Building activity value in Aurora soars to $82.37M in 2022

AURORA — Bolstered by Pulte Homes’ residential development on the former Sea World of Ohio property and some other areas of brisk building, 2022 was the city’s most active construction year in almost a decade.

A report released Jan. 10 by planning-zoning-building department secretary Erin Lumpkins shows the value of residential, commercial and industrial building activity in 2022 was $82.37 million.

Project value figures for the previous seven years were: $49.14 million in 2021, $31.77 million in 2020, $51.33 million in 2019, $60.18 million in 2018, $44.38 million in 2017, $33.67 million in 2016 and $42.94 million in 2015.

Residential construction easily topped the three categories with a value of $56.56 million. Industrial totaled $16.7 million and commercial totaled $9.1 million. Residential building permits amounted to 251, while industrial were eight and commercial were 15.

“Aurora offers a wonderful community with beautiful residential neighborhoods and first-class amenities for residents and businesses, and the construction data reflects that,” said Mayor Ann Womer Benjamin.

The residential projects value soared past 2021’s $27.15 million. The previous high in the last eight years was $30.8 million in 2019. The 2020 figure was $26.29 million.

“We had a very productive year with respect to residential and commercial construction, showing the highest total costs in nine years,” said the mayor. “Residential construction was up from 2021, including home improvements as well as new residential units.

“Single family permits were up 20%, reflecting the new home construction going on at Hawthorn, Barrington and Renaissance Park at Geauga Lake, among other locations.”

In 2022, new single-family home construction – 81 permits issued – was valued at $43.35 million.

The values of other residential construction categories were: Additions, $2.59 million; alterations, $3.53 million; garages, $138,900; decks, $758,061; utility buildings, $104,000; in-ground pools, $1.04 million; above-ground pools, $93,825; and other, $72,197.

The most expensive industrial project was Ashley Furniture’s new building at $10 million, followed by a mezzanine at McMaster-Carr ($6.1 million). Others were $250,000 for roof repair at Piping Rock, $200,000 for a mezzanine at Avantor/Poseidon and $150,000 for interior alterations at Piping Rock.

The $9.1 million value of commercial projects reached an eight-year high, with 2021 being the next highest at $7.68 million and 2015 being third at $6.1 million.

Leading the list of the 15 commercial building permits were apartment additions at the Atrium at Anna Maria at $4 million and an addition at Ganley Chrysler at $2.5 million.

Others were: Pulte townhouses, $794,730; Aurora Police Department carport, $427,858; Aurora Meadows (former golf clubhouse) interior alterations, $415,000; Walden cafe addition, $350,000; Aurora Shores swimming pool, $263,599; Aurora schools’ interior alterations, $102,000.

Church in Aurora interior alterations, $100,000; Aurora Library EV charging stations, $68,538; pavilion on city property beside Fire Station 1, $30,000; Aurora schools’ accessory structure, $22,000; ADA restrooms at Marc’s, $18,000; and Aurora schools’ pavilion, $16,000.

“Commercial and industrial construction increased as companies emerged from the pandemic to build new facilities or expand existing ones,” said Womer Benjamin. “Among them were Ashley Furniture, a company new to Aurora.

“The Atrium at Anna Maria is building an expansion and Ganley Chrysler is constructing a new facility. Aurora’s commercial and industrial base is critical to our financial success, and we appreciate businesses choosing us as their home.”

A total of 934 licenses were issued, and city workers made 4,263 total inspections in 2021, including 3,620 at residences and 643 at commercial/industrial facilities.

Building department revenue in 2022 was $1.6 million. The breakdown was: $312,904 for building permits and miscellaneous, $93,400 for licenses, $42,344 for miscellaneous, $106,772 in impact fees, $3,854 in state fees, $76,522 in completion deposits ($67,527 returned) and $920,000 in topography deposits ($820,000 returned).

The balance of completion deposits was $69,508 as of Dec. 31, 2022 and the balance of topography deposits was $745,000.

In December, projects for which building permits were issued were valued at $4.36 million. The breakdown was: $3.73 million for residential (18 permits, including six single-family homes), nothing for industrial and $629,500 for commercial (three permits).

In November, projects for which buildings permits were issued were valued at $6.47 million, all 22 permits being for residential construction.

Contact the newspaper at auroraadvocate@recordpub.com.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Building activity value in Aurora soars to $82.37M in 2022