Despite the devastating blow of COVID-19, the City of Hamilton has surpassed $1 billion worth of construction projects for 2020, with a few pandemic trends contributing to the economic milestone.
This landmark represents 4,718 building projects in the residential, institutional, commercial and industrial sectors and it’s the 10th time in the last 11 years the target has been achieved.
“Reaching the milestone of $1 billion worth of building permits issued so far in 2020, particularly in the midst of a worldwide economic retraction caused by a global pandemic, is a significant achievement that sends a strong message that the momentum in Hamilton is real and continues despite all the challenges we have faced this year,” said City of Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger.
“With major investments and development happening now and into the future, I am proud of the dedication of city staff as they continue to work with developers, builders and our business partners to create more jobs for our community. By continuing to work together, we will maintain this momentum and emerge from this pandemic a more resilient Hamilton than ever before.”
In what has become the norm for many in the workforce, Hamilton city staff adapted to working remotely to provide alternative service delivery options, including online building permit submissions, which were up 40 per cent over last year, and virtual meetings with development applicants.
Among the building permit trends during the pandemic:
- Between January and August 2020, there was a 35 per cent increase in swimming pool enclosures over the same period last year.
- Applications for small residential projects (decks, pool enclosures, interior alterations, accessory structures) increased by 23 per cent from June to September this year compared to last year.
“The City of Hamilton had to respond very quickly to make sure that we were able to continue to support growth and development despite the COVID-19 pandemic. I am very proud of our city staff, and thankful to our development community, for how quickly they adapted to new measures such as digital submissions and virtual meetings to keep development going in the city,” said Jason Thorne, City of Hamilton general manager of planning and economic development.
Two notable projects that make up the building permit milestone are:
- Quebec steel company Corbec is expanding to Hamilton with a plant in the Red Hill Business Park. The 100,000-square-foot galvanizing plant will cost between $50 million and $100 million to build and will employ about 110 full-time workers when it is finished by the end of 2020.
- The recent Amazon fulfillment centre at 110 Aeropark Blvd. The project is underway and the permits for the foundation and structure received to date are worth $60 million.
In a breakdown, total construction value in Hamilton, from the end of September this year is made up of 69 per cent residential, 17 per cent industrial, 11 per cent commercial, and three per cent institutional.
“This record setting construction value is an indicator of the success of the construction industry in Hamilton, working hard every day to make our city a better place. As a municipality, we’re proud to work alongside the many incredible developers, owners and contractors who give their best to our city. I’m very grateful for municipal staff that recognize the importance of city growth, and I thank them for everything they do to ensure that Hamilton can continue to grow in these unprecedented times,” said City of Hamilton Chief Building Officer Ed VanderWindt, adding, “The Building Division began using an ePlans electronic permit application process prior to COVID which has proven to be extremely valuable during these unusual times.”
Other Hamilton building permit milestones include 2012 being the highest building permit value in Hamilton’s history at $1.5 billion. The second highest was in 2019 at $1.41 billion.
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