Dive Brief:
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On the last day of 2014, Minneapolis reached a construction milestone: The city issued a building permit that day that tipped its total for year to more than $2 billion—the most ever in a single year.
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Two huge downtown projects accounted for most of that total. The city issued permits for a new Vikings football stadium and for a mixed-use redevelopment project in the Downtown East neighborhood.
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In 2012 and 2013, the city issued more than $1 billion worth of permits each year. About one-third of last year’s permits were for housing.
Dive Insight:
The projects that stem from those 2014 permits will create construction jobs for the next several years as office buildings and apartment complexes are built. “With growth in commercial development, that means more job opportunities,” one city official told The Star Tribune. He noted that the growth in Minneapolis is concentrated downtown.