We may have only finished two months of 2020, but it’s already shaping up to be a fourth straight year of record building activity in Kamloops.
The monthly report shows that there has already been $29,743,020 in permit values issued compared with about $15,926,495 at the same time last year.
Speaking on The Jeff Andreas Show, Building and Engineering Development Manager Jason Dixon says he doesn’t usually read too much into the statistics this time of year. “Weather plays a big part of it. February, last year if you remember, it was bitterly cold and things were quite a bit slower. This year it has a been a little milder relatively speaking and we’ve already seen, definitely an increase in activity with spring on its way.”
Dixon says it helps to have major projects on the books. “Up til now I’ve been hesitant to predict a record year after [record] year. But, this year, considering some things that are in the works, in particular the patient care tower project at Royal Inland Hospital and some permits we expect see this year. There’s some huge construction value there. So, I actually do expect to break the record yet again.”
Dixon says there is one industrial permit that was issued in February at $1.9 million. “That just one permit is for a commercial-industrial laundry facility out in Dallas. It just happens to be that permit came in over the winter and happened to be picked up and processed in February. But it is a substantial project.”
When it comes to residential building Dixon says it has seen a big shift towards multi-family and those more compact housing types over the few years and looking ahead we see that happening more. “But, when I look at the applications to date this year, we’ve had 13 permits out the door for single family dwelling. So it shows that there’s strength across that housing continuum so that it is not all focused in one sector. So it seems to be providing housing for people of all different income levels, all different needs and wants and I think that’s a sign of real strength and stability is that the whole residential market across the whole spectrum is strong.”
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