Fort St. John, the northeast B.C. city gearing up for liquefied natural gas export expansion, saw $57.6 million in new building construction in 2019, a 30 per cent jump from values seen in 2018.
The city issued 106 permits by the end of December, with new construction totalling $57.6 million for the year. In 2018, 112 permits were issued worth $44.1 million.
Building numbers were buoyed in 2019 by new commercial and institutional construction, driven in part by the new Canadian Tire and Co-Op developments, as well as the construction of the new Anne Roberts Young Elementary School.
There were 36 commercial building permits issued for the year, valued at $25.5 million. That’s up significantly from 27 permits valued at just $6.4 million in 2018.
As well, seven permits for institutional buildings worth $12.9 million were issued, up from $6.1 million last year, while there were no permits issued for new industrial buildings, down from $8.2 million in 2018.
Overall, new housing starts were down, with permits issued for 48 new homes, down from 58 in 2018.
December construction numbers were lifted by commercial building permits issued for the new Co-Op at 11432 100 Street, valued at $4 million; and for the Francis Work Beaton Building at 10003 110 Avenue, valued at $1.12 million.
