HENDERSON, Ky. – We’ve known for months that that the Pratt Paper Kentucky complex being built just south of Henderson would be big.

Now, we’re getting a sense of just how big the industrial complex — which Gov. Andy Beshear last year said “is the largest jobs announcement, we believe, in Western Kentucky in 25 years” — will be.

 On behalf of Pratt, the City of Henderson last month secured a building permit valued at a whopping $125 million — perhaps the biggest ever issued here, not adjusted for inflation — for a paper mill covering 372,000 square feet. The mill will recycle used corrugated containers and other materials to make paper for new corrugated boxes.

More:How did Henderson land Pratt Paper LLC's $400M plant that will employ 321 people by 2026?

The city obtained the building permit because the Pratt complex is being financed through an industrial revenue bond, and the city owns the 200-acre plant site on the Kentucky 425/South Bypass.

Pratt General Manager Ed Kersey told the Henderson Lions Club last week that the company’s investment in the industrial complex, originally put at $400 million, is now expected to total at least $500 million.

The complex will employ 325 people in what he called “good paying” jobs when it is operational.

The construction will require 72,000 cubic yards of concrete — so much that it is taking two local concrete companies to supply it all — as the mill requires foundations 15-feet deep and more than 3,000 40-foot pilings to support the structure and its machinery.

Dirt work has been taking place for weeks. Now, Kersey said, “We’re starting to go vertical” as above-ground construction begins.

A second permit will be secured later for the second part of the Pratt complex, a corrugated box manufacturing plant that will use paper from the recycling mill to produce boxes for customers such as Home Depot, Procter & Gamble, Amazon and Domino’s Pizza. Combined, the recycling mill and box plant will encompass some 1 million square feet.

Kersey, who has overseen construction of all six of Pratt’s U.S. paper mills during his 30-plus-year career with the company, spoke highly of Henderson’s business-friendly environment.

“This town has been very welcoming to us,” he said. “There’s been zero negative impact. You can’t say that about every place. Henderson has been without doubt far better than any other (place where Pratt has constructed a) facility.”

More:Groundbreaking set for $400 million Pratt Paper plant in Henderson, Kentucky

And he noted that the Pratt Paper operation will employ people here for generations.

“This plant will not be here for five years,” Kersey said. “It will be here at least 100 years.”

Other notable city commercial permits issued last month included:

Meanwhile, new home construction stirred to life a bit last month.

The city codes office issued permits for three new homes with an average construction value of just over $200,000, the first such permits of 2022 issued by the city.

One $278,000 permit for a new home issued by the county codes office brought the April total to four housing starts, compared with six in April 2021.

So far this year, the city and county have issued permits for eight new single-family residences, compared with 21 housing starts during the first four months of 2021.

The giant permit issued for the Pratt project naturally inflated the total value of all building permits so far this year, to $149.5 million. Excluding the Pratt project, permits this year have totaled $24.5 million, compared with $10.3 million during the first four months of 2021.

Here are listings of the permits issued here last month:

Commercial range hood: Allgood Offill Co., 1698 Second St., $18,000.

Commercial accessory: Royster Real Estate LLC, 2107 Airline Road, $200,000.

Commercial addition: Clashem Properties LLC, 509 Barret Blvd., $45,000.

Commercial new construction: City of Henderson, 6303 Kentucky 425, $125 million.

Commercial remodel: Community United Methodist Hospital Inc., 1305 N. Elm, $1.9 million; and 42420H LLC, 212 N. Main St., $200,000.

Demolition, commercial: The Imperial Group LLC, 110 Third St., $280,000.

Demolition, single-family residence: Natasha Burnside, 850 Kentucky 2084-South, $8,320.

Manufactured home, new: Larry Joe Floyd, 26 Kennedy Circle, n/a.

Single-family residential accessory: Benjamin D. & Melissa D. Cleveland, 589 Mallard Lane, $30,000; Timothy & Naomi Rice, 913 Constanza Ct., $4,500; and Roberta & Connie Alexander, 897 Beechwood, $7,500.

Single-family residential addition: Habitat for Humanity of Henderson, Ky., 1412 Washington St., $41,000; and Douglas & Stacey Lawson, 607 N. Main St., $1,800.

New single-family residences: HCM LLC, 1430 Arrow Way, $165,000; Leslie Brown, 452 S. Adams St., $186,000; and Monty E. & Lisa Sandefur, 3105 Copper Creek Dr., $250,000.

Single-family residential remodel: Holly Butler, 202 S. Adams St., $12,000.

Sign: DSS Contracting LLC, 1631 S. Green St., $2,000.

New single-family residence: Brad & Krystal Duncan, 10370 Bellfield Baptist Church Road, $278,000.

Commercial: SBA Communications, 2250 S Green St., $24,000; and American Tower Corp., 1682 Kentucky 416-East, $35,000.

Raze and remove: Misty Howell, 6674 Cairo Liles Road, $10,000.

Garage/utility: Michael Roof, 16131 Middle Delaware Rd, $10,000.

Miscellaneous: Joseph K Hite, 5442 Kentucky 1078, $40,000.