Some numbers related to building activity in Owen Sound declined a bit last year.
Owen Sound’s manager of planning and heritage Sabine Robart shared the city’s 2023 building report to community services committee members at a meeting Wednesday evening.
There were 331 building permits issued last year, which is essentially in line with 2022. But the total construction value declined to $30.8-million in 2023, and fees collected fell to $260,000. In 2022, the city’s the construction value number topped $43-million and the city collected more than $314,000 in building permit fees.
The annual report says there were 81 new residential units constructed in Owen Sound last year. That number was also down from 2022, when 124 new units were built.
But there were strides on many projects. Occupancy was issued for a Grey County transitional housing redevelopment on 14th Street West. A new commercial development on 16th Street East in the city’s east end underwent significant progress: a new McDonald’s restaurant opened, and interior permits for work on other new restaurants including Mary Brown’s Chicken, Fat Bastard Burrito and Stacked were issued.
A new five-storey, 79-unit apartment building on 28th Street West was completed last year. And a permit was issued for Edgewater on 1st Avenue West — a redevelopment project downtown to convert office space into 21 apartment units.