- Joined
- Sep 14, 2007
- Messages
- 617
More ramblings from our blog....
There have been many articles lately outlining the high vacancy rate in Calgary office space. With the new Bow Tower coming online shortly and a few other substantial projects this trend isn`t going to reverse itself anytime soon but will Calgary make lemonade from lemons?
I think the answer is undeniably "Yes!"
Calgary is the head office capital of Canada. Many large corporations such as Telus, Encana, Suncor, etc make Calgary their home base and rightfully so. Calgary`s downtown is an economic hub of finance, oil and gas, technology and infrastructure. In the past decade affordability had gotten a little crazy in the office market. Rents were skyrocketing forcing out some players and making Calgary less attractive. Vacancy was less than 1%.
But times have changed.....vacancy is up (way up) and thus rents are down. In my opinion this will only bring more innovative companies to Calgary bringing with them jobs. And JOBS are the key to any economy.
Jobs bring people putting pressure on housing and rent, increased retail sales, and growth.
In the short term I think we are about to see a slight correction in housing prices. Inventory numbers are up and the future is once again a little muddy with the Credit issues in Europe. The markets are volatile again and the tsx lost about 4% last week. Those with short term views and day trading mentalities are about to have their lunches handed to them. But those who can pull the trigger in these times of turbulence do amazingly well.
The big boys who are building these towers know that vacancy is going to hurt their rents and values in the short term but you don`t build a building like the Bow with out a strong vision of the future. They see it coming. Do you?
There have been many articles lately outlining the high vacancy rate in Calgary office space. With the new Bow Tower coming online shortly and a few other substantial projects this trend isn`t going to reverse itself anytime soon but will Calgary make lemonade from lemons?
I think the answer is undeniably "Yes!"
Calgary is the head office capital of Canada. Many large corporations such as Telus, Encana, Suncor, etc make Calgary their home base and rightfully so. Calgary`s downtown is an economic hub of finance, oil and gas, technology and infrastructure. In the past decade affordability had gotten a little crazy in the office market. Rents were skyrocketing forcing out some players and making Calgary less attractive. Vacancy was less than 1%.
But times have changed.....vacancy is up (way up) and thus rents are down. In my opinion this will only bring more innovative companies to Calgary bringing with them jobs. And JOBS are the key to any economy.
Jobs bring people putting pressure on housing and rent, increased retail sales, and growth.
In the short term I think we are about to see a slight correction in housing prices. Inventory numbers are up and the future is once again a little muddy with the Credit issues in Europe. The markets are volatile again and the tsx lost about 4% last week. Those with short term views and day trading mentalities are about to have their lunches handed to them. But those who can pull the trigger in these times of turbulence do amazingly well.
The big boys who are building these towers know that vacancy is going to hurt their rents and values in the short term but you don`t build a building like the Bow with out a strong vision of the future. They see it coming. Do you?