EBR commercial, residential permitting up in May

More commercial and residential projects in East Baton Rouge Parish received permits to proceed last month compared to the same period last year. According to new figures out from the city-parish Department of Public Works, a total of 64 commercial projects received permits in May, up from 60 last year. Residential permits, meanwhile, rose to 195 during the month, up from 148. Of the residential permits, 82 were for new single-family homes, while 109 were for remodeling projects.

On the commercial side, the largest project to be permitted was the new $54.4 million Lee High campus, on whic hofficials broke ground earlier this month. The second most valuable commercial project receiving a permit last month, at $2.5 million, is the new three-story, 32,000-square-foot office of attorney Gordon McKernan that's under development on a 1.1-acre tract on Hilton Avenue, adjacent to the Baton Rouge Marriott. Most permits issued by DPW each month fall under the miscellaneous category, for things such as occupancies and reinspections, as well as electrical, plumbing and HVAC projects

A total of 1,925 permits were issued last month, or about 6% more than the 1,819 issued in May 2013. Year to date, permitting in the parish is up about 3.6%, with 9,222 issued during the first five months of this year, compared to 8,902 last year.