“This quarter will be a new benchmark for the Town’s residential permits as it is the highest on record since 1999,” said Rick Brady, Director, Planning and Development Services. “Volumes and values have increased five times when compared to 2014 and more than doubled over last year’s second quarter.”
The Town of Fort Erie recently hit a planning and development milestone with the results of this year’s second quarter (Q2) and trends show that it can expect this change to continue for the upcoming years.
“c,” said Rick Brady, Director, Planning and Development Services. “Volumes and values have increased five times when compared to 2014 and more than doubled over last year’s second quarter.”
A total of 72 new residential dwellings are being created from 59 permits issued in Q2 of 2016. This is a 200 per cent increase over last year’s second quarter, which drew only 24 new residential dwellings. According to Town records dating back to 1999, the next best Q2 results occurred in the months before the September 2008 stock market crash, which had seen 53 new residential permits drawn for that second quarter.
Although permits were acquired from many different parts of the Town, there were three areas of Fort Erie that saw the most action: Ridgeway-Thunder Bay, Bridgeburg and Spears-High Pointe.
- Ridgeway-Thunder Bay - The Ridgeway-Thunder Bay neighbourhood continues to be a very popular neighbourhood amongst developers and new buyers. It is believed that new developments like Ridgeway-by-the-Lake have drawn quite a bit of market interest as buyers have taken advantage of low interest rates and new home construction. This past quarter the Town issued 27 permits for this area.
- Bridgeburg - The Bridgeburg neighbourhood received 15 new dwelling permits as a result of the Rose Seaton Public School being converted into a private international boarding school as well as the development of new apartments in the downtown Jarvis Street area. Prior to this past quarter, Bridgeburg only received a total of 14 permits over the past 20 years.
- Spears-High Pointe - The Spears-High Pointe neighbourhood has hit its own milestone by receiving 11 permits. Prior to this past quarter, this neighbourhood has not seen any residential growth in the previous 20 plus years.
“I’m excited to say that not only did we reach a new benchmark for permits issued, we also set a record for new residential construction value,” said Mayor Wayne Redekop. “The value of the new residential construction reached over $22 million this past quarter, while the next highest value was just under $10 million in the second quarter of 2008. This is a good sign that Fort Erie is moving in the right direction.”
A report outlining the Town’s planning and building activities for Q3 of 2016 will be provided to Council in the fall. However, current activity suggests that Q3 of 2016 will also finish strong.
