Manhattan Building Permits Jump, Construction Costs Rise

According to the city Department of Buildings, new building permits in Manhattan are up 94 percent since the beginning of the year. And the jump in construction comes even as the cost to build reaches a rate almost on par with costs at the height of the building boom.       

The city Buildings Department has issued 70 permits for construction of new buildings this year, as of Sept. 30, compared with just 36 during the same period last year. New permits for major renovation projects are also up 12 percent, year-over-year.     

Meanwhile, the New York Building Congress released a report on Oct. 1 that shows rising construction costs may be approaching the inflated rate they hit at the height of the last decade's construction boom. Construction costs in New York City rose nearly 3.6 percent in 2011, according to a construction costs index tracked by trade magazine Engineering News-Record, which the Building Congress cited in its report. That increase came on top of a 2.4 percent rise in 2010.