HOUSING PROVIDES BIG NUMBERS ON CONSTRUCTION SCENE

Lashone Craig worked on the new Boldercrest Apartments off of Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau.

More than a third of the year's construction numbers in Cape Girardeau are related to housing, with more than $7 million in new single-family residences and almost $5 million for apartments.

Add another million dollars for expansions, alterations, sheds and decks, and it all translates into more than $13 million for total housing and apartment construction halfway through the eighth month of the year.

Overall construction totals in Cape Girardeau topped the $30-million mark earlier this month, thanks to a surge in apartment, single-family homes and commercial permits over the past two months.

The latest data from Cape Girardeau Division of Inspection Services reveals almost 300 permits issued during the first seven and a half months, with a value of more than $30 million, about even with totals from a year ago.

July was a big month on the local scene, boosted by permits for four new 12-unit apartment complexes in the Pear Tree Court area, with values of $600,000 each.

The Pear Tree Court apartment group will provide a total of 72 apartments. Two 12-unit complexes, which received permits in January of this year, are nearing completion, with one of them expected to open within a month or two.

Vernon Rhodes, president of Plaza Tire Co., a 37-year-old business which has more than 36 stores in four states, heads the apartment-building group. The Rhodes group is also converting an old warehouse building at the corner of Broadway and Lorimier into an apartment building.

Plans have also been announced for another apartment complex, to be constructed along Pacific Street, between Good Hope and Morgan Oak. Plans are under way to demolish the old St. Francis Hospital building which covers a half-block area.

The Phillips Cos. of Little Rock, Ark., which purchased the property in April 1999, plans to construct 48 multi-family rental apartments at the site. Once the old hospital building has been demolished, Phillips will start construction of the apartment complex, which will include five buildings.

Census statistics reveal that residential rental properly in the Cape Girardeau area is usually 90 to 95 percent leased, with an average 7.8 percent vacancy rate.

Meanwhile, single-family home construction has provided some big numbers on the local construction scene. Two $200,000 plus homes were included on this month's housing list. For the year, 42 permits have been issued in the amount of $11.9 million, for an average of $167,750.

Cape Girardeau County's home ownership rate is near the national average.

America's home ownership rate is at a record high of 67 percent. Missouri home ownership tops the national average, at 68.6 percent. Last year's Cape Girardeau city statistics revealed that out of about 16,000 residential units, about 56 percent owned their own homes. But countywide that percentage soared to more than 63 percent out of more than 25,000 residential units.

Some of the larger commercial projects this year include the new Albertson's Grocery, which is under construction at the former Wolohan Lumber site near the intersection of Independence and Kingshighway; Schnucks Grocery, which is expanding by more than 12,000 square feet; the Bob Evans Restaurant, now under construction; Doctors' Park Cardiovascular Consultants and Charter Communications.

With more than four months remaining, the city could hit its sixth $40-million-plus year over the past decade in its construction history. During the latter half of 1999, construction activity went at a torrid pace in Cape Girardeau to shove the yearly totals to a record high of $64.4 million.

The city has experienced only five $40-million-plus years in its construction history -- last year's $64.4 million; $49.7 million in 1998; $47.9 million in 1992; $47.6 million in 1996; and $44.3 million in 1995.

Construction totals do not include the city's street and sewer improvements and the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge.

Neither do they include two major commercial expansions near Cape Girardeau -- Procter & Gamble Co.'s $350 million plant addition, completed last year, and Biokyowa Inc.'s $85 million plant expansion, which is scheduled for completion later this year.