Do the numbers suggest saturation?

Sometimes, especially in business, numbers mean everything. The bottom line. Profits. Costs. Losses. But sometimes, numbers are just numbers.

I still haven't gotten a grip on what these numbers mean so I'll just share them and you tell me.

In 2000, there were 166 permits for new apartment units in Cape Girardeau for a construction cost of $8.1 million. In 2005, there were no permits for the construction of new apartments in Cape Girardeau, with a construction cost of ... well, zero.

That's quite a slide.

That's the first time in at least 15 years where there were no new apartment construction in the city of Cape Girardeau and probably a lot longer than that.

Why? Has the Cape Girardeau area reached a saturation point for new apartments? Do the influx of college students have enough housing, with the plethora of places like Cape Place, Cape La Croix apartments and the newer one at the corner of Perryville and Lexington?

Or is there simply a pause right now? Are more apartment builders planning new buildings even as we speak?

For February, there was one permit request for an apartment with more than three units. But the drop in apartments from 14 to zero over a five-year span struck me as interesting.

But that wasn't the only decrease, when it comes to permits.

Consider the commercial construction permits. In 2004, there were 41 permits for construction of new commercial buildings at a cost of more than $40 million. Last year, there were 11 fewer permits, with a construction cost that was $30 million.

For those numbers, Robb McClary, director of inspection services, has a theory.

Last year was a record high for permits to add on to commercial buildings. In 2005, there were 125 permits for additions to commercial buildings. That's up from 85 in 2004 and 75 in 2003.

"A lot of those buildings that went up were what we call shell buildings," he said of the initial commercial buildings. "That means it's just the outside walls and it leaves the tenant space to be completed by the tenant."

In 2004, there were a lot of new commercial buildings that had room for several tenants -- he cited King's Court at 1131 N. Kingshighway as an example. Then, the next year, the building starts to fill up.

It doesn't reflect a decrease in business activity, he said, just a shift in how the activity is taking place.

"I think there was a decrease in new construction and an increase in remodeling," he said.

Meanwhile, no matter how you look at it, single-home construction is booming. Since 2000, each year saw more permits than the year before. In 2000, there were 56 new single-family home permits, for a value of nearly $9 million. In 2005, there were 128 permits for a valuation of more than $20 million.

Just numbers? Is there anything to the numbers? Who knows?

Scott Moyers is editor of Business Today. Contact him at smoyers@semissourian.com or 335-6611, extension 137.