8 million a year ago, while no multi-family permits were issued, compared with $480,368 in projects authorized in February 2005.

Joe Estrella
The Idaho Statesman | Edition Date: 03-25-2006