CP keeps on growing
By Kitty Conley kconley@post-trib.com August 21, 2012 2:40PM
Curt Graves, director of planning and building during press conference of department head appointments for mayor-elect David Uran. | Stephanie Dowell~Sun-Times Media
CROWN POINT — Curt Graves, director of Community Development, had good news to give to the City Council on Aug. 6.
Graves told councilmembers that through July the city has had 85 new single-family homes started in the city. That is 20 more than last year.
While this number pales against the building boom that started in 2002 and lasted through 2006 and into 2007, it is still on par to be at or above the level of the 1990s and even 2001.
The year 2005 saw the largest number of new housing starts at 295. These are detached single family homes. In 2005, if all forms of housing were added together, there were 337 housing units started. In 2004, with a big increase in duplexes and townhomes, the total housing units came to 523.
In the early 1990s the total new, detached single-family homes was low at 30 in 1995 and high at 108 in 1990.
The city is already over the total number of single-family homes elsewhere in most if not the entire county.
The construction cost of single-family detached homes permitted in July is just under $4 million. That does not include any infrastructure improvements or cost of property.
In addition to the residential building permits issued in July, the city also issued the commercial building permit for the Bickford Senior Living Community, a facility for nursing home care for special needs nursing home care for seniors. The facility will house fewer than 60 patients.
Visitors will be welcome, but the doors will be locked for the safety of the patients. When this project was presented to the Plan Commission it was even suggest that family members may want to come and take a patient out for lunch upon occasion, as long as the doctor approves. This live-in medical facility is going to be on the north side of 117th and Broadway, making it just north of the Strack & VanTil shopping plaza. The construction cost of this building is just under $4.5 million.
The total construction costs for the month of July for building permits in the city came to just over $10.6 million and the total construction costs for all building permits issued up to July 31 is just under $36 million.
Crown Point is still growing.
