Building activity looking up in 2014

VERNON – Building activity appears to be inching toward a comeback in the Vernon area.

City planning director Kim Flick says things are looking up so far in 2014 following the worst year for building permit values in almost a decade.

In 2013, the city gave out around $50 million worth of building permits. In 2008 and 2009, yearly values were triple that, hovering around $168 million.

“We had cautiously predicted a slow year and it was even less than we had predicted,” Flick says.

The city claims one per cent of the building permit value, so revenue for the city took a hit as well. 

This January, the city issued $3.4 million worth of building permits, up considerably from the same time last year, at $1.3 million.

“We’re off to a good start,” Flick says.

Development patterns seem to be shifting. Last year was a record low for commercial development, with barely over $2 million in permits issued. Instead, more people were putting money into internal commercial renovations, which grew by over $900,000. 

Multi-family housing starts dwindled by almost half in 2013 over 2012, down to $4,196,513 from $8,124,310. Meanwhile, permits for single family dwellings grew by over $2 million.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca or call 250-309-5230.