Lawton’s September building permit report came in at almost $44.3 million, and two commercial projects tied to FISTA’s Project New Heights account for $40 million of that. Both are connected to Leidos, a Fortune 500 defense and technology company. One will remodel about 100,000 square feet of the former Dillard’s at Central Plaza and add a 100,000-square-foot building in the parking lot, creating the Lawton Prototype Integration Facility. The other is a 100,000-square-foot depot maintenance facility in the Airport Industrial Park, south of Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport.
The residential side of the report shows steady growth too. Permits totaled just over $3 million, including a $236,736 duplex and seven single-family homes valued at $2.2 million combined. That mix matters in a military town where finding a place to live near post is always a conversation.
Smaller commercial permits rounded out the month, including $800,000 for a SkyDance Brewing brewery, restaurant and bar at the Apache Casino Hotel and $175,000 for a CSN warehouse remodel. Taken together, the report shows defense investment, housing, and small business all moving at once. What would you like to see come to Lawton next?
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Local Lawton
Local Lawton is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.