Madison has seen a lot of commercial and residential development over the past two years. However, residential construction and development dropped in 2017 compared to 2016.
The opposite can be said for commercial development.
In 2016, the city issued 15 commercial building permits. Some of those permits were for development on Grandview Boulevard, Main Street, Liberty Park Drive, U.S. Highway 51 and Old Canton Road, to name a few.
Total construction costs for 2016 totaled more than $23.3 million.
In 2017, however, the city issued 16 commercial permits, with a total construction cost of more than $46.6 million.
“New commercial development has really taken off the last few years,” Ken Wilbanks, director of Madison building and permits, said. “Retailers are coming to us,” he told the Sun in October. “They follow rooftops and see the opportunity in being a part of this community. New stores are built in areas that are vibrant. Madison definitely fits that bill.”
The areas with the biggest commercial development in 2017 were located at the corner of Highland Colony Parkway and Mississippi Highway 463.
“That area has been a real hot spot along with the Fountains of Madison area, where five new developments are currently under construction,” Wilbanks said. “Developers want to build here and businesses want to locate, invest and grow here.”
In 2016, Wilbanks said the area with the most commercial development was Grandview Boulevard, home to Malco Grandview theater, Dicks Sporting Goods, SteinMart, Best Buy, David’s Bridal, Michaels and Baskin Robins, among others.
Ichiban is currently under development there as well.
“The professionalism, dedication and stability of the city’s elected leadership, its employees, our quality schools and our residents, who are active in their neighborhoods and this community, all play a huge role in Madison being a terrific place where people want to invest.” Wilbanks said the city’s biggest development for both 2016 and 2017 was Crawford Farms Boulevard, which will be home to Hobby Lobby and Academy Sports upon completion.
“The Academy Sports building on Crawford Farms Boulevard is more than 63,300 square feet,” Wilbanks said.
Areas still available for commercial growth in Madison include stretches along Grandview Boulevard, Galleria Parkway, Main Street, Highway 463, Highland Colony Boulevard, Highway 51 and more.
The city’s zoning map can be found in pdf form at http://www.madisonthecity.com/sites/default/files/ZoningMap_Oct2014_Rev1....
“We will continue working with developers, builders, retailers, architects and others to maintain the integrity of the mayor’s vision… (Mayor Butler) has always encouraged responsible residential and business growth. It’s no secret what we build and how we build has helped the city reach and maintain a sustained period of growth.”
Residentially, permits have decreased since 2016, when 115 building permits were issued at a construction cost of more than $41.1 million.
Last year, 90 permits were issued at a construction cost of approximately $34 million.
“Strong development continued in the Reunion Subdivision and the city as a whole stayed busy with Klaas Plantation, Wrights Mill, Ironwood and Hartford subdivisions,” Wilbanks said in regards to 2017 development. “The new Eastwood and Stone Lake subdivisions began in 2017, as did another phase of Hartford. Homes also were completed in Spotted Acres.”
There’s still plenty of room for more residential development, he added. Development inside the new subdivision of Whittington is about to begin, and prep work has begun for new phases in other subdivisions.
“Preliminary discussions have been held about possible new subdivision sites within the city limits,” he said.
Even though residential numbers were down last year, Wilbanks said “numerous homes over $1 million have been constructed and bought in the city the last two years.”
