Building Permits

Here are building permits valued at $350,000 and up filed recently in Orange County. SANTA ANA * Project: Foundation Address: 1800 E. St. Andrew Place Value: $1.2 million Owner: Light Inv. Fabrication Concept * Project: City Hall expansion Address: 20 Civic Center Plaza Value: $350,000 Owner: City of Santa Ana * Project: Tenant improvement Address: 1251 E. Dyer Road Value: $422,500 Owner: Octc Assoc.

New residential construction rose significantly in March as builders started more multi-unit dwellings. Housing starts rose 7% from upwardly revised February figures to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,036,000, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. The rate was 46.7% higher than March 2012. Housing starts jumped higher than economists polled by Bloomberg News expected, after the Commerce Department said builders started many more units in February than previously thought.  The department revised February starts to an annual rate of 968,000 from 917,000.

An emergency moratorium to prohibit issuance of building permits for large home expansions in the city's residential zones was extended Tuesday by the Board of Directors. The restrictions, originally approved in April, will stay in place until October, 1991, to allow city staff members time to devise permanent regulations against "mansionization," the building of large homes or additions that dwarf neighboring houses. A public workshop on the proposed rules for home sizes is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Foes of a planned Wal-Mart grocery store in Chinatown filed a lawsuit Thursday against the city of Los Angeles seeking to bar the chain market from opening. The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance L.A., working with the Southeast Asian Community Alliance, said the city's Community Redevelopment Agency board failed to review the Chinatown project before building permits were awarded for the planned supermarket. The nonprofit groups contend that a redevelopment vote was required and are seeking to have the building permits rescinded.

New residential construction increased in February, while builders look to put up more homes in the near future to meet rising demand for housing--a positive trend for the broader economic recovery. Housing starts jumped 0.8% from revised January figures to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 917,000, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.  The rate of new construction was slightly higher than economists polled by Bloomberg News expected as both single-family construction and apartment and condo building climbed.

U.S. home builders scaled back new construction in July from a four-year high reached the previous month, but applications for building permits jumped to their highest level since August 2008. Housing starts for single-family homes and apartments slid 1.1% last month from June, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 746,000. June's construction pace had been the fastest since October 2008. Only the Midwest enjoyed an increase, with housing starts picking up 17%. Every other region fell, with new building efforts in the West declining 5.3%.

Builders broke ground on fewer homes in May, due mostly to plummeting apartment construction, but requested the most permits since September 2008. Overall housing starts last month dropped 4.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 708,000, but that's compared with April's 744,000 figure, which was revised up. Compared with May 2011, new construction is up 28.5%, according to the Commerce Department report . Initial work on multi-family housing, an erratic gauge which plunged 21.3% last month, was a drag on the overall measure.

Four weeks after Wal-Mart announced plans to open a grocery store in Chinatown, Los Angeles City Council members have proposed a law that would block an array of chain businesses from opening in the neighborhood. A temporary ordinance sought by Councilman Ed Reyes would prohibit building permits from being issued for new "formula retail" stores - those that have standardized facades, color schemes, decor, employee uniforms and merchandise. Wal-Mart is seeking to open a 33,000-square-foot market and pharmacy in a vacant ground-floor commercial space at Cesar Chavez and Grand avenues.

Economists brushed off a decline in new residential construction starts last month and instead looked at an increase in permits issued for houses and apartment buildings as a positive indicator that the real estate market is on the mend. Housing starts fell 1.1% from January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 698,000, the Commerce Department reported. That was a 34.7% surge from February 2011. Starts were down 5.9% from January in the West and 12.3% in the Northeast. They were up 1.5% in the South and 3.0% in the Midwest.

The number of newly laid-off Americans filing jobless claims and the pace of home construction both posted worse-than-expected results in government data released Thursday, lending urgency to the economic recovery plan President Obama and Congress are scrambling to advance. The latest batch of economic news cemented fears that the recession, already in its second year, will drag on through much of 2009.

Construction of new homes took a bigger-than-expected plunge in September as builders slashed production again. A barometer of future building also dropped, falling to the weakest level in more than 25 years. Analysts blamed the renewed swoon on the financial crisis that erupted with force in recent weeks, raising anxieties among potential home buyers and making it harder for builders to get construction loans.