By KERRY SMITH, EDITOR, ST. LOUIS CONSTRUCTION NEWS AND REVIEW MAGAZINE
With 60 days left on the calendar, the City of Edwardsville can already say 2018 has been a record-breaking year with regard to commercial and residential construction dollars being pumped into the Metro East community.
Year-to-date figures for the first 10 months of 2018 indicate that construction projects breaking ground in Edwardsville thus far this year total a whopping $122.6 million, a 19.2 percent increase over all of 2017.
“We have another two months to go, and we’re anticipating another $15 million of construction projects coming through in additional permits,” said Walter Williams, director of economic and community development for the city. “This is our best year yet in terms of the number of construction dollars being invested in our community.”
Edwardsville-based Contegra Construction and Highland-based Plocher Construction are leading the way in new commercial construction projects this year, according to Williams.
Among Contegra’s 2018 projects are the New Poag Richland Residential Project, a $20 million, 9-building, 486-bed housing community on a 15-acre site very near Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and Timberlake Village, a $3.2 million retail center along Illinois Route 157 that features Kyoto Japanese Steakhouse.
Plocher Construction’s 2018 work in Edwardsville includes Edwardsville Town Center, a mixed-use development spanning 26 acres at Route 157 and Governors’ Parkway, directly across from SIUE. The $35 million, 75,000-square-foot-plus project will also feature residential apartments with multiple outlots for future tenants.
Williams said that in all of 2017, new construction dollars permitted by the City of Edwardsville totaled $102.8 million.
