Business View Magazine | February 2020

159 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2020 Development Coordinator, Northport has gone through, what he calls, “a kind of renaissance from both a commercial and residential standpoint,” with 700 new, single-family homes built in town since January 2015. “Our residential growth has been very strong,” he reports. “We’ve had a 7.5 percent growth rate since 2010. The residential growth is also starting to spread towards our downtown and riverfront area. We have some high-quality condos and townhomes being built, right now. And the commercial growth has really exploded; 2019 was just unbelievable. The commercial building permit valuation from 2018 totaled a little over $15 million; in 2019, those values totaled over $49 million.” What has helped spur more downtown development is a new streetscape and sidewalk project funded in part with grant money from the State of Alabama, as well as from city coffers. “The streetscape project will enhance the historic downtown area,” says City Council NORTHPORT , ALABAMA Development Coordinator, Max Snyder