A $15 million Potsdam housing project, expansions at two Canton businesses and the new Industrial Development Agency building in Canton were among the major local building projects started in 2012.

The most substantial project in the Village of Potsdam in 2012, according to Code Enforcement Officer Larry Colbert, was the start of the Chason Affinity cottages behind the SUNY Potsdam campus, designed to house 300 students. The project is estimated to cost $15 million.

Also in 2012, the Town of Potsdam built a new town hall on Elm Street in the village, at an estimated cost of $1.7 million. Several major construction and renovation projects at Clarkson University also took place last year.

Russ Lawrence, code enforcement officer for the town and village of Canton, said the three largest commercial building programs in the town in 2012 were all additions or renovations. They were at the growing Frazer Computing on U.S. Rt. 11, a project estimated at $400,000; at St. Lawrence University’s Kennedy Farm, costing an estimated $250,000; and at farm equipment dealer LeBerge and Curtis.

The largest project in the Village of Canton in 2012 was the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency’s building in the new commerce park at 19 Commerce Lane, Lawrence said. The building’s estimated cost was $1.87 million.

In Potsdam, Town Code Enforcement Officer James Plumley noted that the vast majority of building permits in 2012 were issued for improvements to residential properties, such as garages, decks, and storage buildings, along with maintenance projects like roofing, siding, and septic system work.

In the Village of Potsdam, Colbert reported 215 building permits were issued in 2011 covering $14,642,214 in estimated project costs and generating $91,657 in permit fees. Clarkson University accounted for about 10 of those permits and the lion’s share of estimated building costs in 2011, a total of $9,976,595. Canton-Potsdam Hospital’s Lawrence Avenue building renovation had an estimated cost of $218,000.

In 2012 in the village, Potsdam issued 196 permits for projects with a total estimated building cost of $21,801,446.21. Additions, alterations and repairs to existing dwellings accounted for 101 of those permits; 47 for work on commercial buildings including those at Clarkson University, and 48 for things such as swimming pools, sheds and decks. Fees collected amounted to $114,846.80.