Construction yet to recover

The economy recession that began near the end of 2008 affected the pace of new construction throughout the United States and Washington County was no exception. According to those familiar with local development, construction has yet to return to its pre-recession levels and has stayed fairly constant over the past couple of years.

Steve Donnelly, the building and zoning official for the city of Washington, keeps track of building permits for single-family homes, multiple family homes and new commercial buildings in the city. In 2004, 15 new single-family homes were built in the city along with seven new commercial buildings. In 2006, the industry was booming in town with 20 new single-family homes, four multiple family homes and nine commercial buildings.

By 2008, the numbers were back to more modest levels of 10 new single-family units and five new commercial buildings. In 2009, there were only four new single-family units built and three commercial buildings. There were six new single-family homes and six commercial buildings built in 2010. So far in 2011, five new single-family homes and two commercial buildings have been built.

Donnelly said that as new construction has slowed in the past few years, he has noticed more people choosing to remodel their homes. He said another issue he has learned of through conversations with developers is that there are fewer lots to build homes on.

Washington County zoning administrator Steve Lafaurie keeps an eye on development in the countryside. He said that from the time zoning was instituted in July 2010 until June of the next year, there were 29 new homes built in the county. In the past 12 months, which includes six months of overlap, there have been 24 new homes built in the county. He said that does not indicate that fewer homes are being built now because homeowners had to report homes at any stage of construction when zoning went into effect, thus overcounting the homes built that fiscal year.

Lafaurie said that home construction in the county appears to have been stable in the past year and a half but down from where it was three or four years ago. He estimated that 60 to 70 percent of the new homes that he oversees are built in subdivisions, particularly near Kalona and Riverside. He said that much of the growth in the county is occurring in the northern tier of towns and that it has a lot to do with their proximity to Iowa City.

Washington Economic Development Group director Ed Raber said he, too, has heard there seem to be few lots for home construction in the city.

?As you drive around town, you?ll notice that there are not a lot of places that have roads and water and sewer connections that have not already been built on,? he said. ?The next subdivision is going to need a new road and new sewer connections built for it.?

Raber said that many of the subdivisions built years ago have now either filled up or have slowed their expansion. He said that has been the case for subdivisions built in and around Washington, Wellman, Kalona and Riverside.

In order for new homes to be built, there have to be people to live in them, and in order for people to live in them they need jobs nearby. However, Raber said that the availability of new jobs in an area does not immediately translate into new home construction. He said that when the Riverside Casino opened in 2006, it hired 850 to 900 employees.

?Almost no new housing occurred,? he said.

Raber said it might take several years for new jobs to have an effect on the housing industry.

?There has not been huge amounts of residential development anywhere in the county of late,? he said. ?We have still not recovered.?

Nevertheless, Raber said he sees signs that the local economy is going to improve. As an example, he said that the new interchange at Highways 22 and 218 is ripe for even further development.