Several major commercial projects receiving approval in Moncton contributed to a spike in the value of third-quarter 2021 permits – double the total value of 2020’s third quarter permits.

Those projects include the $37-million, 221,000-square-foot Walmart distribution center planned for the Caledonia Industrial Park area, $1.7-million office renovations at 34 Providence St. and $1.6-million office renovations 171 Lutz St. and a $1.5 fast-food restaurant near Magnetic Hill.

The total value of permits for the third quarter of 2021 was $111.4-million – up from $56.7 million during quarter three of 2020, notes information released from the City of Moncton.

The value of third-quarter permits jumped from the previous year in spite of Moncton seeing fewer permits issued in the third quarter of 2021 than the same period in 2020.

That same three-month interval also saw a $28.6-million 152-unit apartment building approved for the lot between Record and Foundry Streets, and a $10-million 48-unit building on Clover Street.

Year-to-date value for 2021 permits also exceeded the previous year in value, with $221-million this year, versus $128-million in 2020. This helped 2021 clinch a record for permits in the first nine months of a calendar year, edging out 2017’s record $215.2-million.

The number of permits issued from July to September 2021 – 319 – fell from the 454 issued in the same period in 2020. The total value of commercial and residential building permits was $55.4-million and $49.3-million, respectively.

City staff noted that so far, 493 apartments have been permitted in 2021 – a jump from 443 at the same time last year.

Broken down, that includes 55 new single-family homes, 13 mini homes, 90 duplex units and 62 rowhouse units – all of which are increases from those approved in 2020, except for duplex permits.

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