By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – The city’s number of commercial and residential renovations have topped last year’s numbers, the number of new commercial buildings has matched last year and the number of new homes is slightly behind 2017, according to data recently released by the Alabaster Fire Department’s Building and Fire Prevention Services Division.

Alabaster City Council members reviewed the department’s report through the end of October during a recent meeting, revealing a strong late-year showing for all markets.

In October, Alabaster issued two permits for new homes valued at a total of about $1.1 million, brining the city’s year-to-date total to 53 new homes valued at a total of about $17.5 million through the end of October.

During the first 10 months of 2017, the city had issued 63 new home permits for projects valued at a total of about $19.4 million.

Alabaster’s number of residential addition or remodel permits is higher than last year’s numbers, although the total value of the projects is slightly lower.

Through Oct. 31, the city had issued 302 residential remodel permits for projects valued at a total of about $3.6 million. In comparison, Building and Fire Prevention Services had issued 233 such permits for projects valued at a total of about $4.3 million through the first 10 months of 2017.

In the commercial sector, the department had issued 14 permits for new buildings through the end of October, which is the same as it had during the same time period in 2017. The value of this year’s new commercial buildings is about $8 million, while last year’s valuation was about $8.4 million.

Commercial addition and remodels are up significantly this year over last year.

Through October, the city had issued 35 permits for commercial addition and remodels for projects valued at a total of about $13.8 million, compared to 33 such permits for projects valued at a total of about $4.4 million during the same time period last year.