The City of Prince George issued 56 building permits worth a combined $19.24 million in October, down roughly 25 per cent compared to October 2019.
In the first 10 months of the year, the city issued a total of 462 building permits with a combined value of $181 million. That is down from $194 million in permits over the same period last year, according to a report presented to city council on Monday.
"It's promising," Coun. Garth Frizzell said. "This may be down from last year, but given COVID... it's impressive."
Permits for 16 new single-family homes and 30 townhouse units made up $17.8 million of permits issued in October, according to the report. Assorted smaller renovations and additions comprised the remainder of the permits issued last month.
PIPELINE UPGRADE FUELS PERMIT VALUES IN DISTRICT
In the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George, a trio of building permits issued to Enbridge last month for the expansion of its natural gas pipeline through the region had a combined value nearly $28 million, according to a report presented to the district board on Thursday.
The permits were issued for Enbridge's T-South Reliability and Expansion Program on the existing natural gas pipeline between Chetwynd and the U.S. border. The program will see the construction of new, more efficient compressor stations and other upgrades, according to information released by the company. The permits issued by the district last month included works at the Summit Lake and McLeod Lake compressor stations along the pipeline route.
Once complete, the project is expected to increase the pipeline's natural gas capacity by 190 million cubic feet per day. Work on the pipeline is expected to be done late next year.
The district issued a total of $30.75 million in building permits in October – up from $3.68 million in October 2019.
While the total number of building permits issued by the district in the first 10 months of the year were down, compared to 2019, the value of permits issued was more than 2.5 times higher than the previous year.
As of Oct. 31, the regional district had issued 273 permits worth an estimated $71.36 million. By comparison, in the first 10 months of 2019 the district had issued 294 permits worth $27.95 million and 266 permits worth $22.45 million over the same period in 2018.
While residential construction was essentially flat over the three-year period, commercial and industrial permits were up substantially.
By the end of October, the district had issued 13 commercial permits worth a combined $21.87 million, up from 15 permits worth $7.32 million in 2019. The district issued four industrial permits with a combined value of $28.05 million over the same period, compared to three permits worth $795,000 in the first 10 months of 2019.
