Construction Permits Building Momentum

Although construction in the rest of the nation has dipped slightly, building in the Golden State is beginning to come on strong. Building permits for the first 10 months of the year were up 6.4% in California to $27.1 billion over permits a year ago, according to the Construction Industry Research Board in Burbank. In Orange County, the value of commercial building permits rose 28% in the first 10 months of the year, to $626.2 million from $490 million a year ago.

One of the largest permits pulled in the state during October was for the Kaleidoscope retail center, which broke ground recently near Crown Valley Parkway and the Santa Ana Freeway in Mission Viejo. The permit for that project, which is being developed by a partnership of Samsung Pacific Construction and Pacific Development Partners, estimated construction costs at $22.3 million. It is expected to be completed in the fall of 1998.

The gains weren’t limited to the commercial side. The number of single-family residential building permits also shot up 30% through October of this year, to 6,037 units from 4,645 last year.

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Melinda Fulmer covers real estate for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-7832.