In Even The Best of Times, Not All Projects Get Built

By Skip Descant

Posted: March 29, 2009 at midnight

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FAYETTEVILLE — There was a time, back between 2003 and 2007, when large planned neighborhoods -- and the debates they sometimes sparked -- were coming through the Fayetteville Planning Commission at a jackhammer's pace.

Several of those proposals — such as Ruskin Heights, the 295-home mixed-use neighborhood planned for a 28-acre slope on Mount Sequoyah -- are being built, or have been completed. But a number of other developments haven't moved much beyond the sleek City Council presentations and their required public approval process.

"That project is on hold due to the recession," was Todd Jacobs' response when asked about Woodstock Community, a 29-acre development along Wedington Drive in Fayetteville. Jacobs is a planner with the Appian Centre for Design, the firm that designed Woodstock.

"It's something that we have the permits in hand, and it could go to bid tomorrow. But it may not see the light of day for some time," Jacobs said in a recent interview.

The 382-unit development received Planning Commission and City Council approval in 2007.

The building downturn in 2009 is far from anecdotal. By the end of February 2008, the Fayetteville Building Safety Division had issued building permits for 624 dwellings for that year. By the end of February a couple weeks ago, the department had issued permits for 47, a 608 percent decline.

Nearly all indicators seem to suggest shrinking building activity as unsold homes sit on the market and vacancy rates for apartments climb.

A review by The Morning News of residential building projects which have made their way through the public approval process since January 2007 shows some 5,980 apartments, single-family homes and other units to get proposed. By comparison, building permits for 2,731 dwelling units were issued in the last two years, according to the Fayetteville Building and Safety Division.

Single-family home construction slid from 493 houses in 2007 to 328 homes in 2008, according to city reports.

But home building has not stopped -- though nearly so.

"I was talking to a builder today, and he said he sold three homes," said Steve Cattano, Fayetteville building safety director, during a recent interview. "It's not like it was, but people are still buying and building homes."

Because of its huge scale, this review did not consider SouthPass, the 1,000-acre mixed-use development planned for southwest Fayetteville. The project is planned across 25 years and would bring 4,300 homes and apartments. The SouthPass planned zoning district has been approved by the council, but still has several hurdles to cross before breaking ground -- a down economy, not the least of them.

But if the general attitude is that building activity in 2008 followed the recession slide, statistics say otherwise. The year broke the record in terms of building valuation. The city issued permits for $301.4 million in construction -- a 6 percent increase from 2007 -- according city building permit reports. This uptick was primarily because of large apartment projects such as The Links, a 1,438-unit development spread across 152 acres in west Fayetteville, and Mountain Ranch, with its 720 apartments. All the while, building for single-family homes in 2008 was at its lowest since 2002.

The halting building industry can also be seen every two weeks when development proposals come before the commission. In 2008, roughly 1,500 residential units received public approval, but many of those ideas seem to all but fall off of the radar.

"For now, it's just been sort of damage control," said Dave Jorgensen, of Jorgensen and Associates, a designing and engineering firm in Fayetteville. "A lot of our clients have sort of pulled in the reins."

The reins have been pulled in pretty firmly for a project such as Rustic Meadows, a 33.4-acre planned community for Wedington Drive between Broyles Avenue and 54th Street. The project, approved in 2007, would build 143 single-family homes.

"It's been put on the back burner," Jorgensen said in a recent interview. His firm is leading the project.

But then added, "it's not totally forgotten. The plans are about 75 percent done."

In the end, it may turn out the difficult building economy will usher in more ingenuity and creativity as builders look to markets not already filled, as well as find a way to do the job cheaper.

"They're creating a better mousetrap, you might say," Jorgensen said. "Sharpen the pencils and see how you can make it cheaper."

Early signs of a turnaround in the housing market can be seen, Jorgensen added.

"It is on the process of coming back," he noted. "Though, not real fast."

"Some of the lots that are vacant are beginning to be bought up," Jorgensen said. "I feel like it's moving forward now."

At A Glance

Fayetteville Building Permit Activity

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009**

Single-Family Homes 599 496 493 328 41

Multifamily 479 435 387 1,450 17

Total Dwellings 1,078 931 880 1,793 58

Valuation* $274,936,803 $275,253,298 $282,592,878 $301,388,827 $9,005,026

Floor Area*(square-feet) 3,342,602 2,732,834 2,710979 3,037,944 94,219

* (residential and commercial)

** Jan.1 to March 15

Source: City of Fayetteville

Proposed Developments

A look at a dozen Fayetteville projects and where they stand today.

Map not available.

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