The number of new housing permits issued by the city of Waconia has rebounded since the near historic lows of the pandemic era years. Among the new units coming to Waconia are a pair of under-construction apartment buildings - the Otto apartments and the building being constructed at the site of the former American Legion building on Olive Street (pictured). (Al Lohman/The Patriot)
The number of new housing permits issued by the city of Waconia has rebounded since the near historic lows of the pandemic era years. Among the new units coming to Waconia are a pair of under-construction apartment buildings - the Otto apartments (pictured) and the building being constructed at the site of the former American Legion building on Olive Street. (Al Lohman/The Patriot)
The number of new housing permits issued by the city of Waconia has rebounded since the near historic lows of the pandemic era years. Among the new units coming to Waconia are a pair of under-construction apartment buildings - the Otto apartments and the building being constructed at the site of the former American Legion building on Olive Street (pictured). (Al Lohman/The Patriot)
The number of new housing permits issued by the city of Waconia has rebounded since the near historic lows of the pandemic era years. Among the new units coming to Waconia are a pair of under-construction apartment buildings - the Otto apartments (pictured) and the building being constructed at the site of the former American Legion building on Olive Street. (Al Lohman/The Patriot)
After a few relatively flat years, new housing starts in Waconia have been up considerably the past two years.
Lane Braaten, community development director, shared the numbers in a 2022 land use summary report to the Waconia City Council on Tuesday, Feb. 20. The complete report will be available soon on the city website waconia.org.
Nearly 400 new housing permits were issued in the city last year, nearly double the number granted in 2021 which was already up significantly from recent years.
That’s because of the groundwork laid from 2018-2020 in platting new undeveloped property that added to what had been constrained lot inventory in the city in recent years, Braaten said.
Some of the primary development areas include Waterford, The Fields, Woodland Creek, Interlaken and Orchard Park, as well as new apartments, twin homes and townhomes. In fact, according to the report, multi-family permits in 2022 outpaced single family homes 244 to 144, although the housing mix in Waconia continues to be about two-thirds single-family to one-third multi-family.
In total the city issued 1,882 building permits last year including additions, remodels, garages, decks and other improvements. The total construction value of all building permits amounted to about $127.8 million.
In terms of lot inventory, there are currently about 435 residential lots available in the city. From a commercial/industrial perspective, there are about 23 commercial lots totaling about 45 acres and four industrial lots equating to about 12 acres.
Th city could see more annexation activity in 2023, Braaten said.
At its meeting last week, the council also recognized some departing members of the city’s planning commission, the group that deals with land use issues. Those individuals completing their terms are Robert Grohmann, Mike Sherman and J.D. Ludford.
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