For the third month out of the last three, the value of residential building permits issued by the City of Red Deer has exceeded the total for the corresponding month in 2008. The city’s Inspections and Licensing Department reported on Thursday that it authorized $9.7 million worth of residential construction in September, up from $8.1 million a year earlier. However, the $12.2 million in permits issued for all types of building last month was only about a third of the September 2008 total of $35.5 million. A big reason for the difference was the value of public projects approved last month: $1.4 million, as compared with $23.1 million in September 2008. Last year’s number included $23 million for the new RCMP detachment building.
Commercial permits last month accounted for $472,000 in work, down from $3.5 million a year earlier. The 2008 figure was inflated by a $2.9-million permit for Westerner Park’s new administration building.
Industrial construction approvals added $657,000 to the September 2009 tally. Last year, the figure in this category was $770,000. Among the bigger permits issued last month was one for renovations to Red Deer College’s Cornerstone Kitchen. It was valued at $1.4 million. So far this year, the city has approved $105.9 million worth of construction work, including $57.3 million in the residential category. In 2008, the tally to the end of September was $221.3 million, with $84.2 million of this from residential work.