INNISFAIL – The town is seeing encouraging signs of renewed economic stability amidst the province’s long recession with the recent release of 2019 building permits.
As well, a recent real estate market report, along with a provincial apartment vacancy survey, is showing the town’s overall financial health and is in the higher echelon of the province’s top performing rural municipalities of the same size.
“Yes, I heard the mayor say, ‘It’s not great but it’s certainly not bad.’ It’s proof we are a kind of a diverse town economically. We have known that for years,” said Coun. Gavin Bates following council’s Agenda & Priorities Meeting on Jan. 6.
At that meeting council was presented with a trio of reports, including the 2019 Building Statistics from town staff, the 2018 Apartment Vacancy and Rental Cost Survey from the province and the 2019 real estate statistics from the Central Alberta Realtors Association.
While the number of real estate units sold last year in Innisfail was down from 2018, the totals were comparable and even better than in 2017 and 2016. As well, the town sits in the middle of overall performance when compared to other Central Alberta communities: not as high-performing as Blackfalds, Sylvan Lake and Lacombe but better than Ponoka, Stettler, Rocky Mountain House and Penhold.
The town also showed strength with a healthy apartment vacancy rate and associated rental costs that are detailed in the 2018 provincial report. The town’s vacancy rate dropped in 2018 to 4.7 per cent, down from 5.5 per cent in 2017. The 2018 figure is a dramatic reduction from 2016 when the vacancy rate was 13.1 per cent.
As for rental costs, the survey showed that the average cost for a one-bedroom suite in town rose from $730 a month in 2014 to $774 in 2018; a two-bedroom unit climbed from $776 a month to $805 during the same five-year period and a three-bedroom apartment climbed from $858 in 2014 to $941 in 2018.
Meanwhile, Meghan Jenkins, the town’s manager of community planning and sustainability, presented council with encouraging news from 2019 on local building permit values.
Last year the total value of 57 building permits was just over $9.7 million, which is more than $3.5 million above figures for 2018, if the $20.5-million Autumn Glen replacement project is taken out. The big difference was in commercial building permits, with 2019 recording 16 with a value of more than $5.5 million. That compares to 16 permits in 2018 with a value of just under $2.2 million, a difference of about $3.3 million.
Jenkins said the big building projects of 2019 include the Dark Woods Brewing facility at $600,000; the $3.5-million EQUS headquarters project; Mainroad Alberta’s new $550,000 facility; and the $600,000 replacement build at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church.
With the 2019 building permits now on the table Mayor Jim Romane said 2020 also looks encouraging, noting the increasing interest with the west side Bella Vista residential development.
“There is some action. We have some serious planning to do about facilities in the future,” said Romane of the discussions council is intending to have with the public later this year. “There seems to be the energy out there but we have to keep demonstrating to the community that we are forward looking and stay positive on everything, and I think that is what people want to see.”
