Oct 13, 2008 - 10:02:55 CDT
LOADING
Bismarck rounded off its peak construction season with millions of dollars in commercial investments and updates, about on par with recent years, reports show.
"This is actually kind of a slower year, site plan-wise," said Jason Tomanek with the Bismarck city planning department. "2006 was a really good year. That was kind of our boom year."
This year and last year were both slower for site plans than 2006, he added.
Construction permits followed the steady to higher trend for the year; according to permitting activity reports, permits for professional, industrial and commercial buildings totaled 97 year-to-date for 2008, compared to 74 for the same period in 2007. That investment was more than $18.9 million compared to $8.26 million for the same time last year.
Some of the major players this year have been pretty visible and the north end of town continues to be a beneficiary of commercial investment.
Blackridge Bank's $1.4 million facility broke ground about a month ago and is well on its way. John Jessen, bank president, said they hope to have the facility completed by spring 2009.
The northside CVS pharmacy is projected to be a more than $1 million, 13,000-square-foot facility, too; construction on that property started recently and is projected to be wrapped up by early 2009. The pharmacy leader also will build an estimated $2.1 million facility on south Third Street.
The much coveted Olive Garden is scheduled to open for dinners on Nov. 24; according to its permit, that was about a $1.5 million investment on the corner of Harvest Lane and 14th Street.
Over on 22nd Street, Industrial Enterprises is building a 12,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution space for wholesale lumber distributor Lancashire Distribution. The space -- a little more than $500,000 -- could be finished early 2009 or toward the end of this year.
Among the other developments over the construction season -- and this article does not cover them all -- were several investments in the downtown area. Although less spendy, those investments continued to improve on the area, adding attractive new spaces and increasing market values.
Westley's Jewelry on 417 Main Ave. moved over to the corner of the old Pocket Watch space, adding about $130,000 in investments for sleek new interior designs, clean lines and soft lighting to the space. That opened up room for Tricia's Bakery and cedesigns & Yarn Shoppe on the same street.
New owners at Fiesta Villa also updated their interiors, and the Golden Dragon across the street was split into two spaces. One half was sold and will soon be a door and window store. The owner of the other half of the building is still elbow-deep in renovations, trying to preserve the ceiling and removing layers of wallpaper and flooring. Plans for it are still unknown.
"We've had a lot of good improvements," Tomanek said.
(Reach reporter Crystal R. Reid at 250-8261 or at crystal.reid@bismarcktribune.com.)
"This is actually kind of a slower year, site plan-wise," said Jason Tomanek with the Bismarck city planning department. "2006 was a really good year. That was kind of our boom year."
This year and last year were both slower for site plans than 2006, he added.
Construction permits followed the steady to higher trend for the year; according to permitting activity reports, permits for professional, industrial and commercial buildings totaled 97 year-to-date for 2008, compared to 74 for the same period in 2007. That investment was more than $18.9 million compared to $8.26 million for the same time last year.
Some of the major players this year have been pretty visible and the north end of town continues to be a beneficiary of commercial investment.
Blackridge Bank's $1.4 million facility broke ground about a month ago and is well on its way. John Jessen, bank president, said they hope to have the facility completed by spring 2009.
The northside CVS pharmacy is projected to be a more than $1 million, 13,000-square-foot facility, too; construction on that property started recently and is projected to be wrapped up by early 2009. The pharmacy leader also will build an estimated $2.1 million facility on south Third Street.
The much coveted Olive Garden is scheduled to open for dinners on Nov. 24; according to its permit, that was about a $1.5 million investment on the corner of Harvest Lane and 14th Street.
Over on 22nd Street, Industrial Enterprises is building a 12,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution space for wholesale lumber distributor Lancashire Distribution. The space -- a little more than $500,000 -- could be finished early 2009 or toward the end of this year.
Among the other developments over the construction season -- and this article does not cover them all -- were several investments in the downtown area. Although less spendy, those investments continued to improve on the area, adding attractive new spaces and increasing market values.
Westley's Jewelry on 417 Main Ave. moved over to the corner of the old Pocket Watch space, adding about $130,000 in investments for sleek new interior designs, clean lines and soft lighting to the space. That opened up room for Tricia's Bakery and cedesigns & Yarn Shoppe on the same street.
New owners at Fiesta Villa also updated their interiors, and the Golden Dragon across the street was split into two spaces. One half was sold and will soon be a door and window store. The owner of the other half of the building is still elbow-deep in renovations, trying to preserve the ceiling and removing layers of wallpaper and flooring. Plans for it are still unknown.
"We've had a lot of good improvements," Tomanek said.
(Reach reporter Crystal R. Reid at 250-8261 or at crystal.reid@bismarcktribune.com.)
Trickle Down wrote on Oct 18, 2008 10:42 AM:
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