Growth fuels building booms in and around Hattiesburg

Hattiesburg construction showed an increase of more than $50 million in 2004 in an explosion of growth that was called .. "astronomical" by Bennie Sellers, director of public services.

The latest available figures indicate that the 2003 cost of construction in Hattiesburg - $45 million - had

Bill Rodgers, the city's land code administrator, said that part of this resulted from 500 homes and 1,200 apartments either under construction or proposed.

"A major portion of the construction is in the 2,200 acres that the city annexed last year," Rodgers said.

For years, Hattiesburg's main growth has been to the west and the annex area, which is mostly in Lamar County, added to this trend.

One of the largest projects started in 2004 was the Turtle Creek Crossing retail center in the Lamar County part of the city. In what has been called Hattiesburg's most significant commercial development in a decade, the $39.8-million center will feature such national retailers as Target, Old Navy, PetsMart, Bed, Bath & Beyond and Starbucks.

Developers of the project, which is expected to create some 1,200 full- and part-time jobs, are York Developments Inc. of Hattiesburg, the Seitz Group of Dallas and Kimco Realty Corp. of New Hyde Park, N.Y.

Late in 2004, work started on the property. Principal contractor is the G.M.J. Corporation of Dallas but, first, site work has to be completed. This is being done by Tanner Construction Company of Ellisville.

Tanner specializes in digging, dirt excavation and removal, curbs, gutters and other site work (as well as heavy highway construction work). Starting out in 1979 with only a couple of pieces of equipment and a few employees, today Tanner has more than $117 million in projects under contract and nearly 300 employees (during the peak summer period).

Turtle Creek Crossing is one of the main beneficiaries of the city's constant, at times almost frantic, efforts to install and maintain Hattiesburg's infrastructure of water and sewer lines.

"It blows my mind," Sellers said in reference to the infrastructure, work necessitated by the city's growth and construction boom.

"We're being constantly challenged and kept busy in the new annexed area, with Work on all major water and sewer lines."

Ongoing infrastructure work - most of it in 2004 - is costing some $5 million of a $10-million allotment.

Among other major Hattiesburg construction projects started or completed in 2004:

* Forrest General Hospital's Women's Services: An $18-million project to renovate existing space and construct new areas, as well as provide a new entrance into Women's Services from the fourth floor of the parking garage.

* Wesley Medical Center: Launched its Women's Pavilion, which combines services from the center and from Hattiesburg's Women's Clinic.

* Temple Baptist Church: Building a 225,000-square-feet addition for the 5,676-member church at a cost of $25 million.

* Hilton Garden Hotel: 90 rooms, just off Hardy Street near Interstate 59 interchange. Cost: $7 million.

* Two new cinema multiplexes: Southern Theatres, LLC, of Metairie, La. is building a 14-screen multiplex on 10.6 acres bought from Hattiesburg's Terra Firma Corp. Rave Motion Pictures of Dallas is constructing a $12-million cineplex near Turtle Creek Mall.

Hattiesburg now has a metropolitan area of of some 120,000 and experts say that once the city reached the Censusdesignated 100,000 mark and became an official metropolitan center, a spurt in growth and construction was inevitable.

"Once a city gains metropolitan status, it enters the radar screen of national and regional retailers," said Katherine Garner, who owns a Hattiesburg planning and consulting firm.

Some retailers don't even look at areas below 100,000, Garner added.

Sellers talked of the 14 counties whose residents travel to Hattiesburg regularly to shop or visit a medical facility.

"A lot of this astronomical growth is because of four reasons," Sellers said.

He cited Camp Shelby, the University of Southern Mississippi, shopping and being a medical hub.

Though most of Hattiesburg's new construction continues to take place in the western part of the city, the Historic Hattiesburg Business District is an exception.

Spending on construction in the area in 2004 increased by more than $1 million to some $6.17 million, according to the Historic Hattiesburg Downtown Association.

Of this money, downtown property owners themselves spent $3.97 million. These owners include Andre Waites, who spent $350,000 to improve his Market Street building where eValueville is located.

Also contributing to the construction spending in 2004 were some large, ongoing renovation and construction projects. Two of the largest are downtown, the renovation of the Ross and Faulkner buildings. Each will cost more than $1 million and the work on each is being done by D.C. Construction of Hattiesburg.

The largest is the restoration of the old railroad depot on Newman Street, on the edge of the historic district. D.C. Construction is also doing this work. The architect is Hattiesburg's Albert and Associates.

This is a three-phase project with an overall cost expected to be $8 million, according to Sellers.

Phase I, the retiling of the roof with replicas of the original red tile, reinstallment of the dormers, restoration of the skylights and the repair or replacement of all damaged rafters, was completed in 2004. The cost was $600,000, with $480,000 from the Mississippi Department of Transportation and $120,000 from the city.

Work on phase II, the inside and outside of the depot, will begin once the city completes a free-standing, $120,000 structure nearby to house railroad employees who now work in the depot. This work is expected to be finished by April.