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Pikes Peak regional building officials say Fountain saw modest home growth, big valuation from few commercial projects in 2024
Summary
Pikes Peak Regional Building reported 2024 permit and inspection totals showing slight gains in single‑family housing in Fountain and the region, a steep drop in new apartment permits, high re‑roof activity and a jump in total construction valuation tied to several large commercial projects.
Pikes Peak Regional Building officials told the Fountain City Council on Feb. 11 that the Pikes Peak region saw modest single‑family growth in 2024 while multi‑family permit activity fell sharply and a small number of large commercial projects pushed overall construction valuation higher.
The report, delivered by Pikes Peak Regional Building official Roger Lovell and PPRBD public information officer Greg Degrando, said single‑family housing was up slightly across the service area while new apartment permits dropped significantly. Degrando said the region completed about 3,795 apartment units in 2024, but only 838 new apartment units were permitted during the year — the fewest since 2015.
“The decline in apartments is a big driver of the drop in commercial permits,” Degrando said. “One large project can move permit counts a lot because multi‑building apartment projects generate multiple permits.”
The presentation gave a more detailed look at Fountain: PPRBD issued 65 new single‑family permits in Fountain in 2024 (an 18% increase from 2023 in Fountain), with an estimated residential valuation of about $32,000,000 for those homes and an additional $23,000,000 in residential alteration valuation. Degrando said Fountain had 51 new commercial permits in 2024 (down 23% in count) but commercial estimated valuation in the city rose to about $46,000,000 because a few large projects — including a King Soopers, a self‑storage project and two Mesa Ridge strip‑mall projects — contributed higher dollar values.
Regionwide figures presented by PPRBD included 16,139 reroof permits (down 9% from 2023), 296,112 inspections (up 3%), 63 field inspectors, and 3,500+ apartment completions opening to rent. Degrando urged residents and brokers to use PPRBD’s public GIS mapping tool at PPRBD.org for project and permit history and highlighted PPRBD’s free training classes for contractors, homeowners and commercial brokers.
City council members asked about how permit trends affect local planning and were reminded that plan review volumes typically precede permits and provide an early signal; officials said January 2025 single‑family permits were already up about 17%.
The PPRBD presentation ended with an encouragement for developers, brokers and residents to check zoning and permitting early in negotiations to avoid costly changes later.
