By

• Scott Turner | sturner@al.com
• Artist rendering of parking deck at Huntsville International Airport.KPS Group

New construction topped $1.17 billion through the first three quarters of the year in Madison County, according to building permits pulled by reportconstruction.com.

Homebuilders account for most of the top contractors in the first six months of the year. Through Sept. 30:

• Madison County issued 2,342 permits totaling $583.9 million.
• Huntsville issued 1,568 permits totaling $458.1 million.
• Madison issued 349 permits totaling $135.7 million.

Here are the top builders and what they’ve been working on this year:

Lennar Homes

Lennar Homes of Alabama is the top builder so far this year. It has been issued 527 permits totaling $90.4 million. Lennar Homes is a homebuilder for the Clift Farm development bordering north Madison off U.S. 72.

It has also constructed other homes in Madison and the Retreat subdivision in Meridianville.

Most of the homes listed on the Lennar website are in the $200,000-$400,000 price range.

Davidson Homes

Davidson Homes was issued 291 permits totaling $75.6 million. Davidson Homes is building homes in Huntsville, Madison, north Madison County, Decatur, Athens, Toney, Hartselle and Harvest.

It advertises homes starting in the $250,000 to $500,000 range.

Robins & Morton Group

Robins & Morton was the top builder in the Huntsville area last year and is the top commercial builder so far this year. It has been issued seven permits totaling $75.6 million.

The firm is working on the most expensive project, the $57 million parking deck at Huntsville International Airport. It was issued a permit totaling $45.9 million for the project in July.

The project at the airport will add 1,415 spaces to the parking deck, increasing capacity by about 60% to more than 3,800 spaces.

The extra spaces are needed to keep up with the growth at the airport, which has had three consecutive years of record travel.

The addition is being built west of the existing parking deck and will take about two years to complete,

Two permits issued to Robins & Morton were for projects at 8100 Rideout Road totaling more than $20 million. The permits were issued to Will Crosby with Corporate Office Properties Trust Defense Properties.

The COPT website lists the building as a highly visible, multi-story office space.

A spokesperson for Robins & Morton said the projects are an interior tenant buildout.

The firm was also issued a permit for an alteration at the Blue Origin rocket engine facility at 646 James Record Road.

Robins & Morton recently completed two other projects at the Redstone Gateway and is involved with several projects at Huntsville International Airport and Huntsville Hospital.

DR Horton

Homebuilder DR Horton has been issued 272 permits totaling $53.7 million. It is the builder for Greenbrier Preserve not far from Interstate 565 and major Huntsville employers in the Limestone County portion of Huntsville. It is also constructing homes in north Huntsville, north Madison County, Athens, Madison and the Owens Cross Roads area. It advertises homes in the $200,000-$350,000 price range.

Woodland Homes

Woodland Homes was issued 74 permits totaling $50.3 million. Woodland Homes’ website advertises 15 new home communities, including in Madison, Meridianville, New Market and Owens Cross Roads. Most of the homes on the website advertise for more than $400,000.

Valor Communities

Homebuilder Valor Communities was issued 142 permits totaling $39.6 million Its website lists homes in Huntsville, Madison, Hazel Green, Meridianville, Harvest, Toney, east Limestone and Tanner. Homes list from $220,000 to $450,000 on the website.

Breland Homes

Breland Homes has been issued 187 permits totaling $36.3 million. Breland is the developer for Town Madison and Clift Farm.

Not included in the totals are projects that are ongoing that were started before the beginning of the year.

Fite Building Company

Fite Building Company of Decatur was issued 13 permits totaling $26.2 million. It is working on a $14 million building at 515 Meridian Street N.W. that will be the headquarters for ServisFirst Bank. ServisFirst currently lists locations at 401 Meridian Street in downtown and 1267 Enterprise Way in Cummings Research Park.

Fite is also working on a $1.6 million building at 505 Memorial Parkway. The permit was issued to Nathan Wolde, owner of Wolde Flooring.

Fite Building Company is also working on the Big Spring East Expansion for the city of Huntsville and is involved in building the second phase of the Stadium Commons development near Joe Davis Stadium.