[Wooster]

Frantic construction to pay big dividends
Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald
Published: Saturday, June 23, 2007

Calgary's frenzied pace of downtown construction may be causing some frustration and inconvenience for people and business in the short-term, but the long-term impact on the city will far outweigh today's woes.

More than half the entire country's downtown office construction is currently taking place in Calgary and that's becoming more and more obvious each day with traffic congestion, road closures and scarce parking availability becoming an almost daily headache.

But that construction activity will dramatically transform Calgary's downtown.

"I think we're becoming very metropolitan. We're much more than a cowboy town. We really are," said Maggie Schofield, executive director of the Calgary Downtown Association.

"I think the biggest thing is the amenities and really moving us into a world-class city and I think we're well on our way. . . . The whole cosmopolitan, metropolitan city is really where we're heading, fast and furious.

"It's a really, really exciting time to be part of Calgary. There's frustration with it. There's always pros and cons."

The biggest issue for downtown retailers these days is parking -- or the loss of spots because of the magnitude of construction.

"Certainly, the retailers are concerned. We always go back to parking. Short-term parking is our big, big focus and that's the area that the retailers are struggling with a bit," said Schofield.

"During the weekday, it's difficult to find a spot. . . . We need to be able to have people come and go and do their business, whether it's an insurance business, whether it's retail, shopping, whatever it may be."

Weekends and evenings are a different story, she said, because there are many parking lots that are accessible and cheap.

Sandra Neill, vice-president of research and communications, of the family-owned Encorp Inc., which owns Art Central, said construction that has begun on EnCana's The Bow, a 58-storey office tower, has made it more difficult for customers, especially if they are driving, to get to Art Central, which is located across the street from the megaproject.

Art Central houses 57 individual studios, galleries, shops and cafes.

"I know on weekends there seems to be even more construction. So it's even more difficult and also because of the construction there's less parking," said Neill. "It is affecting (business) for sure.

"But it's all good in the long term. We're excited about the EnCana building and the development of 7th Avenue and the whole area. So I think the benefits outweigh the negatives in the short-term."

According to real estate firm Avison Young, in its Calgary Office Market Report for the second quarter of 2007, there are currently 14 office buildings under construction, containing nearly 7.5 million square feet in downtown Calgary, and another five buildings, containing a further 2.4 million square feet, preparing to begin construction in the next 12 to 18 months.


Adam Legge, director of research and business information at Calgary Economic Development, said the organization has not heard about any specific impacts to business due to the amount of downtown construction.

"Obviously everyone knows that it's a little inconvenient while construction is happening, but hopefully the long-term view is that it's going to provide much-needed office space and I think the bigger detriment to the business community would be if we didn't have new space coming on and companies were still forced to pay escalating rents and forced to be in really cramped quarters," said Legge. "To me that would be the bigger business impact.

"There's so much employment that happens in the core that business will continue to operate on a day-to-day basis without probably a huge change in people demanding goods and services and things like that."

He said the future in the downtown includes "some very active, vibrant streetscapes. We're going to have a lot of mixed-use, some architecturally stunning buildings, including The Bow. And I think we're starting to see a real better mix of uses in terms of residential, commercial, arts and culture, office space. I think we're seeing a far better integration of the downtown core with the Beltline . . . I just think it's going to be a far more vibrant and active place, only solidifying its presence as one of the strongest downtowns in North America."

Schofield said about 200,000 people work in the downtown area. The Calgary Downtown Association has about 3,700 members that range from the mom and pop shop, to EnCana. For retailers in the downtown, plenty of business is done during lunch hour with a captive market in the core.

"There's a lot of spending going on in Calgary and a lot of people that are doing that spending are people that work in the core," said Schofield. "And any given day, particularly when there's sunshine happening, you go outside the mall, or even inside, and it's teeming with people. So I would suggest that retail is going quite well."

Schofield said traffic overall throughout the city due to construction is a challenge for people.

"We refer to it as an inconvenient benefit because we believe that the infrastructure that will come out of that . . . the new arts facilities, the new restaurants, all those amenities that will come out of some of the construction and development that's going on will be fabulous for the city," said Schofield.

mtoneguzzi@theherald.canwest.com

----------------------------------------------

Thought this might be of interest to people out there. The amount of construction in Calgary is truly staggering for a metro of 1.1 million people. It should be noted as well that the community just south of the CBD (The Beltline) sort of the midtown of Calgary also has an addition 1.1 million sq ft of office construction as well. Calgary's current downtown inventory (excluding Beltline is about 32 million sq ft. It will be 40 million sq ft. in 4 years. Including Beltline there will be about 45 million sq ft.

There is also several thousand residential units U/C with many more thousands approved and proposed.

[Calgarian]

9.9 million square feet under construction, or about to be under construction, that is damn impressive for only 1 000 000 people!!

[mhays]

That is pretty damn impressive.

[LMich]

Holy Centralized Economy, Batman!

[mhays]

In Downtown Seattle and Downtown Bellevue combined, we'd have to include public offices, hospitals, and biotech labs as well as private-sector offices to reach even 5,500,000 msf under construction. And that's two downtowns separated by five or six miles, rather than one.

[J. Will]

With over 30 million square feet of office space, Calgary already has more space than metro areas of 3 million+ people, not even including the many millions of square feet under construction.

Calgary's light rail also does around 240,000 riders per day. Other metros 2-3 times Calgary's size claim to have "successful" light rail systems even though they carry less than 50,000 per day :haha:

[Minato Ku]

30 million square feet and 240,000 riders per day, it is not that impressive for a metro of 1 million inhabitants.

Lyon France has 51 million square feet and 750,000 riders per day for only the subway, even if Lyon metro has only 1.5 millions inhabitants. but Lyon build only 6 million square feet of office spaces :D

I was always intrigued by Calgary. :)

[tim]

yeah, 30m sq ft (plus 10 u/c) is not that much compared to many european cities of similar size ... still good to hear.

[Minato Ku]

But 10 million u/c it is impressive, :tup:

[Xelebes]

What's Paris' u/c square-footage? I heard it was a similar number like 10 mil.

[Waterlooson]

Frantic construction to pay big dividends


----------------------------------------------

Thought this might be of interest to people out there. The amount of construction in Calgary is truly staggering for a metro of 1.1 million people. It should be noted as well that the community just south of the CBD (The Beltline) sort of the midtown of Calgary also has an addition 1.1 million sq ft of office construction as well. Calgary's current downtown inventory (excluding Beltline is about 32 million sq ft. It will be 40 million sq ft. in 4 years. Including Beltline there will be about 45 million sq ft.

There is also several thousand residential units U/C with many more thousands approved and proposed.


Josh, what is the current size of downtown Calgary's employment base and what will it increase to in 4-5 years - assuming the economy stays on track?

[J. Will]

30 million square feet and 240,000 riders per day, it is not that impressive for a metro of 1 million inhabitants.

Lyon France has 51 million square feet and 750,000 riders per day for only the subway, even if Lyon metro has only 1.5 millions inhabitants. but Lyon build only 6 million square feet of office spaces :D

I was always intrigued by Calgary. :)

First of all, that 30 million square feet is just DOWNTOWN, not the whole city. Secondly, that's light rail, not a subway, which will obviously carry several times more.

[Minato Ku]

What's Paris' u/c square-footage? I heard it was a similar number like 10 mil.

Over 20 million ;)

[Xing]

Can we get a photo of that beautiful Calgary skyline?

[Calgarian]

yeah, 30m sq ft (plus 10 u/c) is not that much compared to many european cities of similar size ... still good to hear.

How many of those European cities didn't even exist 140 years ago?

It's too bad that many of the buildings that house our 30 million square feet are boring and ugly.

[Waterlooson]

^^ Also consider that Calgary's population 60 years ago was under 100,000, it is 10 times that now.

[Calgarian]

Can we get a photo of that beautiful Calgary skyline?

How about a link to one instead.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=133663

[Wooster]

a couple from Boris550

http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/7046/pano01fx2uz1wt4hu3.jpg
http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/7691/pano022nz4vv0zb7.jpg
http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/1140/pano032gc6qq0oc9.jpg

[Calgarian]

Canterra looks great in those pictures.

[Wooster]

30 million square feet and 240,000 riders per day, it is not that impressive for a metro of 1 million inhabitants.

Lyon France has 51 million square feet and 750,000 riders per day for only the subway, even if Lyon metro has only 1.5 millions inhabitants. but Lyon build only 6 million square feet of office spaces :D

I was always intrigued by Calgary. :)

Yeah this is just the Central Business District. About 11 blocks by 8 blocks.

In terms of LRT ridership Calgary's is very successful in a north american context. Highly touted Portland gets about 100 000 riders per day and the metro is nearly twice as populated.

By the time Calgary hits 1.5 million people in about 15 years we'll have built at least 2 more legs of the system - the West leg and the SE leg (possibly a third to the north) and have well over 500 000 daily riders on the LRT. Again a city that will have the 90% of its growth post WWII.

[hulkrogan]

Calgary could have quite a bit more ridership if capacity was increased even on existing lines. If it wasn't for overcrowding on trains quite a few parkers (myself included) would find there way back on trains.

[Calgarian]

Yeah this is just the Central Business District. About 11 blocks by 8 blocks.

In terms of LRT ridership Calgary's is very successful in a north american context. Highly touted Portland gets about 100 000 riders per day and the metro is nearly twice as populated.

By the time Calgary hits 1.5 million people in about 15 years we'll have built at least 2 more legs of the system - the West leg and the SE leg (possibly a third to the north) and have well over 500 000 daily riders on the LRT. Again a city that will have the 90% of its growth post WWII.

where did you get the 500 000 figure from? it seems a little high to me. Lots of people who ride the C-train live in areas that will soon be serviced by the new legs (namely the SE).

[Wooster]

It is just an estimate. The WLRT will add entirely new riders to the LRT system. SE, probably about 50% entirely new. The SE area of town will be the biggest growth area with about 200 000 people south of marquis of lorne east of deerfoot - including a huge employment centre around the south health campus. All those people in that part of town are new because it will be a new part of town. This line will have big ridership, more than any other leg I'd bet. Plus the existing lines will be 4 car, adding at least 25% new riders on the system. Also add another 400 000 people in Calgary. 500 000 no problem.

[miketoronto]

Calgary is a model to follow. Calgary is putting the focus on building a strong central downtown, while other cities are letting the suburbs take over.

Calgary basically proves that even in this day and age, you can make downtown "the place to be" if the city is commited to it.

By centralizing, Calgary is able to reduce traffic congestion, increase transit ridership, and reduce air pollution.

If Calgary does not make the mistake that Toronto and Vancouver have in trying to build suburban downtowns, then it could be the leader.

[vanman]

What mistake are you talking about?

[Calgarian]

What mistake are you talking about?

Making downtown almost entirely residential. That's how I read it.

[Calgarian]

It is just an estimate. The WLRT will add entirely new riders to the LRT system. SE, probably about 50% entirely new. The SE area of town will be the biggest growth area with about 200 000 people south of marquis of lorne east of deerfoot - including a huge employment centre around the south health campus. All those people in that part of town are new because it will be a new part of town. This line will have big ridership, more than any other leg I'd bet. Plus the existing lines will be 4 car, adding at least 25% new riders on the system. Also add another 400 000 people in Calgary. 500 000 no problem.

I suppose so, still, having 1/3 of the entire population of the city ride the c-train each day sounds unrealistic. Or am I just getting confused, and the 500 000 is just the number of trips?

[Wooster]

^ 500 000 is the number of trips. That is how transit ridership is measured. For most people if they are commuting would include two trips on the LRT.

[Calgarian]

^ 500 000 is the number of trips. That is how transit ridership is measured. For most people if they are commuting would include two trips on the LRT.

haha, that's what I thought. If 500 000 people used transit, that would probably be the most succesful transit system ever. Thanks Josh

[mello]

Holy crap Calgary is going nuts! Downtown San Diego only has 13 million square feet of class A office space! What da fark??? And our metro is 3.5 million... Damn that is so depressing. Thats it I'm moving to Calgary

Or Lyon:worship:

[Calgarian]

Holy crap Calgary is going nuts! Downtown San Diego only has 13 million square feet of class A office space! What da fark??? And our metro is 3.5 million... Damn that is so depressing. Thats it I'm moving to Calgary

Or Lyon:worship:

Gotta love oil.

[vanman]

Making downtown almost entirely residential. That's how I read it.

What a crock. Vancouver has over 30 million Sq feet of office space downtown.Not to mention the 30 million+ sq feet of retail space as well. Vancouver went the oppostie way of every typical NA downtown in history and created a more mixed use core, something Calgary is also trying to do as well. And what about Toronto, what is wrong with it?

BTW, insane amount of office space being built in Calgary. Is all this development exclusively for oil companies or is there a large demand from other employers as well such as law firms etc.?

[miketoronto]

You guys did not get what I meant.

Calgary is a city putting the focus on downtown and building a strong core. In Vancouver the regional gov is trying to stop people from going downtown by building downtowns in the suburbs and decentralizing everything.

This is one of the reasons that Calgary has a higher transit ridership % then Vancouver. Because Calgary is still a centralized city, and it is much more easier to take transit to downtown then a suburban town centre.

Calgary is a great model of annexing suburbs before they can become drains on the central city and putting the energy back in the core of the city.

[mhays]

What a crock. Vancouver has over 30 million Sq feet of office space downtown.Not to mention the 30 million+ sq feet of retail space as well.


Infinite props to Vancouver's downtown, which I love beyond words. But your retail figure is way off. I say that (1) because this link says the metro had 61,000,000 sf of retail while the whole city of Vancouver had 18,000,000 sf, in 2001, and (2) because the 30m figure simply wouldn't make sense given typical ratios. Hypothetically, if every Downtown resident did all their shopping Downtown, you'd justify a couple million square feet. I might believe a number like 9,000,000 sf for the Downtown Peninsula, which sounds familiar from another discussion on this topic. http://www.gvrd.bc.ca/growth/pdfs/ComIndustTrends.pdf

Your office figure is closer, but most reports have it in the 20s for the Downtown Peninsula, and I personally haven't seen one that says 30 without going far afield. Here's a recent one, which btw counts an unusually-broad range of space including some government offices and owner-occupied buildings: http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/planning/corejobs/pdf/research/22dtspacebyclass.pdf

But that's just nitpicking from a nitpicker. Downtown Vancouver does have an outstanding mix.

[J. Will]

"Infinite props to Vancouver's downtown, which I love beyond words. But your retail figure is way off. I say that (1) because this link says the metro had 61,000,000 sf of retail while the whole city of Vancouver had 18,000,000 sf, in 2001"

I've seen another source which had metro Vancouver at over 80 million square feet of retail in 2001. That does sound like a lot, but I do know that Vancouver is considered "overretailed". I remember hearing that when Mills Corp. decided it will build malls in Vancouver, Calgary, and Montreal (that was a couple years ago, I have no idea if it will still happen).

As for office space, going from memory, it's around 24 million square feet in the downtown pensinsula, and around 6 million in the Broadway/Fairview area (which could be considered "Greater downtown", especially when the new subway line opens). I also suspect the Fairview area would have higher future growth than the downtown peninsula, as it has more space and probably cheaper land, yet still has great public transit.

[mello]

BTW, insane amount of office space being built in Calgary. Is all this development exclusively for oil companies or is there a large demand from other employers as well such as law firms etc.?

Could someone please answer this question? Thanks, no one from Calgary has explained what is fueling this boom. :shrug:

[Wooster]

Oil and Natural Gas companies dominate the market downtown along with other oilfield service companies. There is also a large precence of banks and law firms right downtown.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Could someone please answer this question? Thanks, no one from Calgary has explained what is fueling this boom. :shrug:

Calgary is the energy-firm capital of Canada, which are making tons of money from the development of "oil sands" projects in northern Alberta. This energy boom is spinning off lots of echo-booms, especially in construction, and this has created very large influxes of new residents from Canada and abroad. That's it in a nutshell.

[Wooster]

Also, Calgary's downtown office rents are the most expensive in Canada and second only to Midtown Manhattan in North America. This is due to having the lowest office vacancy in the world. Below 1.0%

[mello]

so basically calgary is like the land of milk and honey right now? Everyone is rolling in bentleys and making mad cash off the oil sands? Shit how can I get in on this? Sounds like the good ole days.... Is it tough to get in to those industries? Is stock soaring in these companies? Let a brotha in on the secret.... Shhheeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiit

[Paper Boy]

so basically calgary is like the land of milk and honey right now? Everyone is rolling in bentleys and making mad cash off the oil sands? Shit how can I get in on this? Sounds like the good ole days.... Is it tough to get in to those industries? Is stock soaring in these companies? Let a brotha in on the secret.... Shhheeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiit

I do not have a Bentley.....Any of you other Calgary forumers?:jester:

[Calgarian]

I do not have a Bentley.....Any of you other Calgary forumers?:jester:

I don't even have a CAR!

I do see lots of Bentleys, Rolls, Ferrari's, Porsche's, benzes, Bimmers, Maseratti's....

[Xelebes]

Calgary gets the massive skyscrapers, Edmonton gets the massive industrial complexes.

[Calgarian]

Calgary gets the massive skyscrapers, Edmonton gets the massive industrial complexes.

I think we get the better end of this deal.

[The Chemist]

I think we get the better end of this deal.

Indeed. This board is skyscraperpage.com, after all - not massiveindustrialcomplexpage.com. :D

[Xelebes]

I hope Redwater's refinery will be 200 m tall!

[mello]

So what is downtown Calgary like at street level? Is it super bustling? When you are tucked deep within that dense skyline does it feel like you are in Manhattan, Chicago, Toronto, or San Francisco?

Dare I say that after "The Bow" and all these other office towers are built Calgary's skyline will blow the doors off..... LA *gulp*?? Interesting concept

[J. Will]

So what is downtown Calgary like at street level? Is it super bustling? When you are tucked deep within that dense skyline does it feel like you are in Manhattan, Chicago, Toronto, or San Francisco?

Dare I say that after "The Bow" and all these other office towers are built Calgary's skyline will blow the doors off..... LA *gulp*?? Interesting concept

Downtown Calgary can feel kind of sterile in spots, but I like it. There's probably around 1000 shops + restaurants, including three department stores. That's more retail than downtowns of some metro areas of 3-4 million people. Granted I haven't been there in a number of years, and from what I hear it's improved greatly.

[Calgarian]

During the day it is really busy, but outside of 9-5 it is pretty much dead. That should start to change soon though.

[Wooster]

The CBD except Stephen Ave, like any business district is quiet after hours. Like any downtown the areas on the periphery of the business district are where the nightlife is. Many people confuse CBD as being all of downtown.

[Calgarian]

The CBD except Stephen Ave, like any business district is quiet after hours. Like any downtown the areas on the periphery of the business district are where the nightlife is. Many people confuse CBD as being all of downtown.

yeah, you're right Josh. Downtown definitely includes the West End, Eau Claire, the East Village and the Beltline. Not just the core. I live right beside 17th ave (the edge of the downtown neigbourhood called the Beltline for those non-Calgarians) and it is pretty busy up until about 4AM every night of the week.

[CtrlAltDel]

This is what Calgary's downtown is in for. Increased residential density in the beltline (to the left) and office towers in the CBD. Plus there are still projects yet to be released, which I'll add in when more information is available.
Before
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/1116/aerialcalgaryqr0.th.jpg (http://img509.imageshack.us/my.php?image=aerialcalgaryqr0.jpg)
After
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/7138/aerial2012hj4.th.jpg (http://img227.imageshack.us/my.php?image=aerial2012hj4.jpg)

[Calgarian]

Thanks Devin, these are great as usual.

[ssiguy]

I think I said before but whatever.................
Went to the city of Calgary website/communities and it said that the Beltline gained no population between 2000 to 2005,

[Calgarian]

I think I said before but whatever.................
Went to the city of Calgary website/communities and it said that the Beltline gained no population between 2000 to 2005,

That is obviously wrong then.

[Calgarian]

I'm surprised no has commented on CtrlAltDel's rendering, it exemplifies the fairly drastic change that is going on in this city.

[Bassic Lab]

That is obviously wrong then.

Not really. You have to remember that very few of the projects in the Beltline were finished construction in that period. Most condo developments were still heading to the west end. The Beltline projects on the other hand are generally still being biult out, with only what, Emerald Stone, Sasso, Chocolate, Vantage Pointe, and Stella with occupants and only the first really fit in the 2000-2005 timeline.

The real transformation is yet to come, as the full developments come to completion, we'll be looking at a 50% increase in the Beltline population within maybe five years, ten tops.

[M II A II R II K]

Impressive, hopefully they can throw in a 1000 footer or 2. Maybe even a Trump Tower Calgary one day perhaps.

[bob1954]

Yea, a couple of 1000 footers and a couple of 900's. Things are getting pretty slow trolling thru old threads!