Building permits in Tucson show economy still lagging

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - The number of Tucson commercial and residential building permits for the first quarter of the year show the local economy is still struggling to gain traction.

It's been widely reported that Tucson's recovery from the Great Recession has lagged behind the rest of the nation, and the beginning of 2016 seems to confirm that.

In 2014, there were signs the recovery may be underway when the city issued 134 commercial permits and 563 residential. But 2015 took a nosedive and the numbers were down about half, 75 commercial and 345 residential.

Now, in the first quarter of 2016, there are only 18 commercial and 151 residential.

Downtown has had a tremendous amount of building activity going on, but it is not spread evenly throughout the city limits.

Pepper Viner is asking for permission to build 54 one- and two-story single-family units at Speedway Boulevard and Tanque Verde Road, and there are also plans for a 63-acre commercial development at Valencia Road and I-10.

But that does not compete with downtown, which is experiencing strong growth.

The Stone Avenue development, which has recently broken ground, will consist of 25 three-story row houses.

One West Broadway is a six-story commercial and residential complex, which is up to about two stories now.

A new Marriott Hotel at Fifth Avenue and Broadway Boulevard, a rental complex at La Placita and other projects in the works gives the sense that work is widespread.

Sales of homes downtown remains fairly brisk as parents frequently buy small condos to house their children for college, and snowbirds are looking to escape the winters.

Buyers are often not from Tucson.

"There's a lot of people tired of the winter months, that's what we're getting a lot of," said Diana Valdez, a native Tucsonan and agent for Tierra Antigua. "A lot of Canadians want to come live here, build and buy."