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In a lackluster month for building permit activity in the town of Jackson, two commercial development projects stand out.

Town staff in January issued three building permits for projects with a total estimated value of about $617,000, according to the town planning and building department.

The total includes two commercial alterations estimated at $317,000 and one new commercial development estimated at $300,000.

Although fewer permits were issued than in the same month in 2011, their estimated value was greater. In January 2011, the town issued five permits worth $241,000.

The relatively slow month comes after a strong year for building permit activity.

The town in 2011 issued 120 building permits for projects with an estimated value of  $25.2 million. Both figures were much higher than 2010 levels, when the town issued 81 permits worth $8.8 million.

But the positive numbers for 2011 were somewhat misleading. For one, they were being compared with 2010, the year the town issued the fewest permits on record. Also, several large public projects skewed the 2011 totals, and many of the permits were for either small projects or alterations, which accounted for one-third of permits issued.

The town last month approved a $295,000 commercial alteration for part of the work planned at The Point Inn & Suites, which is being converted to a Hampton Inn. The $4.75 million conversion of the 87-room hotel on South Highway 89 is expected to be finished by May and will require additional permits. Among the new design elements is the addition of vertical timber posts to the outside of the building, a new roof, the expansion of the lobby and the conversion of the top of the porte-cochere to a gathering space.

It will be the second time the building — located between Rendezvous Bistro and the Jackson Hole News&Guide — has housed a major hotel chain. The building previously housed a Days Inn.

Along with that permit, the town last month also issued a permit for $300,000 in new commercial development on Pioneer Lane. The applicant was Community Entry Services, a nonprofit organization that provides services for people with developmental disabilities.