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Recent Surge in Building Permits a Sign of Economic Vitality, Rahm Says

By Ted Cox | December 3, 2014 1:29pm
 Construction of small and mid-size buildings has more than doubled since 2010, according to the number of building permits issued.
Construction of small and mid-size buildings has more than doubled since 2010, according to the number of building permits issued.
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DNAinfo/Patty Wetli

CITY HALL — Mayor Rahm Emanuel is touting new construction of small and mid-size buildings as a sign of economic vitality.

According to the Department of Buildings, permits in those categories have more than doubled since 2010, the year before Emanuel took office.

That includes all new buildings less than 80 feet tall, less than 150,000 square feet, and with fewer than 40 dwelling units.

According to data from the department's E-Plan system, which streamlined the process for building permits two years ago, the city processed 1,436 permits in those categories through mid-November, up from 1,202 over the same period last year, 852 in 2012, 617 in 2011 and 573 in 2010.

"After years of remaining flat, Chicago's economy is moving in the right direction with more new construction taking place," Emanuel said in a statement.

Much of the increase was driven by a boom in single-family homes, many built on the sites of what were smaller homes in the past.

The mayor's office also touted new statistics from the Illinois Department of Employment Security showing the number of workers in the Downtown business district at a record high, driven by gains in hospitality and dining, health care and social assistance, professional services and the tech industry.

According to state figures released Monday, more than 540,000 people were working private-sector jobs in the business district as of March, up 63,000 from the worst of the recession four years ago, and a record since the department began compiling data in this manner in 1991.

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