Lee commercial recovers

Commercial construction is coming back to Lee County, an area hit hard by the economic downturn.

Permit data from the Lee County Department of Community Development shows that the value of commercial permitting in 2014 was $154.5 million, up 54% compared with 2013.

Big commercial-construction projects in Lee County included $30 million for the Hertz global headquarters, $19 million of the renovation of the Minnesota Twins baseball team stadium and $13.5 million for a new Walmart store in Estero.

Meanwhile, Lee County issued commercial-addition permits worth $159.4 million, a 28% increase over 2013. Much of that consisted of the addition of the Golisano Children's Hospital to the HealthPark campus worth $150 million.

Residential permits didn't slack off last year, either. In fact, the county issued permits for 663 multifamily units last year, up 84% over 2013. And the 993 single-family permits in 2014 represented a 16% increase over 2013.