Newsletter

Construction is a core economic indicator, right up there with labour, a number of businesses, and vacancy rates. In fact, YTD building permit values are posted at the bottom of every one of our newsletters. When people think of Economic Development, they may believe that it’s only Commercial and Industrial permits that are relevant, but not so. While those two are certainly important, Residential and Institutional permits need to be part of the conversation as well.
 
Economic development is about more than increasing the number of businesses, the number of jobs, and commercial assessments. The other main ingredient is remembering that we are human, and so things like health care, recreation, schools, environment, energy, safety, and morale are just as important. If you are unable to convince existing or future businesses that your quality of life is worth sticking around for, you may notice tumbleweeds starting to roll across your town. In other words, Residential permits (houses, row houses, townhouses, apartments) and Institutional permits (schools, libraries, recreational facilities, churches) are just as noteworthy.

Chart 1: Summerside building permit values in millions of dollars for the past decade. Each year is displayed in three categories: “Residential”, “Commercial/Industrial”, and “Institutional”. For 2020, the chart value is current up to the end of October. Source: City of Summerside, Dept. of Technical Services.

In Chart 1, from 2010 to 2017, there is some modest ebb and flow to the total value of permits. An important point is that Institutional values often don’t reflect a carefully timed or deliberate investment like the other categories. Rather, they are often reflective of when the government decides it’s Summerside’s turn for spending. For instance, in 2017, there was a major project at Three Oaks Senior High School worth $27M. Another example was in 2018 when the Prince County Hospital received a $4.2M addition.
 
The crux of this article is with the years 2019 and 2020, particularly how their Residential values are more than double compared with previous years in Chart 1. It was nice to see 2019 take shape because there were several indicators that significant construction would take place, such as a vacancy rate below 1% since 2018, an influx of PNP newcomers, the purchase of several empty subdivision lots, and people aging out of their countryside homes and moving to Summerside.
 
At the beginning of 2020, all signs were pointing to more of the same, but when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, it turned expectations on their head.  Would 2020 be the worst ever where everyone puts their plans on hold?  It turns out the answer was no and 2020 ended up surpassing 2019. One can’t help but wonder how much the 2020 numbers could have been even better in the absence of the pandemic.
 
Here are some Residential highlights from 2016 to 2020 for new construction:
 

Table 1: New Residential construction for Summerside from 2016 to 2020.
Note that the numbers in parentheses () that follow some entries represent the total number of units. For example, if 3-row houses are built with 5 units each, then the cell would read “3 (15)”. For “Single Family”, “Semi-Detached”, and “Townhouse”, there is no need for parentheses. Source: City of Summerside, Dept. of Technical Services

 

Table 1 tells an interesting tale. Although there is some variation, overall, as time progresses to 2020, there is a clear tendency toward brisk Residential development. Incidentally, 70 of the apartment units started in 2019 would be located at The Portside, a large development along with Water St. Downtown. Its rendering is pictured above.
 
We are always looking to capitalize on the momentum, so our Department has taken a central role in several upcoming development projects, including Hippenstall’s Corner (corner of Water St. and Greenwood Dr.), the Core Block (corner of Water St. and Summer St.), the Summerside Sunbank (Bayview Dr.), and the Business Commons Eco-Park (Greenwood Dr.) which will add a staggering 115,000 sq ft of new light industrial space. By doubling down on our success, we are ensuring a prosperous Summerside for years to come.

 

 

We have a saying in our department: “It all begins with a conversation”. That point was illustrated beautifully when Patrick O’Connell from Allan Marshall & Associates casually engaged with our office over the summer. Allan Marshall & Associates has nine offices throughout the Maritimes, including Patrick’s location on Mount Edward Rd. in Charlottetown, but he explained their interest in adding a second PEI office in Summerside.

 

Patrick O’Connell of Allan Marshall & Associates first approached our office to discuss expansion plans in July. Three months later, they were ready to start meeting clients at 674 Water St. East in Summerside (Strategic Business Centre).

 

 
The benefit of a Summerside office is clear.  Allan Marshall & Associates can service clients in Prince County much more readily from Summerside, thereby saving them a lengthy drive. The initial conversation took place in mid-July where Patrick laid out his needs, including ground floor space, parking spaces, and the ability to have both building and road signage. Over the next two weeks, our department put together some possibilities and then Patrick paid a visit to check them out.
 
After thinking things over, Allan Marshall & Associates signed a lease in mid-August at 674 Water St. East (Strategic Business Centre) and began occupying their unit starting in October.  In other words, Patrick went from his first discussion to settling in Summerside in just 3 months.
 
Seeking Summerside space had been on Patrick’s mind for a while now, but he wasn’t sure about who to approach with this sort of thing. It turns out a simple conversation between him and Summerside EDO is all it took to get the ball rolling and now Summerside is home to another professional services provider a few months later.
 
The model Patrick adopted has been gaining momentum in the past couple of years. That is, there is a business located outside of Summerside that wishes to open a new office here and spend a few days per week servicing the western part of PEI. We are happy to help others achieve this as well. Whatever your space needs happen to be, our office can help connect you to the space you seek.
 
If you are interested in finding Summerside business space, you can browse our Available Sites tool: http://www.bigpossibilities.ca/property-search
 
Note that not every known space is within this tool since some property owners prefer to be approached privately and for other similar reasons. Contact us to find out more.

  Allan Marshall & Associates Inc. is a Licensed Insolvency Trustee firm with locations throughout the Maritime provinces. Licensed by the Federal Government of Canada to administer bankruptcies, consumer proposals, receiverships, and other insolvency services. The caring team at Allan Marshall & Associates has the knowledge and experience to assess your situation and provide all the different options and pros/cons of every particular option that a person has for dealing with any potential financial hardship that they may be struggling with.
   
Address:          Strategic Business Centre, 674 Water St. E, Unit 1B, Summerside
Phone:             1-888-371-8900
Web:                 https://wecanhelp.ca/
Email:               info@wecanhelp.ca
LinkedIn:          https://www.linkedin.com/company/allan-marshall-&-associates-inc.
Facebook:        https://www.facebook.com/allanmarshallandassociates
Twitter:             https://twitter.com/wecanhelpca
YouTube:          https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsmeDiPWK1vCNJezvgigkIw

  As with past newsletters, we are once again featuring two newcomer entrepreneurs to Summerside. This month, we have Nga Ong from G&T Book Café and Eddie Kong from CAN Car Race and Model.