Slow and steady is the trend for nonresidential development in Livingston County according to a recent report.

The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, or SEMCOG, released their Quick Facts report outlining developments not aimed as being housing options last week. SEMCOG compiles information given to them from 232 governments in 7 counties including Livingston County for this report.

SEMCOG Planner Janet Mocadlo took some solace in the fact that while development isn’t booming, it’s trending the right way. She said we have been seeing a steady increase in nonresidential development floor space since 2009 when the recession hit hardest. However, she suggests we aren’t recovering as quickly as we did from previous recessions in the 1980’s and 1990’s.

Livingston County leads the region SEMCOG is reporting in with medical developments. Of the 1.3 million square feet of floor space this recording year, 30% is being used to build medical facilities. The largest project is University of Michigan Brighton Health Center which measures in at 320,000 square feet. One of the other larger projects in the county is the St. John Providence Medical Center on Latson Road in Genoa Township. Preliminary 2017 construction data suggests that this upward trend will continue into next year. (MK)