Near-record year for Penticton construction sector

Photo: Colin Dacre file photo

In what was expected to be a slow year for construction for Penticton, 2019 will go down as one of the busiest-ever for builders and the trades. 

City of Penticton planning manager Blake Laven told council Tuesday he expects they will end the year with $185 million worth of approved building permits. 

That’s just short of record-breaking years in 2016 and 2017 when $197 million worth of construction was approved during the Penticton Regional Hospital expansion. 

If the PRH building permits were taken out of the equation, 2019 would be the busiest year ever.

“I’d argue that the culture of investment that has been cultivated over the past few years has really continued to show positive results,” Laven said.

The strong building permit numbers have been boosted by several large commercial investments, like the $3.5-million Neighbourhood Brewing, $1.1-million renovation to the Cherry Lane Mall food courts and a $6-million renovation to the Valley First building. 

“We anticipate this trend to continue into 2020, with several projects already working through the planning stage and zoning process,” Laven said.

Construction of single-family homes has slowed somewhat, with just 38 new starts so far compared to 98 last year. Laven said that dip can be attributed to some oversupply in previous years. 

Looking at multi-family units, the city has approved 264 units this year.

The City of Penticton has approved 2,051 housing units since 2014, with multi-family units making up 77 per cent of that.