San Angelo Continues to Grow Regardless of Lagging Regional Economy

Despite the state of the regional economy, and falling sales tax receipts, due to the regional oil industry slowdown caused by low oil prices, San Angelo continues to grow. Five building permits have been issued for commercial projects, and 11 more are currently pending approval.

The projects approved are the following:

• Edd B. Keys, 113 W. Beauregard Ave
• Donut Palace, 1917 N. Bryant Blvd
• City Auditorium, 72 W. College Ave
• Unlimited Air Self Storage Buildings, 4309 S. Jackson St
• Bentwood - New Fitness Center, 2021 Club House Ln

“One of the things we look at is, are they focused on one or two major economic sectors,” Michael Looney, Vice President of Marketing and Recruitment for the Chamber of Commerce, said on the issuing of permits.

“It's a pretty wide diversification; we are talking anything from a hospital center to a doughnut shop,” said Looney. “That is one of the hallmarks of San Angelo, the fact that our economy is so diversified. It adds a layer of durability.”

He also explained that he does not believe the new construction will have any negative impact on San Angelo's resources.

“Most of the projects sound like they are being purpose-built,” Looney noted. “I think they are going to be very durable.”

Looney said these types of projects are a much different asset to the economy, which he defined as a “speculative building.” This is where a developer would build a structure and hope that a business will come and lease it out. This is something that he described as very risky.

“One of the things I like about the San Angelo market is that you don't see a lot of speculative buildings or construction,” Looney stated. “That type of construction is really prevalent in Houston, Austin, and Dallas – larger markets. Whereas in San Angelo, it's a small enough market to where a developer really wants to have an idea of what they are constructing that building for. That makes a safer investment.”

As for the economic growth of San Angelo, Looney added, “I will guess that we are probably going to see somewhere between 4 to 5 percent growth this year, overall economic growth. That is just based on a lot of antidotal factors that we are seeing; and we are tracking the sales tax receipts each month.”

Looney also said this construction may seem risky to a lot of people, like it's coming on the market too late.

“But this is stuff that is pretty much built-to-suit, so it's pretty low risk,” he said.

To view the list of the projects that are pending, click here.