Charleston 5th in nation in new construction (Huntington, South Charleston: apartment complexes, condos)

[Silkdashocker]

Construction jobs up in Charleston* - Kanawha County - Charleston Daily Mail - West Virginia News and Sports -

Charleston has taken on a lot of new public sector projects and have several new large private projects coming soon.

Construction jobs in the city increased 15% in the past year.

[Chriscross309]

This is really good news!

Just another good solid point that Charleston is making a strong come back!

[drs72]

Hopefully Charleston does make a strong comeback in the near future! I feel that, with the right leadership and growth efforts, Charleston and Huntington could be like Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina, one day (two fast growing small cities in upstate SC that are in close proximity to one another). If that region were growing, it would do wonders for West Virginia's economy.

[tbailey1138]

Originally Posted by drs72

If that region were growing, it would do wonders for West Virginia's economy.

Agreed. Strides are being made by both Charleston and Huntington to move in that direction. When all things are considered, the two definately aren't the dying and stagnant cities that some paint them as.

[CTMountaineer]

Originally Posted by Silkdashocker

Construction jobs up in Charleston* - Kanawha County - Charleston Daily Mail - West Virginia News and Sports -

Charleston has taken on a lot of new public sector projects and have several new large private projects coming soon.

Construction jobs in the city increased 15% in the past year.

Steve, what is the baseline here? Is this percentage increase because there is a huge amount of construction, or is it because there wasn't much last year and suddenly there is some construction now? My point is... is this a trend, or a new development?

[Silkdashocker]

In a way, its a little bit of both Paul. During the great recession Charleston never bottomed out. Even the housing market remained fairly stable. Now that's not to say that construction was booming here, because it certainly wasn't. But now you can see it everywhere in the valley. New bridges, new schools, new hotels and restaraunts. One thing I've also noticed is the amout of public work by the cities. Saint Albans just laid all new water piping in the city this summer. It was a mess, but a much needed project.

[CTMountaineer]

I think having the state offices there acts as a buffer of sorts to economic downturns. It's nice to hear there is an upturn in activity. Is the Marcellus activity ratcheting up there like it is around here?

[Silkdashocker]

Marcellus activity seems to be frozen at this time, because the state has stopped releasing permits at this time to see how they are going to regulate it. Though, if the new gas cracker plant comes to Institute, i would see that as a big plus.

[cry_havoc]

Originally Posted by drs72

Hopefully Charleston does make a strong comeback in the near future! I feel that, with the right leadership and growth efforts, Charleston and Huntington could be like Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina, one day (two fast growing small cities in upstate SC that are in close proximity to one another). If that region were growing, it would do wonders for West Virginia's economy.

The problem is leadership is historically very corrupt in that part of the state at both the local and state level. Hopefully things will get shaken up in Charleston and the current machine will fail.

[Chriscross309]

Originally Posted by cry_havoc

The problem is leadership is historically very corrupt in that part of the state at both the local and state level. Hopefully things will get shaken up in Charleston and the current machine will fail.

like an Ipod stuck on replay

The truth is that this is the sign that I've been trying to tell this forum for the last year. Charleston is growing, and acording to this, at a fast rate. Construction has gone up due to the increase in business, public works projects, and even housing. And several large projects will help this along in the next few years,

EX:

Saint Albans/ Nitro Bridge Project,
new downtown library,
downtown urban development projects,
CAMC billion dollar expansion plans,
CAMC Cancer Center
new downtown hotel,
Cabela's
Cato school
Charleston Civic Center Renovations and Expansion
Casino Expansion and Convention Center
Expansion at Bible Center Phase II-III
redevelopment of old FMC plant in SC
redevelopment of old union carbide building site
Flemming Hall renovations and Expansion at WVSU
new industrial site at Bayer Crop Science plant
new technology school at MATRIC Park
the renovation of facilities at MATRIC
renovations to the old Stone and Thomas building

Current Projects:

4 story office building South Charleston
4 story Medical wing to Highland Hospital
Renovations to City Center West, home of new Lottery HQ
New Basketball Arena for University of Charleston
I-64 bridge work and lane expansion
New FBI center in Downtown
Yeager Airport Runway Expansion
Air National Guard building 2 large hangers
West Side Projects Redevelopment

The City of Charleston and its suburbs are seeing growth in every aspect of a city. In infrastructure, education, recreation, retail, business, government, housing, and even tourism.

There has also been a recent growth in housing, and apartment complexes. Just Beyond Southridge is a good example of all the new subdivisions that are being built. Another good example is within city limits along Oakridge Drive. Also condos and townhomes are going up in places like Cross Lanes and Pinch. Plus as I mentioned on another thread, retail is booming right now. The mall has brought in 3 new full service restaurants and numerous other stores in the past 6 months. Downtown has seen huge growth with both local and chain restaurants opening up in revamped store fronts. The Kanawha City area has been growing with retail, and so has Southridge and Cross Lanes.