Central Alberta’s construction sector hasn’t reached the lofty heights it was enjoying five years ago. But if you take a shorter-term perspective on building activity in the region, things are looking pretty darn good.
The two cities and 16 towns that make up most of Central Alberta combined to issue building permits for $405.8 million worth of work last year. Not only did that reverse a three-year decline in construction values for the area, it did so decisively — beating the 2010 permit value total of $344.5 million by 18 per cent. It also topped the 2009 tally of $388.6 million, but was well behind the 2008 figure of $558 million and the record $921.4 million generated in 2007.
The commercial-industrial category posted the biggest jump last year, surging 58 per cent to $141.9 million from $89.6 million. Permits for residential projects were up by seven per cent, to $215 million from $200.1 million.
The value of permits issued for institutional work dropped by 11 per cent, to $47.5 million from $53.7 million.
Red Deer led the region, with $169.7 million worth of work approved. That was a 47 per cent improvement over the $115.2 million in permits issued during 2010.
Commercial permit values jumped to $54.2 million from $23.4 million; industrial projects were up to $21.5 million from $9.8 million; permits in the public category climbed to $20.3 million from $12.1 million; and residential work was up to $73.8 million from $68.3 million.
Some of the bigger approvals issued last year included the addition to the cancer centre at the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre, the Elements@Rivers Edge residential and commercial complex, renovations to the south Red Deer Walmart store, Skyway Professional Centre and renovations to Real Canadian Superstore.
As of May 31, the value of permits issued by the City of Red Deer this year was almost double the total to the same point a year ago. Contributing to the five month tally of $106.1 million, up from $55.4 million, were permits for Covenant Health’s continuing care facility in Clearview Ridge and Piper Creek Foundation’s new seniors facility, as well as other approvals for multi-family projects, the Red Deer Curling Club renovations and major commercial and industrial projects.
The Town of Sylvan Lake produced $39.6 million worth of permits last year, which was down 16 per cent from $47.4 million in 2010.
“Primarily, most of our money came from residential,” said Tim Schmidt, the town’s director of planning and development.
In fact, residential permits accounted for $31.2 million of last year’s total, as compared with $22.1 million the previous year. Commercial and industrial values were both down sharply.
Schmidt said residential development remains strong so far this year, with small single-family homes and townhouses proving popular. Cumulative permit values in this category are about double what they were a year ago, he noted.
Commercial and industrial should also be up this year, said Schmidt.
“We’re seeing a little bit of an upswing in the economy.”
Meanwhile, Sylvan Lake’s institutional construction values are getting a big boost this year with approximately $7 million for the new town office, with an urgent care facility a possibility for the future.
The Town of Olds enjoyed a 21 per cent jump in permit values in 2011, helped by strong residential growth and a couple of big institutional projects: a new fire hall and Pomeroy Inn & Suites at Olds College.
Larry Wright, director of operational services for the town, listed an impressive collection of major projects currently taking place in Olds. In addition to residential, commercial and industrial work, there’s a 104-unit seniors complex being developed by Vantage West Development Corp.
“That’s about a $10 million project,” said Wright, who expects development in Olds this year to far exceed the 2010 total.
“We may, by mid-July, surpass our stats from last year.”
At Blackfalds, 2011 building permit values reached $33.7 million — 17 per cent higher than the $28.9 million in work approved the preceding year. The numbers were up in every category except institutional, which was inflated in 2010 by the town’s new protective services building.
Development manager Terry Topolnitsky said a lot of single-family homes went up in the community, with a couple major industrial and commercial projects adding to the total as well. He expects the 2012 figures to come in even higher.
For instance, as of the end of May, the town had issued permits for 96 single-family homes, as compared with 32 a year earlier. Meanwhile, commercial permits were up to $6.9 million — already $3 million more than for all of 2010, and industrial permits were in excess of $2 million.
“We’re going great guns there,” said Topolnitsky.
The City of Lacombe finished 2011 with $31.6 million in building permits, down from $33.8 million the previous year. A bright spot was the city’s commercial/industrial category, which improved by more than $3 million.
Jeff Laurien, Lacombe’s manager of planning and development, said activity in his office is so far comparable to 2011, but he’s optimistic about the remainder of this year.
“I’ve had a number of people coming into my office and talking about potential projects, so I believe in the later months of 2012 we’re going to see it pick up considerably.”
Perhaps most promising is Wolf Creek Crossing, a sprawling development on the east side of Lacombe that will consist of commercial, light industrial and residential land.
“They should be able to break ground officially, for their potential builders, hopefully by the end of this summer,” said Laurien.
“It’s a very big project.”
In the eastern part of Central Alberta, Stettler more than doubled its building permit total in 2011, jumping to $16.1 million from $6.9 million.
Leann Graham, the town’s planning and development officer, said a handful of big projects provided multimillion-dollar boosts to the industrial and commercial totals. These included ATCO Electric’s new service centre and Future Ag’s new shop and sales centre.
And Stettler’s 2012 permit tally received an $8.7-million shot in the form of Points West Living’s new 88-unit seniors complex. Plus, added Graham, Red Deer Co-op is building a $1.4-million gas station and convenience store.
The Town of Innisfail approved $15.2 million in construction last year, which represented a 47 per cent spike over the 2010 figure of $10.3 million.
A new fire hall and public works shop, as well as renovations to the hospital and RCMP building, combined to add $5.6 million in the institutional category, said development officer Elwin Wiens. Although residential construction remained relatively low, he expects it to be much stronger in 2012.
“We’ve doubled our residential, from last year to this point.”
Wiens added that Innisfail had already accumulated about $1.5 million in industrial permits to the end of May, with commercial also tracking ahead of last year’s pace.
Ponoka’s permit values in 2011 were about the same as the preceding year. But the 2010 total was inflated by $7.9 million in institutional work — mainly modernization of Ponoka Composite High School and expansion of the Ponoka Complex. Otherwise, the numbers were up strongly in the residential, commercial and industrial categories last year.
Betty Jurykoski, Ponoka’s development officer, said residential construction is looking strong for 2012.
Among the other towns in Central Alberta, Sundre nearly tripled its permit values, to $9.7 million from $3.4 million, thanks to $8.3 million in the commercial/industrial category; Bashaw was up sharply to $8.1 million from $2 million, with a 63-unit assisted living facility making up $7.5 million of this; and Rocky Mountain House tumbled to $7.4 million from $26.5 million, although its 2010 permits included $11.5 million for the Westview Lodge seniors complex and $6 million for the Rocky Mountain House Co-op gas bar.
hrichards@www.reddeeradvocate.com