Construction boom won’t quit

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/04/2009 (6115 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There is enough confidence in the depth of the Winnipeg economy that even a North End institution like Cantor’s Grocery store believes it’s finally safe to expand.

The independent meat and grocery operation is tripling the size of its store near Logan Avenue and Quelch Street with a $2 million-plus construction project that is on schedule to be completed by July.

Ed Cantor, who runs the 64-year-old business along with his 84-year-old father, Joe, and uncle Oscar, said the store, famous for its local beef cuts and customer butcher shop, may be feeling the effects of the economic downturn a little this year.

But after seeing its customers jam into the cramped 3,700-square-foot store every weekend, the extra space (the new store will be 13,500 square feet) is going to allow the family business to prepare for the future.

“This area has been very good to us,” said Ed Cantor. “We have many loyal customers and we have been planning this new store for a few years.

“Who knew there was going to be a recession?”

The new store being built on Cantor’s existing parking lot is one of several smaller construction projects augmenting the large-scale institutional projects that continues to allow the province to keep pace with the record-breaking pace of 2008, even while many other parts of the country are struggling to get projects out of the ground.

Commercial and institutional construction projects in Manitoba in February helped fuel 7.6 per cent growth in seasonally adjusted building permits over January, according to a Statistics Canada report on Monday, while residential construction permits were down.

A major renovation to the Grace Hospital, some new Manitoba Public Insurance claims centres and an aboriginal assisted living building were among the larger projects that helped beef up the seasonally adjusted building permit value to $117.8 million for the month, according to StatsCan.

The value of Canadian building permits fell 15.9 per cent to $3.7 billion in February, led by a big decline in the non-residential sector in Ontario.

“We’re very pleased with where we’re at right now,” said Ron Hambley of the Winnipeg Construction Association.

“Our members are pleasantly surprised at the activity level and based on everything I have heard across the country Manitoba is in a good position.”

A $9-million project at Grace Hospital commenced in February as well as a $4-million section of a new MPI claims centre on Main Street, which is one element of $35-million worth of new construction MPI has on the books for three new centres in Winnipeg and another in Selkirk.

The Kekinan Centre is building an assisted living residence with 30 units to add to the current 30 units of independent living on Robinson Street, also in the North End.

Development at Smartpark on the University of Manitoba Fort Garry campus is continuing and may soon become an even more attractive address with the coming construction of the new Bomber stadium across the street.

Many economists had expected a decline in the national numbers of between 3.5 and four per cent during the month, after a revised drop of six per cent in January.

Non-residential permits plunged 30.5 per cent to $1.6 billion in February due to a drop in Ontario and decreases in four other provinces, according to the StatsCan report.

The value of residential permits was down 0.3 per cent to $2.1 billion, with an increase in multiple-dwelling intentions in British Columbia that nearly offset the declines in the residential sector in six other provinces.

Manitoba reported a 6.2 per cent decline in residential permits for the month.

Hambley was not surprised or overly concerned because of the healthy number of multi-family projects that have come on the books over the last 18 months.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca

— With files from Canwest News Service

Manitoba building permits

(Seasonally adjusted, $000)

Commercial Institutional Industrial Non-residential Multiple Single Residential Total

Manitoba

2009/Jan. 27,324 8,315 3,769 39,408 5,530 64,554 70,084 109,492

2009/Feb. 33,224 15,774 3,086 52,084 9,847 55,885 65,732 117,816

Growth 21.59% 89.71% -18.12% 32.17% 78.07% -13.43% -6.21% 7.6%

Manitoba

Prior YTD 28,367 16,899 17,014 62,280 14,721 152,427 167,148 229,428

YTD 60,548 24,089 6,855 91,492 15,377 120,439 135,816 227,308

Growth 113.45% 42.55% -59.71% 46.90% 4.46% -20.99% -18.75% -0.92%

Winnipeg

2009/Jan. 17,836 802 2,378 21,016 5,530 35,199 40,729 61,745

2009/Feb. 3,642 11,355 2,035 17,032 3,292 30,347 33,639 50,671

Growth -79.58% 1,315.84% -14.42% -18.96% -40.47% -13.78% -17.41% -17.94%

Winnipeg

Prior YTD 20,356 10,757 5,671 36,784 13,309 89,938 103,247 140,031

YTD 21,478 12,157 4,413 38,048 8,822 65,546 74,368 112,416

Growth 5.51% 13.01% -22.18% 3.44% -33.71% -27.12% -27.97% -19.72%