A cold, wet storm gave us a good soaking the last few days, but has finally departed the Upstate and we're looking for nice clear days with highs in the mid to upper 50's for the rest of the week.

As growth pushes further into Greenville County, residents are rethinking the historic lack of zoning and considering it for the future. Building permits have increased 42% since 2001 and look to continue in that direction. The availability of jobs and raw land tend to fuel this growth, reports Grant Cunningham, a planning professor of Clemson University. Greenville school district's decision to build mega-schools in the outlying areas where land is cheap has also played a factor in the outward growth.

Year/Number of building permits: 2001/2032, 2002/2032, 2003/2099, 2004/2326, 2005/2896.

Source: Lee Polowczuk, Greenville County spokesperson & Greenville News

In commercial real estate, Bon Secours St. Francis Health Systems has taken an option on 54 acres in the new 250 acre Millennium Campus. This campus is adjacent to the International Center for Automotive Research (ICAR) project and across I-85 from the large planned-residential Verdae project. If fully developed, it would dwarf their downtown location (30.2 acres) and their satellite Women's and Family Hospital (15 acres) on the eastside. St. Francis recently abandoned a proposed parking deck joint venture with Greenville Hospital System on the Eastside campus.

Residential real estate sales have remained brisk throughout the fall and holiday season and are expected to continue into 2006. New home construction remains a major player in the inventory of homes available on the market.

Lee Cunningham Realtor, ABR, GRI, CRS The Lee Cunningham Team RE/MAX Realty Professionals 864-679-0707 Direct e-mail: Lee@LeeCunningham.net

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