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Building permits show brisk activity

Building activity in St. Albert has been brisk so far this year with single-family homes leading the way, according to the latest statistics from city hall.

Building activity in St. Albert has been brisk so far this year with single-family homes leading the way, according to the latest statistics from city hall.

The city issued building permits for 56 single-family homes in the first three months of 2010, an increase of 167 per cent over the first quarter of 2009.

“What I’m hearing and seeing is that the builders that we deal with are all very positive and upbeat,” said Jim Pennell, senior development manager with Genstar, a developer with land in St. Albert.

The recession caused by the global financial crisis brought housing starts to a near standstill in 2008 and into 2009, but the local market started to pick up in the spring of last year. Recent activity is soundly outpacing anything seen last year.

“We’re confident that we’re going to see a continuation of where things have been at,” Pennell said.

He’s detected a shift in the housing market since the heights of 2007. House prices have come down to the point that many entry-level buyers can afford a single-family home rather than starting off with a condominium.

“I think that’s taken the wind out of the sail for the higher density projects,” Pennell said. “There’s lots of serviced land around but I think the demand has shifted back toward more of a single-family type of accommodation.”

So far in 2010, St. Albert has issued only two building permits for semi-detached housing and none for other townhouse and condominium developments.

Bruce Randall, the city’s manager of business development, thinks some of the demand for single-family housing is coming from people who may have been ready to buy a year or two ago but were lacking confidence because of the economy.

“I think there’s possibly some pent-up demand for part of the market that’s in good financial shape,” Randall said.

Commercial values up

The value of commercial and commercial-industrial development in St. Albert has quadrupled this year compared to the first quarter of 2009.

A year ago commercial development was at a standstill, but over the last month Randall has been hearing more optimism in the business community.

“We’re starting to see some turnaround,” he said.

All the activity in the commercial sector so far this year has been for alterations rather than new construction. There have been 13 projects worth a total of $2.6 million. The bulk of this total is the $2 million renovation to the St. Albert Curling Club.

Randall is projecting that the city will reach $10 million worth of commercial projects this year, which would be on par with 2009. He thinks the $20 million range is possible for commercial-industrial, which would be just half of 2009.

More than half last year’s $41.5 million total was attributed to the Enjoy Centre being built by Hole’s Greenhouses & Gardens.

There have been two new commercial-industrial projects started this quarter. Both are in Campbell Business Park and both are being built by Johnston Builders, another Campbell business.

“What’s happened for us is that the lots in Campbell Park seem to be attractive for a certain size of business that we build for and we’re located in Campbell Park so we were kind of the obvious choice,” said company president Don Johnston.

“We’re expecting a great year, not a record year but close to it.”

Though his business didn’t slow down throughout the downturn, he’s sensed a change in mood among the overall business community.

“It did seem like the real optimism shift was the new year,” Johnston said.

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