Construction building in Leelanau

TRAVERSE CITY Leelanau Countys wealth of waterfront property is making a splash with potential homeowners.

Construction in the county is up as the local economy continues to recover from the housing market crash.

People are building homes again and the projects are larger, said Marty Easling, owner of Easling Construction Company in Leland. In 09 it dropped and we had maybe one home going and the rest were small remodeling projects. Now were building homes for spring.

The shift reflects the growing number of inspections performed by county building personnel.

Theres been a tremendous upswing in construction in Leelanau County, said county Administrator Chet Janik. Theres a need to hire an additional staff person.

Steven Haugen, the building official at the countys Construction Code Authority, said he conducted 525 more inspections in 2013 than in 2012. Now, the county is looking to contract a full-time plan reviewer/building inspector to handle the increased volume.

The economys getting a little better and people are putting up buildings, Haugen said. It doesnt necessarily have to do with the population of the county.

Janik suspects the recession prompted people to veer from remodeling and construction projects, but economic recovery means property owners are spending more freely.

Haugen said personnel from his office conducted about 7,000 inspections in the last year, jobs that can range from checking a buildings foundation to its insulation.

With plan reviews and everything office-wise, we had a really hard time during the busy times last year keeping up, Haugen said.

Read more here:
Construction building in Leelanau