Editorial on development from Yesterdays Gleaner:
Fredericton is a growing municipality
Published Thursday December 30th, 2010
C6
It's been another great year for development in Fredericton.
Recent figures released by the city indicate the municipality in 2010 will surpass a construction record set in 2008. The year-end projection for Fredericton is $168 million, about $11 million more than the 2008 record of $157 million.
The figures illustrate a city on the move, a city spreading its wings and becoming more attractive to investors.
The numbers also show that the long and short-term planning by the city's elected and paid officials is paying off - literally.
To echo the words of city development committee chairman Coun. Stephen Chase, the figures represent "very good news."
But, as Coun. Chase also points out, the success of the past year should be tempered by noting the city doesn't expect this trend to continue.
That's not to say the city won't continue to enjoy steady growth, Chase said, but many of the municipal, institutional and government infrastructure projects that have fuelled construction over the past year are winding down.
The city's Grant*Harvey complex is expected to be completed in March 2012, but the University of New Brunswick's Currie Center is almost finished.
The New Brunswick Community College on the UNB campus is also under construction.
The city's $78-million downtown convention centre, eastend parking garage and government office building are to open in 2011.
As Coun. Chase also pointed out, funding for infrastructure projects is expected to be turned off as provincial and federal governments struggle to wrestle down their deficits.
That will make a difference.
"Some development prospects are on the horizon, such as Costco, but we expect these types of projects to be few compared with recent years," Coun. Chase said.
While Costco has completed its site preparation at the Corbett Centre on Regent Street, the bulk wholesale grocery and household merchandising chain has yet to announce a date to start building its store. But they have told us it's expected to open in August.
"For the future, the prediction is for much more conservative growth in the $100-million range," Coun. Chase said. "The bread and butter of residential development will continue to chug along. Anything that comes along on top of that will be well-received."
The true good news associated with this year's record construction rate is that as the city continues to expand, so does its tax base.
The city's 2011 tax base - the value of all taxable property in the city both new buildings and reassessed properties - rose 4.88 per cent.
New buildings made up 2.5 per cent of the growth. The remainder was the increase in properties that had higher assessments.
That means more revenue coming in for the city and, hopefully, it will translate into an ability to sustain, if not expand some services as we move through this difficult financial period we now find ourselves in.
We congratulate the city on its record setting year and look forward to sharing in the celebration of similar successes in the future.
Never discourage anyone...who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.
Plato (427 BC - 347 BC)
http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/o...rticle/1366069