Construction values over the last year in Cranbrook soared to $93 million, according to a report on quarterly and year-end numbers from city staff that was presented during Monday’s city council meeting.
It’s a significant increase from last year’s total of $46 million, as a number of projects have pushed the values up, such as the new Broadstreet Properties apartment development on Innes Ave, Legacy Lookout development in Wildstone, the Kootenay Street Village seniors facility from Golden Life Management and others.
Based on the 4th quarter (Q4) breakdowns, residential multi-family took the top value at $25 million, followed by residential at $7 million, while institutional and government each had values of $1.8 million.
Cranbrook mayor Lee Pratt lauded the numbers, linking the $93 million construction values to local job creation, economic activity and growth.
“This did not happen overnight,” Pratt said. “This has been five years in the making, and if you want people to invest in your community, you want to see the city is investing in itself and it’s future also. And over the last five years, we’ve certainly done that.
“We’ve spent a lot of money on our infrastructure, roads, watermains, sewer lines, and we have a plan of attack to continue that and people recognize that, and that’s part of the reason we’re seeing this growth.”
In total, 253 building permits were issued in 2020, according to the city.
The city report also noted 18 permits for suites in single family duellings for Q4, with 51 over the course of the year. A further 316 units were reported for medium multi-family developments that include the Innes Ave project and a BC Housing project near Laurie Middle School.
Pratt also teased that more developments will be coming online in the coming months.
“Right now, coming into 2021, we’ve got many projects already on the board or in the early stages of planning which is going to result in some more big numbers and building permits, so I just wanted to make a point of people realizing it’s not just a number.”
trevor.crawley@cranbrooktownsman.com
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