Construction activity is red hot right now in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District.
In April alone, the TNRD approved $17.7 million in building permits, and the construction value for the first four months of the year was $35.3 million.
Chief building inspector Tony Bolton explains what is driving some of the construction activity.
“It has to do with Trans Mountain permits coming in, in fairly good-sized packages… The first wave just came this week for the permanent structures. They are expensive buildings, according to the construction value they’re indicating for each building. And it’s not all about the building itself; I guess it’s the overall amount of equipment contained within pump houses and pump stations, and the like,” Bolton says.
“Between that activity, and the increased interest in Tobiano. I think we have 60 to 70 single-family dwellings proposed for Tobiano for this building season.”
Construction values for the year in the TNRD are almost double what they were at this point last year. On April 30, 2020, the building permit value for the year was $18.3 million.
Bolton says the early days of the pandemic last spring did not lead to a significant in construction activity.
“There were a lot of projects that had momentum already, and they were continuing on. What I was surprised about later on was that new money was coming in. And I think that’s borne out by how real estate looks these days, with high demand. The builders have taken a green light on new projects conceived after COVID started.”
Last month, of the 56 building permits approved in the TNRD, 23 permits were in Area N, south of Merritt, worth a combined $8.4 million. Those are connected to Trans Mountain construction. Meanwhile, at Tobiano, permits were approved for five new homes, worth $2 million.
Another significant factor for last month’s construction in the TNRD was a new gas station and convenience store in Clearwater. That permit was worth $2 million.
Building officials in the regional district cover the 10 electoral areas and the seven smallest municipalities, which are Ashcroft, Cache Creek, Clinton, Lytton, Chase, Logan Lake and Clearwater.
