Wednesday, 26 February 2014

Building in oil patch hub Williston booms in Jan.


Williston's construction boom is showing no signs of slowing, as the western North Dakota oil patch city continues to receive requests for construction permits as it works to ease its years-long housing crunch.


Commercial and residential construction permit values in January increased 85 percent over the year, according to the city Building Department. The department issued 43 permits with a total value of $27.6 million in projects, office manager Kelly Aberle told the Williston Herald (http://tinyurl.com/kou7hkm ).


Permit numbers and values in the city have been soaring since 2007, when there were 339 permits with a value of $42 million, Aberle said. Last year there were 696 permits with a value of $353 million, and in the peak year of 2012 there were 1,018 permits issued with a value of $470 million.


There was a big push for apartment buildings last year, according to Aberle.


"If you build it, they will come," she said.


That demand has driven up the market. A national study from an apartment renting guide recently found that Williston had the highest average rent in the country, at nearly $2,400 a month for a one-bedroom apartment.



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