City of San Bernardino issues record number of building permits in 2022

California Construction News staff writer

The City of San Bernardino issued 6,093 building permits in 2022, more than any other recent year – an increase of 42.6% over 2021 when 4,270 permits were issued.

“These numbers show that people are investing in San Bernardino,” said Mayor Helen Tran. “There is a great deal of opportunity here and I am glad to see people are taking advantage of it.”

The valuation of permits issued also jumped significantly to $363,841,706, an increase of 57% over 2021, or a gain of more than $132 million in investment. Officials also noted that building permit amounts do not reflect total project costs because property acquisition costs, architecture services and government projects are not included in the total.

“I expect these numbers to increase further in 2023 despite the national economic headwinds,” said Nathan Freeman, community, housing, and economic development agency director. “We have a number of large projects in the queue and our phone continues to ring with developer interest.”

The increase in permitted activity will be reflected in an increase of local construction jobs, to be followed by new housing, new shopping options, permanent jobs, local sales tax revenue, and property tax revenue.

Also, San Bernardino is in the process of launching a One Stop Shop to speed up the development process.

“This is reinventing our customer service approach to serving residents, contractors, investors, and developers through the entitlement and permitting process, making it easier to get projects done,” Freeman said.