NOT GLOOM BUT BOOM!

Two by Fours, Baton Rouge 11/2007 from Baton Rouge Blues

All reproduction rights reserved Wm. Greiner

New Orleans experiences construction boom

The Crescent City is bucking the national construction downturn because of the multitude of government-backed hurricane rebuilding, New Orleans CityBusiness reports. Through the first four weeks of the year, 426 commercial and residential construction permits were filed in the New Orleans metro area, representing $101 million in work. That's a 3.6% increase in the number of permits and a 13.5% rise in the dollar value of work for January 2007.

Officials say it's not just the big public projects that are helping fuel the construction boom, homebuilders are expected to remain busy with remodeling and renovation work. To read the story, click here.