The vacancy rate for downtown office space will balloon to nearly 12 per cent by 2012 as millions of square feet of new development are completed, says a new report by commercial real estate firm Colliers International in Calgary.
And the current economic malaise gripping our neighbours south of the border, with its ripple effects around the world, will impact Calgary`s downtown office market in the future.
In September last year, city hall released permits for the construction of 812 multi-family units.
Last month, the total was 53.
Safe to say the industry has reined in its hectic pace of development in the face of declining demand, large numbers of resale condominiums, and an economy that is catching some of what has hit the U.S. fan.
1008CALG Builders crossing fingers as resale supply declines
Almost. Nearly. Just about. Close.
Give it six months or so and the market for single-detached homes might just turn around, says Lai Sing Louie, senior market analyst for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.
This welcome bit of upbeat news comes on the heels of a depressing report that says this year`s single-family home construction from January to September was more than 44 per cent behind the pace of 2007.
1008CALG Resale exceeds $1M average in seven city communities
Despite an overall slowdown, there were still seven Calgary communities from July to September with an average selling price of more than $1 million for resale homes, says an industry report.
The neighbourhood with the highest average was Eagle Ridge, where one sale fetched $1.7 million, says the Calgary Real Estate Board.
When city officials had a new land use bylaw approved early this summer, everyone knew there were going to be issues and confusion while the wrinkles were being ironed out.
As part of the new bylaw, different land use guidelines were proposed for new housing in what are now termed developed and developing communities.
Every November, the call goes out. At the Calgary Airport Authority`s annual training session, employees are asked how they want to be recognized for keeping the city`s economic engine open to the world.
Showing employees they are valued pays off in more ways than just a pat on the back and good feelings. It keeps people motivated, loyal, productive and happy, which creates a healthy workforce with low turnover.
Residents in a pair of northwest neighbourhoods are fuming after a nearby asphalt plant reverted back to using recycled oil as a fuel source, raising new concerns that thick, noxious clouds will once again shroud the communities. An e-mail from the province earlier this week warned homeowners near the Stoney Tr. gravel pit at 85 St. N.W. that due to a shortage in diesel fuel, the plant would temporarily go back to burning recycled oil as work continues on the northwest ring road.
Confirming my comments in last week`s column, Ed Jensen, president of the Calgary Real Estate Board, is quoted in his board`s newspaper as saying that residential real estate is in favour of the buyer and today is a great opportunity for first-time home buyers to get into the market.
That is, if mortgages are available; but it might be a wise thing for parents and relatives to assist youngsters in purchasing a starter home now instead of shelving dollars away for the future.
Alberta has become a "prime location" for terrorists looking to capitalize on shaky economic times in Canada and the United States, terrorism experts said on Saturday at a national conference for emergency officials.
"While Alberta might not be a first choice for mass-casualty attack terrorism -- you`re unlikely to see a major bomb going off in downtown Edmonton -- it certainly is a prime location for economic terrorism, because of the ability to disrupt the oil and gas industry," said Mercedes Stephenson, a Calgary-based defence and security analyst.
The owner of the Cecil Hotel has reportedly come to a tentative agreement to sell the landmark building to the city to make way for affordable housing, as part of an East Village Redevelopment plan. Calgary Drop-In Centre executive director Dermot Baldwin said, while the city has been in talks with Cecil owner Sam Silverman, his organization has also been involved in negotiations and had an offer to buy the hotel on the table, with similar plans of bulldozing it in favour of affordable housing.
A testament to Western Canada`s memories for almost 45 years, Heritage Park has reflected individual pasts and a nation`s history.
For the country, the park might mirror the storied journey out west, of fearless settlers in the early 1900s who braved a ship ride across the Atlantic or sat themselves on the rigid bench of an immigrant car and rode it across the country, arriving in Alberta to nothing but a vast, unforgiving prairie.
1008EDTN
North-end community raises suspicion over rezoning proposal
A local group vying to rezone three lots of single-family housing in a north-end neighbourhood says it has no intention of selling off the land, despite the suspicion of some community members.
Paul Garrick, chair of the board for the rezoning applicant, the Ukrainian Senior Citizens Home of St. John, says his organization plans to put up a facility that provides assistance to seniors who are mostly self-supporting.
"Our intent is to develop the property ourselves," he says.
Jay Glover says a meaner brand of prostitutes is invading his neighbourhood. And there are many more of them.
Living next to NAIT along 118 Avenue, the 51-year-old says the area has had its fair share of problems.
But until recently, he used to be able to have a friendly chat with the local sex-trade workers. If you didn`t bother them, they didn`t bother you, he told Sun Media yesterday.
Contrary to rumours circulated over the weekend that a tentative agreement had been reached to sell the Cecil Hotel to the city, the deal could still be months away according to the city employee negotiating the sale.
"I don`t know how these rumours get started," said Donna Brown, co-ordinator of acquisitions for the city.
"It hasn`t sold yet, we`re still in negotiations . . . we`re a couple months out."
1008CALG Thirty years worth of development near six LRT stations is not a project to approve in just one fell swoop
There`s future planning, and there`s planning for the future.
The difference?
For Calgarians, it`s whether city council is musing over a dream utopia, or voting on reality, involving concrete and cranes. A clue: When a report contains phrases like, "optimizing the ecological services provided by the environment," it`s future planning.
Some segments of the housing industry are slowing with the uncertain economy but renovations continue in full swing.
Scott Boyd, executive director of the Canadian Homebuilders Association Central Alberta chapter, says there are parts of the market at the mid-level that have tapered off.
Jean Chriest started working in the Sportex building in 1965, two years after the Edmonton Exhibition Association opened the low, flat-roofed building on its grounds.
The Sportex was as modern a building as could be found in Edmonton at that time, said Chriest, 81. It was freshly painted and felt brand-new. In the 45 years since, the building has become dated, fraught with technical problems and almost too small for the trade shows that pass through its doors. On Monday, a 182-kilogram steel wrecking ball smacked against the building`s south wall, beginning a demolition job that is expected to take six weeks.
