0908EDTN Relief in real estate market doesn`t extend to renters
Edmonton`s residential real estate market may be cooling slightly for those looking to buy, but the Edmonton Social Planning Council says prices are still on the rise for renters.
The council released results Wednesday of a survey completed by 727 Edmonton renters in April and May.
Despite a higher vacancy rate, 58 per cent of the respondents reported that their rental situation was worse this year than last year.
0908EDTN Realtor`s fake rent-increase notice drives some seniors to tears
Realtor Robert McLeod wanted to get west-end renters` attention when he sent out a flyer intended to resemble a letter warning of pending $500 monthly rent increases.
But he ended up sending flowers and issuing apologies to some senior citizens complexes after the mailout proved to be too realistic looking, frightening some who could not, or did not, read the fine print and turn over the Re/max Real Estate ad.
The number of residential MLS listings in the Calgary area that have expired without a sale soared in the month of August to nearly double what it was a year ago.
According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, there were 2,550 MLS listings that expired in August comprising single-family homes and condominiums in Calgary metro, as well as residential properties in CREB`s market area, which includes acreages as well as town and country.
0908REDR City surveying residents about East Hill flood damage
The City of Red Deer wants to know more about the kind of flooding residents experienced during the major hail and rain storm on Aug. 8.
The city has sent out 4,200 surveys for people in Rosedale Estates, Rosedale Meadows, Deer Park Village, Deer Park Estates, Davenport and Devonshire neighbourhoods to fill out.
Greg Sikora, a development engineer with the City of Red Deer, said the surveys ask residents if their property suffered any ponding or flooding damage and to describe what the sort, location or cause of it was.
A multimillion-dollar bioenergy project planned for a site north of Innisfail appears close to clearing regulatory hurdles. And an official with Alberta Ethanol and Biodiesel GP Ltd. said Wednesday construction should begin next spring.
"We`ve got our contractors lined up; we`ve got everything ready to go," said Curtis Chandler, president of Dominion Energy Services LLC — one of the corporate partners behind Alberta Ethanol and Biodiesel.
Unable to find financing to continue construction of $5-billion facility
Dave Cooper, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Thursday, September 25, 2008
EDMONTON - A partially completed oilsands upgrader project near Fort Saskatchewan has been mothballed by its owners.
The BA Energy Heartland upgrader, owned since last spring by Calgary-based Value Creation Inc., was quietly closed down this week. http://tinyurl.com/4ew67a
EDMONTON - City council has decided its preferred route for the north LRT extension to NAIT is above ground on the median of 105th Street -- between 105th and 108th Avenue -- instead of under 104th Street as the community wanted.
The approved route will go north from Churchill Station, swing west on 105th Avenue then head north on the median of 105th Street for nearly three blocks, before branching off and continuing north.
EDMONTON - There are no quick fixes to the ailing forestry industry, says Ted Morton, Alberta`s minister of sustainable resource development.
Morton was reacting publicly for the first time to the release Thursday of a report containing 11 recommendations "for immediate consideration" to improve competitiveness in the industry. The report was an interim one from the Forest Industry Sustainability Committee (FISC) of industry and government members, a committee struck last September.
A downtown bar frequented by the homeless, people with addictions and drug dealers could be shut down by the city as early as this fall, the Herald has learned.
The Cecil Hotel, located at 4th Street and 4th Avenue S.E., is facing a business licence review hearing at City Hall in the next couple months, after police filed an official complaint about the tavern.
0908CALG Homebuyers` appetite for luxury holds firm
Luxury home sales across the country have held steady so far this year despite an overall cooling in the residential real estate market, but activity in the top end is expected to taper in most major Canadian markets in the coming months, says a report released Thursday by Re/Max.
The Re/Max Upper-End Report, which highlights trends and developments in 15 housing markets across the country for the first seven months of 2008, found Vancouver; Victoria; Regina; Saskatoon; Winnipeg; London, Ont.; Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont.; Ottawa; Halifax-Dartmouth; and St. John`s, N.L., all experienced an upswing in sales activity, while declines were noted in Kelowna, B.C.; Calgary; Edmonton; Hamilton-Burlington and Toronto.
0908ALTA Lack of supply growth poised to lift oil prices
Energy - The financial sector`s failure to invest in energy supply growth while chasing real estate assets that are now at the crux of the credit crisis will likely lead to higher oil prices, Merrill Lynch says.
0908CALG City expects slow growing for Calgary economy
Calgary`s heated economy is beginning to cool with a new city report predicting it will continue to level off over the next five years, but some low- and middle-income earners are expected to feel a more painful pinch. The city yesterday released its socio-economic outlook for 2008-2013, forecasting a "healthy slowdown" after years of record-breaking growth, which is expected to see lower housing prices and a drop in inflation.
0908REDR Ryders Square developer thrilled project completed so quickly
SYLVAN LAKE — Ryders Square has been completed in less than half the time of commercial projects elsewhere, says a vice-president with Ronmor Developers Inc.
And Doug Porozni confirmed that his company is now looking at opportunities elsewhere in Central Alberta.
Porozni was in Sylvan Lake on Thursday for the official grand opening of Ryders Square on the town`s south side. Anchor tenants Sobeys and Shoppers Drug Mart are already operating there, with a number of other businesses also open or preparing to do so.
Lacombe and Eckville have joined the exodus from the commission backing a $100-million gasification plant in Central Alberta.
Councils in both towns voted this week to withdraw from the Central Waste Management Commission, following the lead of Lacombe County, which pulled out abo ut two weeks ago.
0908CALG Bad planning has traffic woes go for liftoff
In about 18 months, Barlow Tr. and McCall Way north of McKnight Blvd. will be shut down to make way for a new north/south runway at the airport, meaning access to the airport will only be available from Airport Tr. running east from Deerfoot or Barlow Tr. running south from Country Hills Blvd. The runway was in the Calgary Go Plan passed by city council in 1995, but back then, a tunnel under the runway that would extend to the eastside freeway was included.
0908EDTN Warning issued on scams by home renovator
EDMONTON - -The provincial government is warning homeowners about an unlicensed renovator with a history of scams.
John Alexander Lazerman has been entering into prepaid contracts -- requesting payment before work is completed -- without the required provincial prepaid contractor`s licence and security bond.
He is believed to be working in Edmonton and surrounding areas with the trade name Foundation Man. His services include roof replacements, cement jobs, painting, siding and window renovations.
0908EDTN Fort McMurray drive will get a little lonelier next week
The only service station within 100 km south of Fort McMurray will close for good Tuesday, leaving motorists an even more desolate commute to the booming northern city.
Station owner Muriel McKay says the closure will make way for twinning Highway 63, the scene of dozens of fatal crashes since traffic to Fort McMurray more than doubled over the past few years.
Albertans earned, on average, more in June than they did in July this year, says data Statistics Canada released yesterday.
Compared to last year, however, and measured for the first seven months of this year, paycheques have been getting fatter. In July, the average Alberta worker earned $864.42 per week, including overtime and before taxes.
Being in my usual hurry to get to an appointment, I got a little frustrated driving south down Crowchild Trail with the intention of attacking the bridge over Glenmore Trail and heading over Elbow Drive to Macleod Trail.
I mentioned this route last week and, as traffic was already crawling along before I hit the bridge over the Bow River, I made a quick decision to take 33rd Avenue through Marda Loop to 14th Street and Sifton Blvd.
