Building permit activity in Windsor in October may have dipped slightly from September’s impressive performance, but the market for construction services remains strong.

The City of Windsor issued $25.9 million worth of building permits in October. That figure was down from the nearly $39 million a month previous, but it nonetheless represents a strong month of activity.

Compared with the value of permits issued in October 2019, this past month saw an increase in permit values of 14.9 percent. Builders took out more than $21.8 million worth of residential permits for the month. That figure was about 50 percent higher than the $14 million worth of housing permits the city issued in October 2019.

Permit values across the non-residential sector all lost ground compared with October 2019. The value of industrial permits dropped from $991,800 in October 2019 to $824,223 last month, while the value of commercial permits fell from $4.3 million to $2.8 million, and the value of government and institutional work dropped from $3.1 million in October 2019 to just $355,000 in October 2020.

Overall, the city issued 284 building permits, compared with 342 in September, and 294 in October 2019.

The largest-value permit issued by the city last month was for $2.8 million for the construction of a mixed-use building on Wyandotte Street East. Abandoned buildings on the site were demolished last fall to make way for the construction of a 24,000-square foot, four-storey building with commercial use on the main floor and residential units above.

The next-largest value permit was issued for $1.2 million for renovations to the Winners store at the Walker Commons mall on Walker Road.

A third permit, worth more than $824,000, was issued for construction of a new steam boiler building at the Ford Transportation Services building on 2950 Metcalfe Street.

October’s strong performance brought the total value of building permits issued by the city to just over $324.6 million for the year to date. That figure is only fractionally higher than the $324.4 million worth of permits issued in the first 10 months of last year.