By Michelle Price
Special to the UCBJ
COOKEVILLE – Construction in Putnam County is setting records. In May, there were 38 building permits issued for $6 million in construction – a record for the total amount of construction costs. The last record was set in September 2018 when the county had $5.6 million in construction costs.
Of the 38 permits, 26 were for new single family residential homes, which also comes close to the record of new homes set back in October 2016 when 27 were issued. Of the new home permits, eight were to replace homes destroyed in the tornado.
“Construction definitely continues to be a big part of Putnam County’s economy,” said Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter.
The county is on track to meet or exceed the record for both the number of permits issued and the cost of construction. Fiscal year to Date (July 2019 – May 2020), there have been 303 permits issued for $42.37 million. The record was in 2017-2018 with 339 permits issued for $43.38 million.
Of the 303 permits issued this fiscal year, 178 of them were for new homes.
The residential construction boom that started back in 2015 continues. In talking to contractors, they are booked out for months, several even years.
Since January 2015, the county has issued 1,317 permits for over $157 million. Of those, 983 permits were for new homes.
Porter emphasized that these numbers are only for construction outside the cities in the rural part of the county. These numbers do not include Cookeville or any of the other cities.
