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.
• $17 million by Redwood Development for apartments from 1906 to 1924 W. 20th St.
• $10.1 million for a new Freeman medical office building at 3401 McIntosh Circle. The 30,000-square-foot, three-story office building will create office space so doctors can more conveniently meet and treat patients.
• $6.6 million filed by Missouri American at 1118 W. 21 St. It is for a high-service pump station that water company officials have said will pump water from the treatment plant on 21st Street into the distribution system.
• $6.2 million for restoration of the historic Olivia Apartments, 320 S. Moffet Ave.
• $6 million for a new warehouse at 3015 S. Prosperity Ave. In a statement, Lowe’s said it is building what it called a “cross-dock delivery terminal for last-mile delivery of bulky items like appliances, riding mowers, grills and patio furniture.” It will be run by Lowe’s in partnership with a third party and will provide 50 jobs. The 63,000-square-foot building will begin shipping in 2023 to customers in Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas.
• $4.2 million for a new fire station at 6720 E. 30th St.
