On January 2, 2025, the Allen County Building Department reported that building permits for 2024 totaled $3,664,538,816.
Allen County Hits Historic $3 Billion in Permitted Construction Value
Allen County, Indiana (January 3, 2025) – On Thursday, January 2, 2025, the Allen County Building Department reported that building permits for 2024 totaled $3,664,538,816. This record number includes both residential and commercial permit values.
Commercial construction permits issued in the county from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024, reached $2,834,962,181. This figure is a 136% increase over the commercial permit valuation in 2023. Some notable projects that were permitted this past year and are in progress include the Google Data Center, Water Furnace expansion, the new Arts United wing, The Lofts at Headwaters Park multiuse complex, and The Pearl luxury apartments.
Allen County Building Commissioner Joe Hutter observed, “When you have a spike in commercial construction, we’ll see residential numbers go up a year or two later. You’ve got to expand existing businesses and build new ones first before seeing job opportunities grow. People will come here to work, then developers will meet the challenge of housing our labor force.” The 2024 residential construction permits closed out at $829,576,635, an $18M boost over the year before.
Annual Building Permit Value reports provide important benchmarks. The numbers are essentially the projected value of the construction work for which a permit is being requested and provides a reliable indicator for what lies ahead. In a joint statement, the Allen County Board of Commissioners, which oversees the Building Department, shared that this past year’s report, “reflects not only the thriving economy but also the trust and confidence people have in our county’s future. This milestone symbolizes a collective effort, where progress, innovation, and opportunity come together to shape a vibrant and flourishing community.”
“The more than three and a half billion-dollar valuation for building permits is staggering,” continued Building Commissioner Hutter. “Not only did we hit that historic $3B mark, but we surpassed it. If this trend continues, we could very well hit $4B for 2025.”
Hutter noted that several workflow and technology changes instituted in 2024 helped his department handle the increasing workload. On January 1, 2024, the Building Department debuted a new software system that allowed building contractors to accomplish their annual license renewals online and spaced out the paperwork due dates by last name over the course of the year vs. all 100,000+ renewal forms being submitted in January.
Additionally, all field staff were outfitted with new iPads to complete and submit building inspections in real time from job sites, furthering efficiencies within the department.
According to Hutter, “We completed 67,000 building inspections in 2024, a little less than the 72,000 in 2023; however, while the permit number might have been down, the value of each job was up. Many of the permits that were pulled in 2024 were for multi-year projects and we’ll probably see up to 80,000 building inspections for this coming year.”
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