Housing permits slow down

Store-building expected to lead surge in retail

The Daily Inter Lake

The number of new Kalispell residential building permits has dropped by half from the first four months of 2007 to the same period in 2008.

A city staff memo on housing construction was given to the Kalispell City Council on Monday.

The memo figures included:

. Kalispell issued 75 single-family house construction permits from Jan. 1 through April 30, 2007, while issuing 29 during the same four months in 2008.

. Two duplex permits were issued in the first four months of 2007, while eight were issued in the same period in 2008.

. 29 townhouse permits were issued in the first four months of 2007, while 14 were issued during the same period in 2008.

. No apartment building permits were issued in the first four months of either 2007 or 2008.

. Kalispell's government issued a total of 106 residential building permits in the first four months of 2007 and 51 in the same period in 2008.

Housing construction started strong in 2007 and then slowed in October with that slowdown continuing into this year, according to the memo from Planning Director Tom Jentz.

Commercial building permits have been slow in early 2008.

But Jentz expected the commercial construction pace to soon pick up with a new Kohl's department store approved west of U.S. 93 and south of West Reserve Drive.

In addition, Michael's Craft Store, PetSmart, Grease Monkey, a 115-room Hilton Homewood Suites hotel and a new restaurant are earmarked for Hutton Ranch Plaza.

A total of 322 housing units - single-family houses, townhouses and apartments - were built in Kalispell in 2007, compared to 349 in 2006.

In Flathead County, 1,082 houses were started in 2006, and 905 were started in 2007. About 100 houses were started in Flathead County in the first three months of 2008.