Construction Growth Continues

Construction Growth Continues

Multifamily development in Sarasota and Manatee counties fell this year. But single-family construction continued to grow.

It may appear a contradiction given all the highly visible condominium construction in the Sarasota-Manatee area, but multifamily development slowed down this year.

According to The Construction Guide, through the third quarter of the year ended Sept. 30, multifamily starts fell by 35% (or 78 starts) compared to the same period last year. Similarly, multifamily permitted total values declined by 46% from $207 million to $112.3 million this year.

At the same time, other categories of construction type grew by both starts and value through the third quarter of the year. Single-family construction grew the most: Starts were up by 25% (or 1,182 starts) and the total value of the construction grew by more than $242 million or 65.3% from 2002.

The result was that the total number of construction starts and the permitted value of the new construction both grew considerably versus the same period last year. The total number of starts increased by 1,690 or 18% from 9,277 starts in third quarter of 2002 to 10,967. Construction values experienced less of a jump, but gained 13% - $173.4 million - to $1.555 billion.

However, the construction growth was highly regionalized. Of the 11 regions studied, six experienced an increase in construction starts while only five regions saw an increase in the value of new construction.

The remaining regions were significantly (more than 10%) lower than last year.

Not surprisingly the fastest growing region was North Port, which is expected to become Sarasota's most populated city over the several years. Even though North Port saw a decline in residential additions and duplex and multifamily construction, its total starts grew by 49% to 2,031 starts, up 666 from the same period a year earlier. The value of new construction in North Port was 38% higher, at $175.8 million, up about $48 million from $127 million. There was a noticeable increase in single-family home and pool starts; the city gained 553 homes and 165 pools more than last year.

In contrast, Anna Maria Island, Bradenton, Bradenton Beach, Holmes Beach, Palmetto, and Sarasota all saw their total starts and construction values decline sharply. The drop in multifamily construction proved important in the decline in construction starts and value for all but one (city of Sarasota) of the regions. Bradenton had only two multifamily projects this year compared to 37 projects reported in the same period last year. The value of multifamily construction projects in Bradenton declined by $46.7 million from $47.2 million to $485,000.

Palmetto experienced both negative and positive news. While total starts in the region declined by 17 starts (37%), the value of new construction in Palmetto grew by 72% (the greatest growth by construction value of any locality) from $7.8 million to $13 million. That was attributable to one multifamily development, valued at more than $9 million, which started this year.

- Sean Roth

Top 10 Pool Builders by Starts

BuilderStarts

1. Holiday Pools of West Florida Inc.374

2. Elite Weiler Pools Inc.270

3. Splash Inc.223

4. Coast to Coast Pools Inc.201

5. Pedrick Pools Inc.164

6. Blu Aqua Pool Corp.163

7. Superior Pools100

8. Anchor Pools & Spas Inc.98

8. Owner/Pool98

10. Casa Pools84

Top 10 Pool Builders by Value

BuilderValue

1. Holiday Pools

of West Florida Inc.$8,859,010

2. Elite Weiler Pools Inc.$6,858,995

3. Pedrick Pools Inc.$6,208,124

4. Splash Inc.$5,558,917

5. Blu Aqua Pool Corp.$3,201,849

6. Anchor Pools & Spas Inc.$2,649,928

7. Water Designs

of Sarasota Inc.$2,017,143

8. Bonded Pools Inc.$1,920,232

9. Coast to Coast Pools Inc.$1,912,855

10. Owner/Pool$1,801,371

STARTS 2003

Sq. Ft.R/A*DuplexMultiPoolComm.Total

Anna Maria36312

Bradenton293723170169

Bradenton Beach4419

City of Sarasota58100116291313

Holmes Beach625129364

Longboat Key2183128133

Manatee2,4191582681,3052154,167

North Port1,47014416482182,031

Palmetto101110729

Sarasota County1,60635193561,1332393,478

Venice318521115724562

Total5,9408311391453,24466810,967

* Residential additions

Top 20 Builders

by Value

BuilderValue

1. WCI Communities Inc.$62,924,577

2. Centex Homes$61,628,302

3. Lee Wetherington

Homes Inc.$56,608,183

4. B/W Gen.Contractors Inc.$50,183,393

5. Divosta Building Corp.$39,211,204

6. Waterford Constr. Inc.$35,708,355

7. Owner/Builder$33,028,747

8. Lennar Homes Inc.$31,530,153

9. K.M. Development Corp.$30,578.390

10. U.S. Home Corp.$28,809,913

11. Halfacre Constr.Co.$24,753,557

12. Morrison Homes Inc.$22,769,780

13. Windemere Homes Inc.$22,218,778

14. Kimball Hill Homes Fla.$18,586,774

15. Whitehall Homes Inc.$18,543,704

16. M. Pete McNabb Inc.$18,181,141

17. Pat Cook Const. Inc.$16,785,000

18. SSW & Bush

Contractors LLC$16,228,380

19. The Ryland Group Inc.$15,935,000

20. J&J Homes Inc.$13,656,918

Top 20 Builders

by Starts

BuilderStarts

1. Centex Homes467

2. Lee Wetherington Homes Inc.337

3. Owner/Builder306

4. Divosta Building Corp.277

5. Windemere Homes Inc.262

6. Lennar Homes Inc.249

7. WCI Communities Inc.244

8. Waterford Construction Inc.232

9. U.S. Home Corp.209

10. B/W General Contractors Inc.184

11. K.M. Development Corp.175

12. AllState Builders110

13. Morrison Homes Inc.107

14. Westfield Homes106

15. The Ryland Group Inc.101

16. First American Homes92

17. Kimball Hill Homes Florida88

18. Walker Homes Inc.75

19. Sam Rodgers Properties Inc.74

20. Neal Communities Inc.71

VALUE

2003Sq. Ft.R/ADuplexMultifamilyPoolCommercialTotal

Anna Maria$681,663$380,934$31,897$1,094,494

Bradenton$4,295,0381389221$485,000$764,510$26,311,580$33,245,349

Bradenton Beach$327,600$69,475$85,000$482,075

City of Sarasota$16,844,719$8,492,322$210,000$2,000,000$1,454,499$37,792,637$66,794,177

Holmes Beach$1,551,679$1,470,303$390,000$562,091$137,000$4,111,073

Longboat Key$11,874,842$9,653,039$700,000$691,742$22,919,623

Manatee$433,290,182$8,726,332$211,000$29,523,490$31,779,191$122,780,193$626,310,388

North Port$161,002,310$759,691$2,574,724$6$7,841,899$3,624,111$175,802,741

Palmetto$2,604,321$25,000$9,031,587$256,858$1,495,001$13,412,767

Sarasota County$324,171,293$21,845,125$14,033,689$57,855,627$23,955,202$80,298,160$522,159,096

Venice$58,489,969$3,458,093$13,428,769$4,585,622$8,631,455$88,593,908

Total$1,014,806,016$56,527,660$18,119,413$112,324,479$71,992,986$281,155,137$1,554,925,691