Barrie’s roller-coaster 2020 construction year is now in the rear-view mirror.
Figures released by the city show building permits worth $37.3 million were issued in December, and construction activity was worth $501 million for all of 2020.
That compares with $256 million in 2019, although the number of building permits issued was nearly the same — 1,647 in 2020, and 1,645 in 2019.
“The number of permits is probably the best indicator of how busy we are,” Michael Janotta, Barrie’s chief building official, told BarrieToday. “That ($256 million in 2019) suggests to me that we did a lot more smaller projects.
"The variability in the construction value isn’t necessarily an indicator of how busy we are," he added.
About 83 per cent of 2020’s construction value was for residential building, and the bulk of that was houses, townhouses and semi-detached homes, Janotta said.
Construction in Barrie had as many ups as downs last year.
It began with permits issued for $56.3-million worth of construction in January, plunged to $8.3 million in February, then was $15.9 million and $12.8 million in March and April respectively, climbed to $57.4 million in May, then dipped to $45.9 million in June, dropped to $14.4 million in July, jumped to $46.6 million in August, soared to $94.4 million in September, fell to $79.2 million in October, dropped to $29.9 million in November and levelled off at $37.3 million in December.
The COVID-19 pandemic declared in March 2020 didn’t seem to impede construction in Barrie.
“In terms of the effect of the pandemic... it really didn’t slow us down,” Janotta said. “When it started, everyone was unsure how we were going to operate.”
Major projects building permits issued for December begin with a new residential highrise at 233 Dunlop St. W., worth $20 million, by MDM Developments.
This property was redesignated and rezoned in 2019 to permit the development of an eight-storey, mixed-use building with 93 residential units and ground-floor commercial space on the south side of Dunlop Street West, east of Boys Street, and south and west of Frances Street South.
This development is to include private balconies and rooftop terraces, with exterior surface parking at the rear of the site.
Environmentally protected land on the site’s southern portion will be dedicated to the city and form part of Audrey Milligan Park.
Next is 571 Bayfield St., with $850,000 worth of alterations and repairs to a general commercial building, followed by $515,000 in alterations and repair to 73 Morrow Rd., a general industrial building (Canada Post Office). Then there's $17,000 worth of repairs and alterations to 21 Kempenfelt Dr., a residential low-rise building (Portage Place).
The residential sector had the most building permits issued in December, with, aside from MDM, almost $6.4 million worth of ground-related (residential buildings one to four storeys in height) building permits issued, and $748,000 for second suites.
The city defines a second suite as a standalone unit with a kitchen and a bathroom within the primary structure on a property; it’s typically found in the basement of a house, often used as a rental property and must be registered with the city.
Janotta is expecting 2021 to be another good construction year in Barrie.
“As a conservative estimate, we’re anticipating construction values to be about the same, but it may be higher,” he said. "I think there’s a little bit of pent-up demand in terms of new development, because the City of Barrie has two secondary plans coming on line in the south end of Barrie and as that servicing gets done and those new plans become registered, we’re going to see lot of that development occurring.”
Janotta also said to expect continued, significant development in downtown Barrie.
