85 homes have been built in Bryan this year, where builders don’t have to pay for permits and other fees.
An update on the third year of Bryan’s homebuilders incentive program was given at this week’s city council workshop.
The city has waived $120,000 dollars in fees to 37 builders of homes between 2,200 and 3,000 square feet. Those homes have an average value of $238,000 dollars.
Councilman Rafael Pena called for incentives to build smaller homes. Mayor Jason Bienski suggested working with the city’s community development office to target neighborhoods that would otherwise have manufactured housing.
Frank Clark of the city’s economic development office says they are looking at extending the incentive of waiving fees to smaller homes in targeted neighborhoods. One of the hurdles is improving city infrastructure. Clark says another issue is finding the land to build smaller homes.
The council was also told the value of all new building activity in Bryan this year has topped $183 million dollars. That’s an increase of $54 million from last year. That’s due to increases in single and multi-family residential construction.
Through the end of August, $57 million dollars of permits have been issued in Bryan for 262 new homes and renovating another 488 houses. Bryan has also 20 multi-family permits of at least five units, which have a combined value of almost $33 million dollars.
Click HERE to read and download the presentation given at the city council workshop.
