Fairbanks sees near record construction season: commercial and government work fuel economy.

• Author: Liles, Patricia
• Position: BUILDING ALASKA

Contractors and construction workers in the Fairbanks area hustled through the summer of 2005 on a myriad of new projects--so many that supplies and labor became tight in the Interior's booming building industry.

Those impacts hit both large and small projects, including construction of a new downtown Fairbanks building for the MAC Federal Credit Union.

"We had a couple of hold-ups when a subcontractor backed out, and it took a little time to try to get another," said Raelynn Holland, executive vice president of the credit union, which is building an 8,000-square-foot, two-story building at 10th and Cushman streets. "Not only the cost, but the availability of steel and labor ... it was a huge advantage for us to start very far ahead of time."

In late September, crews working on the $3 million new credit union building were finishing up enclosing the steel structure, allowing interior work to continue through the fall months. Holland expects completion prior to the end of 2005.

"Like everyone else, we're trying to get it closed in ahead of the weather. Everyone is scrambling to do so," Holland said.

To Busy for Data

While contractors are rushing to button up projects for the fall and winter seasons of Interior work, local officials are working to compile construction statistics for 2005. This year is shaping up to be the second-largest year for new construction in Fairbanks, according to Steve Shuttleworth, Fairbanks city building officer.

"We don't have time to do the data ... last year was $141 million and I think we will follow that up as the second largest," Shuttleworth said.

Past yearly averages for new construction in Fairbanks typically range from $42 million to $45 million, he said, although recent years have topped that average. Construction values in 2003 tallied about $70 million. Within the last 25 years, the largest annual value in new construction work in the city occurred in 1985, which was $80 million.

Of the $141 million in new construction initiated in 2004, roughly 80 percent came from the private sector, somewhat unusual for Fairbanks. Historically, government and public-sector spending has accounted for the majority of new construction in the city, Shuttleworth said.

Commercial Gains Ground

A majority of the new construction work within the city boundaries, roughly 75 percent to 80 percent, is commercial development, Shuttleworth added. "At this point, there is very little residential property left in the city," he...