Construction in Coquitlam continues to move at a breakneck pace, with the city collecting one of the largest totals of development cost charges (DCC) in its history last year.
While the record is still 2013, when DCC revenue hit $19.8 million, 2015 was not far behind at $17 million.
Last year’s figures were up 55% from 2014, when $11 million was collected.
Jim McIntyre, the city’s manager of planning and development, said the money is allocated for utilities, transportation and park infrastructure required to accommodate the new developments.
“It is not like a chest full of money that we can have a party with,” he told The Tri-City News. “It is collected for specific purposes.”
But McIntyre added that the high rate of DCC revenue shows the high level of construction activity currently taking place in the city.
And while the amount of money collected so far in 2016 is significantly lower than this time in 2015, he said it is difficult to predict the final total because the funds are not always collected evenly throughout the year.
Forecasting the overall rate of development is not an easy task either, he said.
His department has received applications and preliminary inquiries for upwards of 30 new residential apartment towers in a city that has approved 20 in the last decade, although he noted that inquiries do not always lead to shovels in the ground.
“Whether that all bears out, we are not quite sure,” he said. “We are just getting into the process.”
Still, despite all of the activity, McIntyre said he believes construction projects and accompanying DCC will start to taper off in the coming the years.
“I am thinking it will probably carry on but maybe not at the fever pitch we have seen,” he said, later adding, “Some of the informal numbers show that the real estate market is starting to cool off a bit.”
@gmckennaTC
