March 07, 2011 11:00 AM – The City of Calgary Newsroom
The estimated construction value of building permit applications for the month of February 2011, $215 million, is up 13 per cent compared to February 2010 ($191 million), down 14 per cent compared to the five-year average (2007-2011; $251 million) and down 2 per cent compared to the ten-year average (2002 to 2011; $219 million).

“Building permits for the month of February were fairly typical,” says David Watson, General Manager, Planning, Development & Assessment. “While there are signs of a number of new projects in discussions, they have not yet translated to building permits.”

For the month, residential values are down 20 per cent to $111 million, while non-residential values ($104 million) are up double compared to February 2010.

Year-to-date, total values across all categories are up 137 per cent over the previous year to $985 million, with the residential category down 18 percent to $218 million and the non-residential category up 411* per cent to $767 million.

(*Year-to-date non-residential values are significantly higher than 2010 due to a major airport terminal improvement project valued at $600 million from the previous month, January 2011.)

For the month there were 26 projects valued over $1 million, including a new office building (Prism Place, $37 million), the West LRT 69 Street Station ($10 million), and numerous office improvement and new townhouse projects.

Building permits are a barometer of intentions in the construction industry and are not actual construction starts.

http://newsroom.calgary.ca/pr/calgary/february-2011-building-permits-193360.aspx