Permits in 2022 reflect growth

A good way to measure growth over time is to track the number of building permits issued for construction.
Luverne building official Chad McClure compiled numbers for 2022 when he issued 160 permits valued at $29,450,362.
Of those, four were for single-family home construction valued at $757,134 and comprised 2.6 percent of permit valuations last year.
McClure points out that these valuations don’t reflect actual cost; they’re based on formulation for permitting purposes only.
Major projects permitted in 2022 include: 
•Lineage Logistics construction valued at $25,703,126. (That number reflects construction only. The project — with all equipment included, is valued at rougly $50 million)
•Fareway Meats retrofit and remodel valued at $365,000
•Minnesota Veterans Nursing Home east side window replacement and moisture damage repair $295,903.
As a point of interest, McClure noted that Sioux Falls permitted construction last year totaled $1 billion.
Considering the city’s 210,00 residents, that’s roughly $4,763 per resident.
By comparison, Luverne’s $29,450,360 worth of permitted construction for its nearly 5,000 residents computes to approximately $6,000 per resident.
McClure said this speaks well for Luverne’s progress.
“Making the tough decisions to preemptively have a developed industrial park with the required infrastructure updates in place gives the city and economic development office the ability to capitalize on development opportunities,” he said.
The 160 permits in 2022 valued at $29,450,362, compares with 129 permits in 2021 valued at $26,077,990. That number includes the $11 million city power plant generation improvement project completed in 2022.
The power plant permit was pending at the end of 2021, and when it was processed in 2022 it repopulated back to 2021.
Other major projects permitted in 2021 were the Luverne Aquatics and Fitness commercial addition and remodel valued at $4.3 million, Kemp Electric new commercial building in the industrial park valued at $180,000, PrairiE Loft Apartments valued at $7 million and Luverne Storage Rentals new commercial building in the industrial park valued at $230,000.