Anyway you want to hammer the numbers, Barrie had a very good construction year in 2021.
The value of all building permits issued by the city — residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional — was $600 million, almost a 20 per cent increase from 2020’s total of $501 million.
The city also issued a total of 2,259 building permits last year, a 37 per cent increase from 2020’s total of 1,647.
Of that $600 million worth of construction in 2021, 83 per cent was residential — matching 2020’s residential percentage.
“This is the development increase the city has been expecting for several years,” said Michael Janotta, the city’s chief building official. “It just took a little longer than expected to get here, but it is clearly here now.
“A lot of that is (residential) subdivision work and it’s mostly on Mapleview (Drive), both the north and south side of Mapleview. These projects are finally getting going, so the infrastructure has been completed, the plans of subdivision are getting registered and now we are able to issue permits on them," he added.
Janotta said the main difference, year to year, was the increase in residential construction. There was also an increase from $210 million in 2020 to $380 million last in the value of non-highrise residential (six storeys or less) construction, representing an 81 per cent increase. He said this was the largest change in the city’s processing and issuing of building permits.
Barrie also saw an increase in issued permits for dwelling units in 2021, to 2,101 from 1,468 the previous year, a 43 per cent increase.
“We literally doubled the number of housing starts over (2020)," said Mayor Jeff Lehman. “That to me is a huge step forward.”
“Most of them should be under construction,” Janotta said. “Some of them, if issued early in the year, may be finished and occupied and some that were very recently issued may not yet be started.”
In addition to tracking the annual number and value of building permits, the city also keeps numbers on the construction value of permits applied for — but not all issued — in a calendar year. It was almost $800 million in 2021.
But Janotta cautioned that’s not really a $200-million head start on this year’s construction totals.
“Yes, you could say that, but you can also say that happens every year,” he said. “So it kind of balances itself out.”
What is certain is that 2021 ended strong.
In December, 123 building permits were issued for construction worth almost $69.9 million. Residential led the way with 106 permits worth $60.6 million in construction.
The largest project last month, and one of Barrie’s largest in 2021, was for a $48-million residential highrise at 41 Johnson St.
