Building permit values, considered to be a strong indicator of future construction, continue to lag behind last year’s figures in Red Deer.
The city announced on Wednesday that it approved $15.1 million worth of work in August, down from $19.0 million for the same period in 2013.
Residential projects accounted for $9.0 million of last month’s total, virtually unchanged from one year earlier. Industrial permits added $3.5 million, as compared with $8.2 million in August 2013; and commercial construction contributed $2.6 million, up from $468,000 one year ago. Permits for public projects accounted for $5,000 of the August 2014 tally, down from $1.4 million.
Among the bigger permits issued last month was one valued at $5 million for a new apartment building being constructed at 31A Timberstone Way by Laebon Developments Inc.
During the first eight months of 2014, the combined value of building permits approved by the City of Red Deer was $114.9 million, which represented a 32 per cent drop from the $169.0 million worth of permits issued from January to August in 2013. While the value of residential construction approved increased to $77.6 million from $71.4 million, the year-to-date tallies were down in every other category. Commercial permit values fell to $13.3 million from $41.7 million, industrial permits slipped to $23.5 million from $39.8 million, and the value of approvals for public projects was down to $560,000 from $36.0 million.
However, Erin Stuart, a development and licensing supervisor with the city, said there appears to be a large volume of construction projects on the horizon.
“We continue to see positive signs of growth, with the value of building permits in-process increasing to over $125 million from the $80 million reported in June,” she said.