Mayday! Mayday! Construction tumbles
The month of May was not only disappointing for people craving a little sun — it was also forgettable for development in the Tournament Capital.
According to the city’s building-permit department, construction activity in Kamloops took a major tumble in May.
The number of single-family permits issued in May reached 14, less than half of the 36 permits issued in May 2010.
That helped drop the overall construction value for the month to $14.9 million from $31 million the previous year.
Even more startling is the decrease in value among residential permits.
The city handed out $8.6-million worth of residential permits last month, compared to $29 million in May 2010.
David Trawin, the director of development and engineering services, couldn’t put his finger on a reason for the slow month, but predicted the city will meet its original targets from the beginning of the year.
“We feel going forward it isn’t that bad. We’re hoping it’s just a glitch,” he said, noting May 2010 was an unusually busy month, while last month was one of slowest in recent years.
In the first five months of 2011, the city has seen $68 million in construction activity, compared to $95 million through the same span last year.
In 2010, the city issued $191-million worth of building permits, but expected that number to drop in 2011 to about $140 million.
Trawin did have some positives to take from May, noting building-information requests, which are made when people are looking to buy a new home, are up from last year.
The city also issued $5.4-million in commercial-building permits for the month, a significant increase from the $1.4 million value in May 2010.
Kamloops has only topped the $200 million in permits once, in 2008, when it doled out $207-million worth of permits, which remains a record.
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