The third quarter of Fiscal Year 2014 experienced a 35 percent increase in the total number of permits issued when compared to the second quarter, from 3,241 to 4,379 permits. The total number of permits for the three quarters of the Fiscal Year are 10,846 compared to 10,493 for the same period in 2013. The total number of permits for third quarter surpassed the permits for the same period last year by 671.
Significant commercial permits issued include 48,260 square foot MHI Industrial facility on Kirby Drive valued at $22.1 million; 10,200 square foot Fire/EMS Station #3 valued at $2.4 million; 337,500 square foot Memorial Hermann Hospital on Business Center Drive valuated at $57 million, and 5000 square foot Gulf Coast Credit Union Building on Broadway valuated at 2.4 million.
Residential growth continues at a steady pace, with a total of 250 new single family detached housing starts this quarter. The single family count was higher than the 2014 second quarter that had 224 new single family detached housing starts. New residential growth is largely clustered in the subdivisions of Shadow Creek (Southlake and Shadow Ridge), Highland Crossing, and Lakes of Savannah, Riverstone (east of Pearland Parkway and south of Hughes Road) ) Orchard Glen (extension of Pearland Farms on Veterans Drive), and Canterbury Park (Veterans Drive).
Interest in future development continues, as indicated by the 33 pre-development meetings in the third quarter. The majority of these pre-developments meetings were for projects that progressed to site planning stage. Platting activity remained steady with 44 plats processed in the second quarter which resulted in 1,201 lots reviewed. Of those lots, 542 are from final and minor plats that are ready to proceed to the next step of the process which is the issuance of a building permit and construction. From the total number of completed and buildable lots, 526 were residential lots added to the city's inventory, primarily in the subdivisions of Shadow Creek (Southlake and Shadow Ridge), Highland Crossing, and Lakes of Savannah. Platting activity has increased in the first six months of 2014 when compared to the same time period in 2013. A total of 56 plats were reviewed from January to June 2013, totaling 662 additional residential lots. For the same time period in 2014, we reviewed a total of 90 lots for a grand total of 1125 residential lots.
The City continues to work with the developers of a shopping center on Pearland Parkway and Barry Rose, Modern Green Ivy District, the Planned Developments of Lake Park Estates (a multi-family development), and BAKS Brewery on Broadway in an effort to ensure the production of quality developments in the City.
