City hits record-breaking construction value in 2022

Tonight, Council received an update on record level construction growth in Cambridge in 2022. With a total of 1,757 permits issued and a construction value of $659,895,140, this represents an increase of 41% over the previous five-year average.

Residential construction activity included 980 new residential units, of which 633 were new houses or townhouses and 181 were new apartment units. The remaining 163 new residential units were conversions or additions to existing homes. This means 17 per cent of the new residential growth is found in repurposing existing single-family dwellings in current neighbourhoods, without the need to add new roads or sewers in areas where there are already trails and parks for residents to enjoy.

Industrial growth in Cambridge was a significant contributor to construction values in 2022, with 220,172 square meters (2,369,907 square feet) of new industrial area permitted. This is an increase of 323 per cent over the average of 52,068 new square meters of industrial area calculated between 2018-2021. Industrial building permits had a construction value of $185,081,632 or approximately 79.4 per cent of all industrial, commercial, and institutional permits combined. This indicates a strong desire by industry to choose Cambridge for their investments, and is a signal that Cambridge is a desired place to do business.

City takes ownership of Kin Canada Building to support not-for-profit organization into the future

In response to a request from Kin Canada, tonight, the City of Cambridge received Council approval to take over ownership of the “Kin Canada Building” at 1920 Rogers Drive at Riverside Park.

Kin Canada is a Canadian not-for-profit service organization founded in 1920 with approximately four hundred service clubs across Canada under the Kinsmen, Kinettes, and Kin banners. In July 1978, the City entered into a land lease agreement with Kin Canada whereby Kin Canada would construct, own, and maintain a building on City lands at 1920 Rogers Road.

In late 2021, Kin Canada reached out to the City to investigate whether the City would be agreeable to terminating the land lease, take ownership of the building, and potentially lease-back a portion of the building to Kin Canada. As part of this new arrangement, Kin Canada will lease the upper floor and remain in the building as their national headquarters.

The City, as the new owner of the building, will be responsible for the operations, maintenance, and capital repairs of the building. Kin Canada will contribute $100,000 over the next four years to help with this work.

This agreement with the City will allow Kin Canada to focus on resetting their business model to ensure they can continue to provide important services to the community well into the future. The remaining 10,000 square feet of space in the building will also be available for lease or to deliver additional city programming.