Building drops 33% in 2008

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — Building in Gallup declined heavily in 2008.

An analysis of building activity, which was done by the city planner, showed that 114 permits were issued in 2008 for $12.6 million worth of construction. That was down from 150 permits for just more than $18 million the year before, a decrease of almost 33 percent.

“This past year was pretty slow as compared to past years,” City Planner Clyde Strain said.

In fact, it was the worse year since 2005 when the city issued 205 permits for a total valuation of $10.7 million.

The difference last year was caused by a number of factors.

Only five permits were given out for single family dwellings in 2008 as compared to 30 the year before. That caused a $2.5 million decline from 2007. Commercial additions alterations saw another $2 million decline. While there was only one permit given in both 2007 and 2008 for new apartments, the apartment complex in 2008 was $800,000 less in value than the one in 2007.

A five year comparison for building permits shows that the number of permits have been declining steadily since 2004 from 213 that year to 205 in 2005, 194 in 2006, 150 in 2007 and 114 in 2008.

One area that showed an increase was in residential alterations, which went from 30 in 2007 to 49 in 2008, but that figure may be misleading, Strain said.

The reason for this increase is that the city started last year requiring permits to reroof homes, something that had not been required in past years, he said.

There is some good news, however.

Reports that will be coming out of the city planner’s office this week will show that the building activity for January 2009 is up over the same period in 2008, Strain said.