February figures show construction heating up for apartment-style units
Apartment-style condos in the city core accounted for 45 per cent of all new multi-family construction in the Calgary area last month, says a federal agency.
Shovels turned for 167 new apartments in downtown Calgary in February, as 371 starts for multifamily housing of all kinds were recorded across the Calgary census metropolitan area, says Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. The multi-family sector includes apartments, townhomes and duplexes.
“The share can change from month to month,” says Richard Cho, CMHC’s principal of market analysis. “Larger condo buildings can represent a high number of units. When you don’t have a lot of other projects that start in the city, that proportion can shift.
“I think developers and builders are also banking on future activity being stronger so as these units may have just started now during a slower period, by the time they’re finished, perhaps they’re expecting demand to be stronger.”
Following downtown Calgary in new apartment construction last month was the city’s northeast quadrant with 80. Overall, there were 259 construction starts on apartments in the Calgary area last month, up from 83 starts a year earlier, says CMHC.
The number of apartment-style condos under construction across the Calgary area also increased last month from a year ago.
There were 8,748 units in progress in February, up from 8,586 during the same period in 2015.
Pulling back in new construction last month were the city’s townhomes and duplexes segments. Last month, 66 townhomes took root in the Calgary area, which is down from 155 a year earlier. Duplexes dipped to 46 from 92.
CMHC tracks new construction based on clusters of communities. Duplex starts were led by a stretch of southeast Calgary featuring Auburn Bay and Mahogany. At the same time, townhomes were led by a section of the city’s northwest that includes Nolan Hill and Sherwood.
The census metropolitan area includes work in neighbouring cities and towns such as Airdrie, Cochrane and Chestermere. Airdrie saw growth in all three multi-family segments last month compared to the same time in 2015.
The small city to Calgary’s north had 14 duplex starts, 26 for townhomes and 12 in apartments after ending February 2015 with only two duplexes, seven on the townhome side and no apartments.