By Stan Welch
Figures recently published by Anderson County reveal an enormous surge in economic development over the last eight years or so. The investment of more than three billion in capital improvements has been accompanied by the creation of fifty three hundred jobs as well.
Twenty one new manufacturing concerns have chosen Anderson County for their facilities, while an additional thirty eight existing employers have chosen to expand their operations here in the Anderson area.
Frankische, Bosch, TTI, Duke Energy, Eugen Wexler, and Watson Engineering are just a few of the companies feeding the economic surge in this corner of the state. And as is always the case, such a strong economic surge is inevitably accompanied by a renewed demand for housing.
Once again, statistics compiled by county staff reflect both the intensity and location of that demand. County Council districts Four, Six and Seven all intrude into the Journal’s readership area; all three have seen or are experiencing significant growth in the housing market.
District Six, with Powdersville as the engine, is far and away the leader in permitting and constructing new housing. In the last two years, preliminary or final approval has been given to the development of a total of at least eleven hundred lots or units with at least one other development designated simply as large scale, without a specific number of units designated. Those units will occupy approximately five hundred acres of land.
District Seven figures reflect development of ninety three acres, with one hundred thirty one lots or units involved. There is also a designated large scale project included in addition to those.
District Four, which lies largely outside the Journal’s readership area, has one hundred seventy six acres slated for the development of two hundred eighty six units.
These figures are not the only indicators of the surging housing market. The most recent update from the county shows an increase in single and multiple family housing permits of thirty one per cent, compared to December of 2016. Revenues from those permits are up one hundred seventeen per cent. For the entire year, single and multiple family housing permits are up twelve per cent, from seven hundred thirty six to eight hundred twenty seven. Revenues from those permits were up forty one per cent.
The total number of permits and transactions, which may or may not reflect new construction, was up thirty six per cent, from eight thousand nine hundred fifty nine to twelve thousand one hundred eighty nine.
