State of the economy (part 2)
13 July 2010
For this post I am continuing my discussion of the economy. As we approach our 2011 budget sessions this month the commission and administration will continue to struggle with declining revenue attributable to the recession and another year of falling property values and reduced retail sales. I will post more about our budget in future posts.
Today, however, I want to focus on another piece of our long term economic dynamic. In the midst of the immediate economic challenges, our community is breaking records for commercial growth.
Through the end of June, we have issued construction permits for commercial projects totalling nearly $255,000,000. This figure is at a three year high. Commercial construction value for all of 2009 totaled $58,460,406 and $104,606,834 in 2008.
Importantly, we have several projects that are likely to move to construction still this year. This includes the first phase of the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway. And of course construction continues on the Wizard stadium. Somewhat conservative estimates show expected additional commercial construction of $125,000,000. This would bring us to approximately $380,000,000 in commercial construction in 2010!
And while much of that activity is in the tourism district, as I noted in my previous post we are seeing commercial activity in various parts of the community from KU Medical Center and Hospital to Prescott Plaza with the new Jack in the Box restaurant to the new CVS pharmacy at 43rd and Rainbow to the Legends Toyota dealership at Parallel Parkway and I-435.
Construction activity today employs thousands in the building and trades and ultimately will lead to the creation of thousands of new permanent jobs for our citizens. Sustained job creation over the course of the next several years is the surest way in my estimation to recover from the recession and this commercial construction report is a solid indicator of our job creation prospects for the next several years.
