Sarasota hits nearly $300M in building permits

SARASOTA — The City of Sarasota set a record for building permits in the 2014-2015 fiscal year, with 8,402 applications.

It's the first time the city surpassed 8,000 permits in one year, according to a release. The permits processed have a construction value of at least $299 million, city officials add in the statement. The city's fiscal year ends Sept. 30.

“There definitely is a lot more construction going on and it's across the board,” Neighborhood and Development Services General Manager Gretchen Schneider says in the release. “We've seen significant increases in permits for new homes, home improvements as well as larger developments including hotels and mixed use developments.”

The building permits include 3,000 condo, apartment and hotel rooms under development.

The 2014-2015 total is up 16.6% from fiscal 2013-2014, when the city processed 7,200 building permits. And the latest figure is up 44.8% from 2002, when the city, in the lead up to the mid-decade boom, processed 5,800 permits.