Moncton Sets Another Record For Construction Permits in 2017

Huddle.today
Jan. 15, 2018
Inda Intiar

The Hub City saw the annual value of construction permits soar to $243.4 million in 2017, breaking 2016’s record high figure by $1.7 million.

None of this gain came from work on the new downtown centre because those permits were all included in the 2016 numbers. It was driven largely by private sector projects.

“Moncton has sustained positive economic growth over a long period of time – 20-to-25 years,” said director of economic development Kevin Silliker said in an interview with Huddle. “I think that the private sector continues to see that and continues to see Moncton move in that direction. So I think that’s probably one of the big factors.”

Commercial and industrial projects were worth $99 million, or 41 per cent, of the total value. The city said in a release that although this is lower than 2016’s $162 million, it beat that year’s value by nearly $30 million when permits for the downtown Events Centre aren’t factored in.

Organigram’s $26.5 million facility expansion, a new $11.5-million cold storage facility, a new $10.5-million hotel off Mapleton Road and a $7.9-million precision medicine lab on Providence street drove that increase.

“We are very pleased with the strong and consistent level of growth that we are seeing,” Mayor Dawn Arnold said in a release. “The private sector continues to show tremendous confidence in Moncton, and we are working to keep this positive momentum going.”

Institutional permits made up 32 per cent, or $76.9 million, of the total, more than three times above the 2016 value of $17.5 million. Large projects driving that increase included $51.8-million from the new surgical suites at the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre, a $6.3-million renovation of the Federal building at 1081 Main St., and a $5.2-million renovation at Harrison Trimble High School.

Residential development made up the remaining 26 per cent of the total value at $62.7 million, $4.3 million more than the previous year. Key projects included the $21.9-million 55 Queen St. condo development, which will also host a Gahan House Restaurant and Brewery, 57 single unit homes worth $10.3 million, 92 duplex units valued at $10 million, and four apartment buildings containing 191 units worth $14.7 million.

Siliker believes that although there’s no guarantee the city would break its record again in 2018, it has the right recipe to continue at this pace.

“We have every reason to believe that we can sustain the pace that we’re at right now. Moncton is hungry for business. It’s very active in trying to generate demand and generate opportunities in our community,” he said.

“Certainly this has been a very high level of investments, a record high for our community, so that’s extremely exciting. But will we top that in 2018? There’s always cycles. But the last couple of years we’ve positioned ourselves well for more growth. With the events centre opening, I think that’s a big opportunity for us that we want to leverage,” he said.

A number of large projects are expected to break ground in 2018. These include The Junction Urban Village at Main Street and Vaughan Harvey Boulevard, and the Hyatt Hotel near the downtown Events Centre.