Permit Spike Reflects Jonesboro’s Growth Heading Into 2019

Mark Young

An impressive number of building projects were begun or approved in Jonesboro last year. This year the anticipation is in seeing some of them finished.

Propelled by a handful of large commercial projects, the number of building permits in the city nearly doubled in 2018, with the total value of residential and commercial permits coming in near $288 million.

The ongoing work helps fuel optimism for 2019, Jonesboro Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Mark Young said.

“We continue to work with many of our existing industries and many of them continue to grow and expand and that’s exciting any time you see continued investment in your community by existing companies,” Young said. “That’s a great signal that things are going well and we continue to do that.”

The city issued $198.94 million in commercial permits in 2018, which is up from $100 million in 2017. Residential permits for single- and multi-family projects, commercial alterations and commercial additions made up the rest of the permit values.

The city issued 676 permits in 2018.

The high numbers are influenced by the phased expansion of St. Bernards Medical Center, a $137.5 million project, and O’Reilly Hospitality Management’s Embassy Suites Hotel and 40,000-SF Red Wolf Convention Center, a $60 million project under construction on the Arkansas State campus.

Additionally, Young noted, China-based heavy equipment parts manufacturer Hefei Risever Machinery broke ground on a $20 million facility in Craighead Technology Park. Completion of the 25,000-SF facility is expected to create around 130 jobs, Young said.

“Lots of very positive projects and great projects that got under way in 2018,” Young said. “And many of those will be complete in 2019 and we’re looking forward to that.”

Young said it was hard to project if the building permit values would hold steady after the major projects are completed in 2019, but he said that whatever construction, growth or expansion occurs, the bulk of it will be led by existing business.

“It’s hard to predict the value,” Young said. “Certainly one or two large projects can sway the numbers a little bit but the number [of permits] continue to grow as well.”

Jonesboro’s multi-faceted economy comprised of retail, manufacturing, health care and agriculture-related sectors allows for stability and continued growth should any one sector take a hit, Young said.

“We have a great diversified economic base,” he said. “We’re not solely reliant on any one type of sector so when one is down the others are up or vice versa. So that diversity in our economy certainly helps us having strong and stable growth.”

Also on the horizon this year, Young said, is ongoing implementation of Jonesboro Unlimited’s $3.7 million, five-year strategic plan. The initiative, with the goal of creating more than 5,000 jobs, is heading into its third year.

“So we continue to implement the strategic initiatives that are part of that plan and we’re looking forward to continuing that in 2019 and having continued success as we move forward.”