Fairbanks construction: five golden years: this year new construction in Fairbanks should be in the $75 million to $80 million range.

• Author: Liles, Patricia
• Position: BUILDING ALASKA - Brief article

The construction boom experienced during the last four years in the Fairbanks area will continue through 2007, thanks to a number of retail, housing and professional office space projects slated to begin work this spring.

Steve Shuttleworth, Fairbanks city building officer, tracks new construction projects being built within the city limits that require building permits and inspections.

"Historically, our average is $40 million to $45 million a year," he said. "If we get all the large multinational retail projects (this year), it could really be more than $100 million. But if one decides to postpone, that number could change."

A more realistic estimate for new construction in Fairbanks for 2007 is the $75 million to $80 million range, Shuttleworth said, the fifth year in a row that new construction has significantly exceeded the city's historical average.

"Usually it's gone in a three-year cycle ... a three-year construction hump," Shuttleworth said. "But this has been a five-year push. It's been tremendous."

2003 STARTED BOOM

The Fairbanks area construction boom kicked off in 2003, with $70 million in new projects being built that year inside the city limits, he said. In 2004, the city of Fairbanks set an all-time record for new construction, with $141 million worth of work reported. That declined somewhat in 2005, with $111.7 million in new construction projects started.

Last year, new construction work in Fairbanks tallied $83.5 million, according to Shuttleworth. This year's construction work will be close to the 2006 level, he said.

"We're riding that rail a little bit, waiting to see what commercial project(s) will come in at the last minute or pull out at the last minute," he said.

A number of projects have already completed the permit process and are now waiting to break ground in the spring. Bert Bell, president of Fairbanks-based GHEMM Co., said in March that his firm was preparing to start on three separate construction projects in April. Lingering sub-zero temperatures in February and March prevented an early jump-start on the ground-breaking work, he noted.

"We try not to let it (affect the schedule). We can whine all winter but it doesn't do any good. Our next deadline is October, when everything freezes again," Bell said. "You can't get done unless you get started."

30-PLUS-YEAR MILEMARKER

He also noted the trend in increased new construction for the Fairbanks area. "This has been a long surge of work, the longest run I've...