The number of housing starts in Coquitlam has dropped dramatically in the first four months of 2015 — down 74% compared to the same period last year.
The value of residential building permits has also fallen, dropping 59% so far this year, according to the city’s first trimester report.
But Jim McIntyre, Coquit-lam’s general manager of planning and development, said the decrease is likely just a blip and he expects the numbers will be in the same range as last year’s figures by the end of 2015.
“In the second trimester, we will see a closing of the gap,” he said. “We are pretty confident of that. There are a number of projects in the pipeline.”
He pointed to two reasons for the drop off in the first four months of the year.
First, 2014 boasted an exceptionally busy start, with many of the year’s projects approved in January, McIntyre said.
Second, things have started slower in 2015 as staff and developers work their way through recent changes to the B.C. Building Code, and a decrease is not unexpected, he said.
Several projects have just been issued permits and more projects in the southwest area should be coming online in the next few months, McIntyre said. He added that that construction activity should bring the numbers more in line with last year’s figures.
He also noted that a single massive project, like a 150- to 200-unit condo tower, can often make up a large percentage of the city’s overall building activity.
“Typically, over the last four or five years, we have been cranking out 450 to 550 building starts,” he said. “That seems to be the capacity of the system.”
On the industrial side, the first trimester report indicates that Coquitlam’s inventory has remained steady at approximately 662,453 sq. m and a vacancy rate of 3.7%.
FIELD HOUSE WORK
Design work is underway for the Mundy Park field house and the city expects construction to begin in late fall or early winter.
Coquitlam council approved the next step in the $1.4-million project Monday and the 2,600 sq. ft. facility will include a multi-purpose room, a kitchen and an equipment storage room.
Last December, the city began the process of replacing the aging Mundy Park field house with a one-storey building with washroom facilities. The project will be paid for with funds from the building replacement reserve and development cost charges.
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