Fort Smith metro building permit numbers down almost 18% through July - Talk Business & Politics
Building activity in the Fort Smith metro area declined in June, keeping the year-to-date totals lower than in 2025. Permit values in Fort Smith, Greenwood, and Van Buren totaled $23. 268. . .
Building activity in the Fort Smith metro area declined in June, keeping the year-to-date totals lower than in 2025. Permit values in Fort Smith, Greenwood, and Van Buren totaled $23. 268 million in July, 12. 7% lower than the $26. 643 million in July 2025 and down 35. 6% from the $36. 103 million in June. In the first seven months of the year, the region had $168. 213 million in permitted building activity, down 17. 7% from $204. 453 million reported in the same period in 2025. Fort Smith issued 381 permits in July with a value of $14. 895 million, down 39. 6% from the $24. 643 million value of 227 projects permitted in July of last year. . The city had $138. 47 million in permitted activity through July, down 23. 05% from $179. 943 million from the same time in 2025. There were eight permits issued for new single-family residential projects in the month with a value of $1. 149 million, up 8. 1% from $1. 063 million with four new residential projects permitted this time last year. There were also three permits issued for new duplexes in July with a combined value of $605,840. The city issued two new commercial construction projects for a combined value of $4. 18 million during the month. There were no new commercial projects permitted in July 2025. New construction included a 3,347-square-foot new First Security Bank building at 6600 Chad Colley with an estimated cost of $1. 73 million, and a new 3,740-square-foot Culver’s Restaurant at 8450 Rogers Ave. with an estimated cost of $2. 45 million. The Wisconsin-based chain features ButterBurgers, fresh frozen custard and classic cheese curds. Fort Smith’s building permit totals do not include the ongoing federal investment in new facilities at Ebbing Air National Guard Base located at the Fort Smith Regional Airport. For example, work on a 44,000-square-foot academic training center at the base began in May and is estimated to cost $74 million. Ebbing was selected in March 2023 by the U. S. Air Force to be the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program pilot training center supporting F-35 fighter planes purchased U. S. allies. The Air Force has estimated the cost to complete the foreign pilot training center base is $807 million. About $600 million in federal funds has been appropriated since 2021 for the pilot training center. VAN BUREN, GREENWOOD NUMBERSVan Buren had 84 projects permitted in July with a value of $6. 77 million, up 580% from the $996,000 value of 70 projects permitted in July 2025. The city issued six permits for residential construction with a value of $370,500, a 17% increase from the $315,500 value of five residential projects in July 2025. There were four commercial projects permitted in July with a combined value of $6. 399 million, almost 11 times the $598,000 value of three commercial projects permitted in July 2025. Included in the projects are a $4. 8 million, 69,892-square-foot, four-story Home2 Suites at 1716 Fayetteville Road, a $999,000, 1,300-square-foot data center addition at 2431 Bekaert Road, and a $200,000, 1,500-square-foot commercial tax building at 2509 Alma Highway. Building permit values in the first seven months of 2026 for the city totaled $21. 131 million, a 23% increase from $14. 768 million through July 2025. Greenwood issued 48 building permits in the month with a value of $1. 603 million, 59. 7% more than the $1. 004 million value of 23 projects permitted in July 2025. The city has had $8. 241 million in permitted activity so far in 2026, down 23. 1% from $10. 721 million through July 2025. Building permit values in Fort Smith, Greenwood, and Van Buren totaled at least $282. 576 million in 2025, up 4. 2% compared with 2024. ANNUAL PERMIT NUMBERSFollowing are combined annual permit value totals for the three cities since 2015. 2025: $282. 58 million*2024: $271. 09 million2023: $520. 64 million2022: $480. 37 million2021: $343. 28 million2020: $265. 97 million2019: $241. 74 million2018: $231. 78 million2017: $210. 84 million2016: $211. 34 million2015: $218. 89 million(*The 2025 tally does not include December permit numbers for Greenwood. )Related