CALGARY DEVELOPMENT - Media Article Repository

[Coldrsx]

^
"Geo-Energy Enterprises."

reminds me of when lisa simpson is the face of the slurry company

[atlas_inc]

Calgary, as the dreamers saw it
A guide to Utopia, alta. (a highway runs through it)

Calgary Herald February 28, 2009


Close your eyes and lean forward. You're on the 66th and top floor of McIntyre Plaza in downtown Calgary.

To the west, tombstones at Shaganappi cemetery look like grey pebbles, and the monorail zooms above both Louise Bridges.

To the north, there's the Prince's Island Museum, just beyond the downtown penetrator freeway. East of City Hall, a canal traverses Mount Royal College.

Welcome to the Calgary that Could Have Been.

In a city with a mythology of risk-takers, dusty shelves are full of proposals and blueprints promising a Calgary that's either more car-dominated or transit-friendly, and with snazzier and bigger buildings to rival (or mimic) New York or Paris.

Today, the Herald explores the Calgary that never was--examining bold civic ideas that never turned into reality. But we're not the only organization looking back.

As city hall planners prepare to release a draft next month of their own ideas for a better Calgary --dubbed Plan It--they are wary of the past's failures and vow to learn from them.

"The only sure thing in planning is that it will never be followed exactly as planned," says David Watson, Calgary's general manager of planning.

Here is a look at the Calgary that could have been, but only exists today in the pages of history books or in pictures on a wall.

MAWSON PLAN

He was the father of Calgary idealism, the planner who dreamed of central parks, boating bays and grand civic plazas.

Thomas Mawson was never actually a Calgarian, but his 1914 plan got locals excited about a "Vienna on the Bow."

Still does, in a way.

"It's inspiring. It was a grand vision for what the city could have been,"Watson says. In his City Hall office is a framed copy of the Mawson Plan's watercolour of an unrecognizably neoclassical Calgary.

The image of 4th Street West resembles great cities of Europe and Mawson's native Britain. A bridge leads to Prince's Island Park, where Mawson wanted a museum. The span is flanked by two artificial docking bays for leisure boating.

On mainland is his baroque civic centre, a wide commons surrounded by majestic buildings--a city hall, post office, auditorium and perhaps a university.

Mawson, who was also commissioned to plan Vancouver's Stanley Park, envisioned large circle roads for Calgary, offering more fluidity than the grid system. To shield pedestrians from weather extremes, he proposed replacing sidewalks with arcades like the ones along the Bay building.

And parks, parks everywhere.

"City planning is not the attempt to pull down your city and rebuild it at ruinous expense," Mawson said in a 1912 Calgary lecture. "It is merely deciding what you would like to have done when you get the chance, so that when the chance does come, little by little you may make the city plan conform to your ideals."

The grand vision had a shocking price tag: up to $10 million in 1914, or about $4 billion in today's dollars.

It also suffered from terrible timing: the First World War broke out months later, worsening a sharp economic decline. The city struggled even to pay Maw-son, let alone implement his designs.

Another of them was a Centre Street bridge ending on the Bow River's north shore, with an elevator carrying people and cars up the bluffs.

Elements of the planner's vision exist in today's Calgary, from the riverbank parks to the Olympic Plaza/ City Hall area, initially meant to recreate Mawson's civic centre.

GOLFER'S GRAVEYARD

Feel an eerie breeze on the eighth fairway at Shaganappi Point Golf Course? It was supposed to be Calgary's first cemetery, and actually was in 1884. Eight years later, the city deemed the soil too rocky and moved 75 corpses to Union Cemetery.

If 1970s-era mayor Rod Sykes had his way, nine holes would now be social housing.

THE DOWNTOWN PENETRATOR

The postwar oil boom drew hordes of head offices to Calgary. In turn, a 1950s and 1960s concrete renaissance reshaped the downtown skyline.

But 50 years ago, civic leaders felt their core was hemmed in by the Bow River to the north and the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks to the south. They pitched a bold solution to CPR: move your tracks to the river, so downtown can spread out--and we'll throw in a superhighway along the rails.

Businessmen, politicians and the press hailed the rerouting in 1963. But a year later, council killed the plan amid bickering and cost issues, says historian Max Foran, who is researching a book on the CPR-city saga.

"It was the biggest thing not to happen to Calgary," he says. "This one would have changed the downtown face of the city --and now the railway is still a big barrier." (yeah and a giant freeway wouldn't have?)

But part of the plan remained.

In 1968, the Calgary Transportation Study called for highways all over: Crowchild Trail, Blackfoot Trail, a 14th Street West freeway, Anderson Trail, and a mighty Bow Trail. A bigger Bow freeway would have sliced between 2nd and 3rd avenues downtown, linking the sprawling west and east neighbourhoods to a core that was expected to face double the traffic by 1986.

The downtown "penetrator" (in unironic planner-speak) was six to 10 lanes. If built, swooping exit and on-ramps would spill Mustangs and Skylarks onto downtown streets and parkades built right into the system.

The city would demolish some 400 homes, many in low-income areas. A decade before Calgary's heritage movement, the Centre Street, Louise and Langevin bridges would be replaced with more modern, utilitarian spans.

Chinatown would be relocated--it was unclear where--to its leaders' horror.

"This was a time when Calgary seemed to be run by onward and upward type of people who didn't have much time for the poor," former mayor Sykes says. In 1971, he helped spike the project in favour of transit spending.

Part of the freeway scheme was rebranded the East Calgary Downtown Penetrator. It survived until the mid-1970s, opposed by the Inglewood and Ramsay communities it would have imperilled.

Yet, the plan did give Calgary the Bow Trail leading to down-town, and its one-way feeders on 4th and 5th Avenues.

BIG AND BIGGER

EnCana's 58-storey Bow would be a dwarf in a world where the 1980s bust never happened.

Among things the energy crash rendered nearly worthless were blueprints for skyline-toppers downtown: a second Bank of Montreal tower (64 storeys), the Bay Park Plaza (63-storey twins), and McIntyre Plaza (66) --all in a row along 7th Ave SW. Those sites now host a parkade, park and the smaller Barclay Centre, respectively.

EAST VILLAGE

The penetrator and rail plans would have destroyed much of what's now the East Village, but in 1960s era thinking that wasn't so terrible.

The area was called Churchill Park, an industrial neighbourhood that even city literature called "skid row." Leaders deemed it a prime spot for urban renewal.

Redevelopment over the years took on many shapes that never took form.

The University of Calgary may have recently pushed for an East Village campus, but in the 1960s, it was seen as the natural expansion site for Mount Royal Junior College.

The school ultimately decided on Lincoln Park in the south after the Stampede decided not to relocate there.

As Calgary brass were trying to nail the 1988 Olympics bid in 1981, then-mayor Ralph Klein proposed to International Olympic Committee delegates twin pyramidlike towers for the media village.

"Proposal" was a very loose term, however. "We just told the architect: draw us up something that looks good," says Rod Love, Klein's former aide.

"It's never gonna happen, but we just need it to show something to the IOC."

In 2000, a private consortium tapped by City Hall presented a $10-billion East Village makeover with vibrant streetside cafes, thousands of condo units and highrises along the river's edge.

Developers mesmerized the city with a streak of Venice--a canal running through the project along a 5th Street East renamed Canal Street.

The scenic canal wouldn't use Bow River water, they explained. A pump system would recirculate filtered water through it.

Aldermen canned the development group in 2002. Rather than Canal Street, the city-run developer is now building a destination walkway on the Bow.

UNSPOILED NATURE

Some see Calgary's parkland as natural beauty amid urban sprawl. Others see it as a barrier.

Civic resistance over the years has kept Nose Hill Park undeveloped, forced Deerfoot Trail to run around--not through --Fish Creek Park, and last decade kept freeway bridges out of Weaselhead Flats, Sandy Beach and Edworthy Park.

Lingering concerns still hamper ever-shrinking plans for a new community on Paskapoo Slopes by Canada Olympic Park.

UNDERGROUND OR OVERHEAD

Monorail!

It's a Jetsons-style fantasy, Disneyland ride and a fantastic premise for a Simpsons episode all in one.

For a few years, it was a what-if for a city devising its rapid-transit system.

The 1968 transportation study concluded Calgary needed a train network --either a subway or an elevated train.

A Philadelphia-based engineering firm pitched various options, including monorails.

One intriguing type was the Safege Monorail, with cars suspended beneath the track. At the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair, it reached speeds of under eight miles per hour, or 67 mph less than its stated top speed.

As proposed, stations would link to the proposed Plus-15 system, but the city would have to construct massive storage and maintenance bays for the monorail.

Early estimates pegged the first 16 kilometres of any sky-train at $52 million.

Even the consultants cautioned that the public love of monorails was based on their novelty.

City planners gave the subterranean option more credence, having mulled it since the late 1950s, recalls former transit manager Bill Kuyt.

But a tunnel 10 metres beneath 8th Avenue might further damage basement walls of the Ave's old buildings, a feasibility study warned. Construction crews could work totally underground, or briefly turn the street into a giant open pit.

"I said we just plainly cannot afford it. It was about 11 times more costly than (above ground)," Kuyt says.

But Kuyt knew the city would eventually need trains too long and fast for street-level downtown.

He ensured no major utilities were laid under 8th Avenue.

And when the new City Hall went up in the 1980s, a 150-metre-long tunnel and transit station were constructed beneath it.

"Sooner or later, some-body will want to do it: let's make sure they can," Kuyt recalls thinking. A subway remains in Calgary's long-range LRT plans.

The tunnel's entrance can be spotted if you look right as the southbound C-Train passes City Hall. The underground station remains off-limits, though it's been pondered as an art gallery while it awaits its proper use.

THE OTHER LAKEVIEW

In Canada's Centennial year, Lake Bonavista was hailed as Canada's first community built around a man-made lake.

Years earlier, there was a luxury suburb named Lakeview Heights planned around a water body near 33rd Avenue N. E., but it was never built.

Would those well-heeled Calgarians tolerate a major airport becoming their neighbour?

The slough and prairie around it ultimately became McCall Lake Golf Course.

The Ballad of Fire Park

Calgary boasts another tunnel that, for now, goes nowhere. You can spot its entrance along Memorial Drive's eastbound exit ramp to Barlow Trail.

That tunnel stretches underneath Memorial and leads to a spread that boasts a warehouse, a bus stop and a lonely looking Firestone tower.

It also leads to a remarkable story involving a German entrepreneur, a failed country-music festival, an environmental controversy and the sudden death of a former mayor.

When Firestone's tire plant closed in 1978, its courtiers included an American movie studio that wanted it for production facilities.

But the winner was Bavarian Lion Co., led by Werner Ehret, a man one report says introduced gumball machines to West Germany.

The following February, he unveiled his $150-million vision for Ehret Centre--a complex with a trade centre, aquarium, hotel, mall and a 20,000-seat coliseum to attract an NHL team.

Ehret soon pledged to name it Don MacKay coliseum, days after the 1950sera Calgary mayor suffered a fatal heart attack while touring the Barlow-at-Memorial site.

By March, arena plans were shelved. Then, Ehret converted the tire plant to an 8,000-seat auditorium for the inaugural Stampede Festival.

Sparse crowds came for the first shows with Buck Owens and Loretta Lynn, before organizers cancelled the rest of the week's concerts, including Carl Perkins.

By August, the whole plan was dead.

Ehret returned in 1980, pitching a "second downtown" of apartment towers, retail and office space linked to the coming C-Train station. The city rejected, approved, then delayed it, as Bavarian Lion paid for the access tunnel to serve the community. This plan, too, died by 1984 amid deep recession.

The Wheat Pool and Amoco oil company also flirted with "Fire Park" for their offices.

But before a flea market registered its interest, environmental officials discovered a toxic PCB leak from the former plant's transformers, triggering a drawn-out battle.

The company sold the site in 1996 to Montreal-based Yale Properties.

Now fully clean, Fire Park is zoned for suburban offices, and Yale has had talks with several companies over the years, says senior vice-president Gordon Parker.

"We're waiting for all the numbers to line up," he says.

"But one day this will be a beautiful development."

NEW YORK, EAU CLAIRE

In 1999, a taste of the Big Apple was destined for 3rd Avenue S. W.--a 16-storey office building modelled after the Empire State Building.

"Timeless architecture," the developer called it.Hahahahaha! Timeless!

Economics killed plans for this near-replica.

Today, the block containing the Old Spaghetti Factory and the French Maid strip club is touted to become a five-star hotel.

EPILOGUE: BACK TO THE FUTURE

Depending on if your glass is half-full or half-empty, Calgary's map is either pocked with a slew of exciting future projects or a bunch of dreams that will form the 2059 edition of the Calgary that Could Have Been.

Since a few condo projects have already fallen victim to the current recession, will all these big plans happen?: - new footbridges and transit crossings over the Bow and Elbow Rivers? - an Olds College campus at Stampede Park? - the transit-oriented projects at several LRT stations? - the subway, again? - the ambitions of next month's draft release of Plan It Calgary, termed a "megamap" to guide future development?

Patricia Gordon, leader of the sprawl-limiting and sustainability-loving Plan It project, says the document proposes continuous targets over 60 years to help city hall to stay on course toward a more livable Calgary.

"And it depends on when it's all viable," Gordon says. "Market activity remains the engine, but we've got to start being the pilot."

Jason Markusoff
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

[mooky]

Bridging the gap in pedestrian transit
In Transit by Chris Phalen
March 02, 2009 05:43



If high-end design can uplift Calgary’s spectre of architecture, and include measures of transit infrastructure, I am all for it, especially the Santiago Calatarva-commissioned foot bridges to gap the Bow.

You’ve got to love Coun. Druh Farell, stout and pushing the perceptibly gaudy investment of $25 million to bring these bridges to fruition, even in the midst of a global recession.

But architects agree that thoughtful urban design can improve quality of life, a sure investment with greater returns than the most-obvious functions of design.

It’s about the poetics of space, or in this case, the meaning and effects of what a pedestrian bridge represents.

“The bridge is one of the most potent structures man creates,” said David Fortin, a local architect now teaching architectural design and history at Montana State University.

“The connection between two things has not just structural implications, but philosophical and poetic ones as well.”

Fortin explained pedestrian bridges “stitch the fragments of our cities together in a unique way, by heightening our experience of what it means to ‘connect.’”

And while less visionary citizens and leaders will forever be linked more to their bottom lines, philosophies of cost reduction and a focus on simple function, I suspect it’s just as important to recognize wealth in daily relationships with our community, including structures.

Bringing in a globally renowned architect like Calatrava to design the bridges also sends the right message to the greater Calgary public.

With this investment, council is saying, “we care about Calgary’s image as a major international city, and we are ready to move away from the primarily banal personality lingering amidst the urban landscape.”

“A couple of fresh and visually compelling additions along the Bow do make sense for the city by contributing to its evolving global identity,” said Fortin.

When you think of the greatest cities in the world it is no accident that some are identified by their bridges, but Calgary’s proposed pedestrian bridges signify an “urban maturity” and desire to exist in a well-designed city.

A sign perhaps that people like it here and, despite the get-rich-quick, get-out-of-town attitude prevalent in our city, people want to stay.

© Metro News 2009

[atlas_inc]

REAL ESTATE 101:

Plan for a long-term investment

Myke Thomas, Editor Calgary Sun.

Time for some Real Estate 101 and a quote from Don Campbell that ran in a story by Nicole McLaws in the sun last week.
Campbell authored Real Estate Investing In Canada 2.0 and said “People need to be realistic, the last 3 years in Alberta have been Tiger Woods years of real estate. No matter what you did, you won, but that can’t sustain forever.”
No it can’t, but like Woods, the market will bounce back and, said Campbell, Alberta will be at the top of the leader board.
“Alberta still has the 3 things the world is going to need once the recovery hits, and it will. It has food, fuel and fertilizer and those are the things the world needs and needs in abundance.
“The next 18 months will feel like an emotional and economic roller coaster, but if you’re realistic, you’ll find you can make money in an up market, a down market or a flat market.”
Real estate is a long-term investment – at least five years, says Campbell – so, lets go back five years in Calgary’s real estate history.
In January 2005 – and before the math experts jump on me and say that’s four years ago, I’m comparing 2005 to 2009 and that’s five Januarys – figures from the Calgary Real Estate Board showed that the median price of a single-family home was $237,000.
The condo median was $160,000.
In January 2009, the median price of a single-family home was $374,000, while condos came in at a median of $243,000.
In the single-family category, that’s a 58% increase for people who bought at that price and still own the home.
By comparison, if those same people had put $237,000 in the stock market in 2005 and let it ride to January 2009, they would have lost about 58% - if not more – of their investment.
And 2005 is a good year for comparison, other than just Campbell’s suggested five-year window.
Back then, the real estate market in Calgary was in a more balanced state – one year later is had switched entirely to a sellers’ market – there were bidding wars, builders had waiting lists and prices skyrocketed at an unsustainable rate.
As prices rose, a lot of amateur investors got into the market, thinking prices would continue to escalate, but prices peaked in July 2007.
By the time these investors figured out the market had topped, prices were already in a six of seven month decline, but they flooded the market with houses regardless, leading to a glut and further price decreases.
Obviously, if you bought at the height of the frenzy, your house may have lost some value, but being realistic, only if you’re selling now.
If your plan is long term, the value will return and speaking of value, there is plenty of it in the market today, but it would appear a lot of people believe it still hasn't reached bottom.
There might be a little room left, but with mortgage rates where they are now and the many deals available - and those wont last - waiting for prices to drop another $4000 or $5000 will cost you a lot more in the long term.
Trying to predict the bottom could put you in the same boat as the investors who missed out on the peak.

[240glt]

REAL ESTATE 101:

Plan for a long-term investment

Myke Thomas, Editor Calgary Sun.

Excellent synopsis, captain obvious.

[atlas_inc]

Key urban plan to call for sprawl limits, more transit in Calgary

Plan It charts vertical growth, transit boost

It could curb sprawl or stifle the suburban dream. It could chart out the next half-century of Calgary growth or become another batch of proposals found too radical or expensive and consigned to a dust-gathering corner of City Hall.

It -- or more precisely, the draft of Plan It -- will be released today, three years and $6.3 million in the making.

The sweeping blueprint calls for a vastly upgraded transit network, more dense "urban villages" around the city and strict limits on expansion in Calgary's outskirts.

The property development industry is warning Calgarians won't like the 300-page plan and its emphasis on condo projects in existing neighbourhoods rather than new suburbs.

"People are still going to have families and they're going to want a backyard and a fence and they will be willing to drive to it," said Michael Flynn of Urban Development Institute Calgary. "Plan It is a social engineering document, trying to create a market that isn't there. I think they would be better off just letting (free) market forces dictate what's going to happen with our city."

City planners have repeatedly warned that Calgary's decade-long spiral outward is no longer affordable, as new roads and city services must stretch further out as the population declines in fully serviced older suburbs and inner-city neighbourhoods.

Plan It's draft won't block sprawl, but will demand the city accommodate a much larger proportion of its growth in older neighbourhoods -- such as Brentwood, where the city has proposed towers and mid-rises that would add thousands of newcomers and jobs around the C-Train station.

"If you look further down the road at doubling our population then we've got to start taking more actions to try and retool ourselves for that," said Pat Gordon, leader of the Plan It project for the city.

Polls, focus groups and public meetings have captured the input of 5,000 Calgarians over three years for Plan It, a successor of sorts to the Imagine Calgary initiative.

It combines two influential city documents: the transportation plan and municipal development plan. It will be displayed at open houses that start today, before aldermen determine its final shape at a June public hearing.

Council has already approved Plan It's key directions -- such as linking all land-use decisions to transit, and making better use of existing infrastructure -- but concerns from business groups and others have delayed this draft's release.

Ald. Dale Hodges, an admitted skeptic, said Plan It has served to keep a bunch of city consultants well paid.

He's also worried about the soaring costs of its multi-decade proposal to create a citywide system of bus and train routes with service every five to 10 minutes.

"We cannot build it unless we have an awful lot more money from some unknown source, and the people of Calgary should not be hit up for this," he said.

Inner-city aldermen like Druh Farrell and Joe Ceci have been more positive about Plan It, saying it will produce a more vibrant and environmentally friendly Calgary.

It will also recommend a new pathway system for cycling commuters and some transit-only bridges across the Bow and Elbow rivers -- but not for decades from now.

Aside from the developers' consistent concerns, the project faced controversy last week when Chinese Calgarians decried a consultant's report for Plan It that suggested the city avoid development of new "Asian malls."

The city removed all references to Asian malls from the report, and said nothing in Plan It will single out ethnic communities.

Gordon said a denser, more transit-focused city would fare better in a recessionary economy.

"Cities around the world face these economic shocks and potentially physical shocks with changes in our climate so we want to be as adaptable and resilient as can be," she said.

The plan will also suggest ways Calgary can cope with a tighter water supply and hotter weather that global-warming experts say is coming.

jmarkusoff@theherald.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

[atlas_inc]

Condos near south Calgary LRT line stalled
Market delays Chinook project finish till at least 2015

By Joel Kom, Calgary Herald March 11, 2009 7:08 AM

The economic downturn is delaying a Macleod Trail project that's part of the city's first foray into transit-oriented development --another victim of the softening real estate market.

The site near the Chinook C-Train station was originally intended to feature an office tower and condos by next year. But after going through a long planning process that ended just as the financial crash began, the site's owner says the earliest things will be finished now is 2015.

"Everything's on hold because of the market," said Don Sandford, CEO of Lansdowne Equity Ventures Ltd., which owns two other properties along Macleod Trail. "With the market demand the way it is for major projects, I don't think anybody will be doing anything with our properties until the market changes."

The 1.2-hectare parcel of land at the corner of 60th Avenue and Macleod Trail isn't notable for its size, but for the role it played in launching the city's highly touted and occasionally controversial entry into transit-oriented planning.

Those kinds of projects feature high-density residential, commercial and office developments built near major transit hubs--which in Calgary's case are C-Train stations--with the aim of reducing dependence on private vehicles.

The Chinook-area redevelopment, dubbed the International Harvester, was part of the template for other transit-oriented projects near the Brentwood and Anderson stations. It got city support to move ahead last year and will eventually sport residential, office, retail and possibly hotel space.

Despite the delay, the site's fundamental value and the transit-oriented concept are still strong, Sandford said.

"To me, (the concept) is going to be a positive thing because it's going to let you create communities around LRT stations," he said.

Ald. Joe Ceci, who backs development around transit stations, said holding off was the right move.

"They've got a beautiful idea, but for the time being, it's the reality of the market situation," he said.

Ceci pointed to nearby projects still slated to go, including Chinook Centre's ongoing expansion and a 300-unit afford-able housing project.

Lai Sing Louie, senior market analyst in Calgary for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., said the Harvester project won't be the last to be put on hold.

"Down the pipeline, don't expect all of those that are approved to be started," Louie said.

Condo projects are especially vulnerable, he said, noting there were just 22 multi-family housing starts last month, compared with 589 in February 2007.

The transit-oriented concept has won a seal of approval from a Canada West Foundation report that chastised Calgary for encouraging urban sprawl in the past and praised it for its new transit-centred path. The biggest obstacle to transit-oriented planning can come from community opposition, the report said.

Calgary itself has seen some vocal protests, most notably around the Anderson and Brentwood projects.

"Other cities have had to go through the same process," said Phil Boname, an urban development consultant who co-wrote the report. "Ironically, after the smoke clears, the type of development that occurs isn't as impactful as what was anticipated, and property values haven't gone down, they often go up."

Ald. Ric McIver, who joined some community members in opposing parts of the Anderson plan, said development around transit is a good idea, but the city has to promote the benefits of the plans instead of ramming the projects through.

"Trying to bulldoze over people will mean a pushback," he said.

jkom@theherald.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

[atlas_inc]

Dramatic increase in Calgary vacancies

Canwest News Service March 19, 2009 1:01 PM

News Service - TORONTO -- Alberta is leading a widespread jump in office vacancies across Canada because of a dramatic loosening in Calgary’s tight commercial real estate market in the last three months.

In Calgary, demand for commercial space continues to be impacted by sliding energy prices.

Total overall vacancy rates in the city jumped to 8.1% in the 90-day period to mid-March 2009 from 4.3% in the previous corresponding period, according to the National Office and Industrial Trends First Quarter Report from CB Richard Ellis Ltd., released Thursday.

"Capital investment in the province’s energy sector has been scaled back, while Alberta’s first provincial deficit in years contributed to business uncertainty in the first quarter," CBRE said in the report, which it uses to record trends and provide forecasts for clients.

A spokesman for CBRE said the figures are unlikely to be adjusted for the period between the middle and the end of the month and that allows the firm to refer to the report as a quarterly one.

The dramatic increase in Calgary vacancies means the Alberta city has gone from having the lowest percentage of available commercial real estate among Canada’s largest cities to one of the highest.

The figures will be watched closely by developers who are committed to building billions of dollars worth of new office construction in the city. H&R Real Estate Investment Trust had been struggling to finance the huge 58-storey Bow tower, EnCana Corp.’s future headquarters, but appears to be pressing ahead with the project.

Challenging economic conditions in the manufacturing, retail and resources sectors -- coupled with access to capital constraints -- all contributed to rising commercial real estate vacancy rates across the country in the first quarter of 2008.

Commercial real estate vacancy rates in both downtown and suburban markets rose from 6.3% to 7.5%, year-over-year.

Meanwhile, net absorption, aided by increased commercial inventory and rising unemployment, continued to decline, from 2,642,611 to 2,013,229 square feet, year-over-year.

"The residual effects of the Canadian economic downturn continued to impact first quarter commercial real estate market conditions," said John O’Bryan, vice-chairman, CB Richard Ellis. "In almost all cases, vacancies remained broadly based -- a trend we expect to continue for the balance of 2009 -- while more news regarding the slowing Canadian economy continues to surface."

Sublet space during the first quarter also increased, from 3,827,568 to 6,329,040 square feet, year-over-year, as more companies nationwide have begun "reconsidering their need for underutilized office space," said CBRE.

Western Canada, which has been harder-hit by falling energy prices and a decline in the resource sector, saw a steeper rise in vacancy rates, while Central Canada, with its more mature commercial real estate market, saw much less vacant office space, said the report. Several factors, including the completion of several landmark developments in Toronto and the continuing uncertainty in Ottawa’s tech market, are expected to boost vacancy rates in those cities in the coming quarters.

© Copyright (c) National Post

[atlas_inc]

Calgary condo tower on hold; developer seeks bankruptcy protection
'New financing' sought for 42-storey Arriva project

By Mario Toneguzzi And Kathy McCormick, Calgary Herald April 7, 2009 6:44 AM

A high-profile residential condominium tower near Stampede Park has been put on hold after the owner of the site recently filed for protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act.

Calgary developer John Torode told the Herald on Monday work has stopped on the 42-storey second tower of the Arriva condo project in the old Victoria Park neighbourhood which has about 60 per cent of its 221 units pre-sold.

"What we've done is put that limited partnership which is the owner of that site -- the second tower -- into CCAA (Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act)," said Torode, president of Torode Realty Advisors Ltd.

"What that does is gives us a chance to restructure the deal which would include finding new financing.The financing we had with the bank did not go well given the credit crunch and we think that we need to find alternative financing to proceed with the tower."

The Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act is a federal act that allows financially troubled corporations the opportunity to restructure their affairs. By allowing the company to restructure its financial affairs, through a formal Plan of Arrangement, the CCAA presents an opportunity for the company to avoid bankruptcy and allows the creditors to receive some form of payment for amounts owing to them by the company, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Torode said it could take anywhere from one month to six months for the financial restructuring to take place.

The Arriva project includes a 34-storey tower that has been built and is close to sold out.Torode also recently announced that a planned third tower, which was to be another condo complex, would be a boutique hotel instead. A fourth tower that was part of the original plan was cancelled early in the development process.

The project is on a block between 12th Avenue S. E. and 11th Avenue S.E. and Olympic Way. At the construction site, small signs by Torode Construction Ltd., on the fence, say: "The Arriva 42 project is on-hold and this job site is secured and not operational."

Several condo projects in recent months have been delayed or cancelled in Calgary.

"There's been a number of projects stopped and I think many of them have to do with financing. We're no different," said Torode. "The financing market is difficult. We're committed to this project and we want to see it through to completion, but you can't do it without construction financing. So that's in a nutshell the bottom line."

Torode has a number of proposed projects for the Victoria Park area and Ramsay, but he said the filing under Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act is unrelated to the other projects. Each of those projects has its own investors and owners and they will each proceed or not proceed based on what decisions are made for those projects, he said.

But Torode also said: "Well, certainly we wouldn't start one of the other ones if this one's (Arriva) not going. This is sort of the key project. And you know phase one has turned out very well."

He said work has stopped on the project now. The tower is at grade on one side and close to grade on the other side.

"It's 20 per cent built, and we hope to finish building to grade -- and ideally, to build the whole tower," he said. "I will still be looking after the site because it is partially built, and all deposits received from buyers are insured."

"If credit markets loosen, we hope to get financing to build."

Recently it was reported that the City of Calgary is monitoring nine condo projects that have been halted due to the slowing economy. Eight of the nine sites are in the Beltline.

According to Lai Sing Louie, senior market analyst in Calgary for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., there were 7,039 condos under construction at the end of February in the Calgary census metropolitan area. That's down 12.6 per cent from a year ago when it was 8,052.

Louie said the number of condos under construction in the Calgary area is expected to continue to decline as more units are completed and the rate of starts slows down as well.

In February, the Altus Group Housing Report said new unsold condominiums are becoming a concern in the Calgary market. The report said most of the unsold units in Calgary are already completed or under construction and the expected decline in new condo apartment sales this year could lead to a"sizable"increase in the number of completed and vacant units.

"Many buildings in Calgary began construction with less than 50 per cent of the units pre-sold," said the Altus Group Economic Consulting report.

There are indicators of a "much more serious problem for Calgary," said the Altus Group. Those indicators include a high level of condominium starts in 2008 (5,335 units) and a high level of condos under construction. The pace of condo starts has also declined "dramatically" since the end of July, but "very few projects in Calgary have been formally cancelled so far."

"Excessive investor activity has also been a concern in Calgary," said the Altus Group report. "While the percentage of condominium apartment units offered for rent declined in Calgary between 2007 and 2008, the vacancy rate rose significantly from 0.7 per cent to 3.5 per cent."

The report said there is "clearly a large oversupply of product" in Calgary and" more project cancellations would help move the market back into balance more quickly."

The Arriva announcement is the second major construction project in Calgary in the past week to be affected by the current economic malaise.

Last week, H&R Real Estate Investment Trust announced it was deferring the south block of the Bow skyscraper project and construction for the time being would be stopped at grade level on that site.

---------

Arriva Towers Facts - The Arriva Towers are a planned complex of three high-rise towers in Calgary. One has been built. - The project is located in Victoria Park. - The towers were designed to have 34 to 42 storeys, making them the highest residential buildings in Alberta. - The buildings were designed by BKDI Architects, and developed by Torode Reality Ltd. TRL also owns the Hotel Arts, Kensington Riverside Inn and other development projects.

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

[atlas_inc]

New height cap on Holy Cross site development

Calgary Herald April 7, 2009 7:14 AM

City Hall - Redevelopment of the controversial Holy Cross site moved one step closer to reality Monday, though opposition from Mission residents prompted the local alderman to seek a lower height for any new building.

City council approved a land-use redesignation that clears the way for residential and other development at the former hospital site.

But before that happened, Ald. John Mar won backing to reduce the structure's maximum height from 22 to 20 storeys after hearing residents say a tall tower would stick out in Mission.

Peter Atkinson, with the Cliff Bungalow-Mission Community Association, said while it wants a strong, urban development, the group has concerns about the maximum height, which would have been 17 metres higher than any other nearby structure.

A specific plan for buildings on the site wasn't before council Monday, but Atkinson said it's easier to deal with that concern now.

Several residents said they are still concerned about the height.

The development, being led by Poon McKenzie Architects, still has to clear several other hurdles before construction can begin. The former hospital was closed and the site sold by the province as part of cutbacks in the 1990s.

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

[atlas_inc]

http://dcnonl.com/article/id33841

May 22, 2009

Calgary transit system to get $270 million upgrade

CALGARY

Ottawa and Alberta are each setting aside up to $90 million for transit improvements in Calgary as part of infrastructure stimulus spending.

The announcement was made by federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice and Alison Redord, Alberta Justice Minister and MLA for Calgary Elbow.

“Investments in public transit will not only create jobs and stimulate the economy, but will also leave the lasting links that will pave the way for Calgary’s growth and prosperity in the future,” Prentice said.

The total cost of the priority project identified in the Calgary package is about $270 million.

The federal government would contribute up to one-third of total eligible costs, to a maximum federal contribution of $90 million. The province is providing $90 million and the balance of the funding will be provided by the City of Calgary.

The priority project identified in the Calgary package includes a number of improvements including: construction of a light rail transit station; electronic fare collection; transit signal priority projects; a passenger information system; light rail traction power upgrades, expanded transit parking lots and the creation of four car stations and associated trackwork, along with road improvements.

Construction is expected to begin this year. A light rail transit station included in the project will begin construction next year.

DCN News Services

[atlas_inc]

EnCana pursues downtown Calgary land deal


BY KIM GUTTORMSON, CALGARY HERALD
MAY 28, 2009 8:01 AM


CALGARY - EnCana and the Calgary Urban Project Society are working on a deal that would see the energy giant buy the social agency’s building, opening up the possibility of a complete redevelopment of a key downtown block, sources say.

With the purchase, EnCana and the City of Calgary would have an interest in all the land between 6th and 7th avenues and Centre and 1st streets S.E. — the block across from the Bow tower, the future home of EnCana. The block includes the Regis Hotel and the Royal Canadian Legion No. 1, which are both heritage buildings.

The future of the police headquarters on the northeast corner of the site could also be up for discussion, particularly with the recent purchase of the former Nortel site in the northeast for a police campus and ongoing speculation a new downtown location will be sought for administration.

Any deal between the society and EnCana would result in CUPS — which provides services to the city’s homeless population — moving to a nearby site.

“It’s no secret CUPS has been in the process of looking for future opportunities and we have been for a long time,” said Tim Stock-Bateman, CUPS senior director of external relations.

“I think when an opportunity presents itself for CUPS to expand its services and to offer services in a better, more custom-fit facility, we look forward to doing that in conjunction with a community partner and, at this point, we’re having those discussions with EnCana.

“There is still, from our perspective, a question mark about a suitable facility.”

EnCana spokesman Alan Boras would only say the company doesn’t comment on transactions that aren’t completed.

Sources say that there is an agreement between the two to exchange buildings.

Since EnCana began assembling land on the two blocks straddling 6th Avenue to accommodate its new headquarters, there has been talk of the company purchasing the CUPS building. While open to selling its building, CUPS always said it needed to first find a new location.

According to sources, there is a building in the Beltline on 10th Avenue S.W. that CUPS is looking at moving into. It appears the existing CUPS building would be exchanged for the new location.

On the 10th Avenue building’s title the owner is a numbered company, which shares an address and post office box with EnCana.

Ald. John Mar, who represents the Beltline, said he has met with representatives of CUPS and is aware there could be a development permit application coming forward “in the near future.”

The 58-storey, Norman Foster-designed Bow tower, which is slated to begin housing EnCana employees in early 2012, is under construction on the block north of 6th Avenue. Steel workers are at the 12th floor, while other crews work on a 1,400-stall underground parkade that stretches between 5th and 7th avenues S.E.

EnCana assembled the land but sold it to H&R Real Estate Investment Trust and has a long-term lease for the steel-and-glass building.

On the south block, a smaller building — seven or eight storeys — will incorporate the facade of the historic York Hotel and include office, retail and cultural space. The start of that phase has been pushed back because of the economy but must be built at some point because of restrictions tied to the development permit.

H&R REIT owns the western half of the south block, which is where the smaller building will be built. It also owns the Regis Hotel, which is being used as the management office for the Bow project but will be turned into a boutique hotel. The city owns the building the legion leases, and both it and the Regis would remain standing because of their heritage status.

The only other buildings on the block are CUPS and the Andrew Davison building, home to the police.

A number of police services will move to the former Nortel site, which the city recently purchased. District 1 has moved to its new office and it’s likely remaining administrative staff will move to a new downtown location.

If the city sells the police property, it would mean a variety of development opportunities on a mostly-empty block.

“We always try to encourage development downtown,” Mayor Dave Bronconnier said. “If there was a proposal coming forward, we would take a good look.”

Stock-Bateman said he thinks CUPS will be in a position “with EnCana, at some point, to make a formal announcement about going forward on the project together.”

kguttormson@theherald.canwest.com

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

[atlas_inc]

Work begins again on stalled condo project

By Joel Kom, Calgary HeraldMay 29, 2009

One of the first condo projects to be halted because of the economic downturn has been restarted this week in a move the area alderman calls "symbolic" for its impact on the Beltline.

Work on the 650-unit Encore site, formerly known as the Gateway-Midtown project, comes on the heels of a sinkhole that cropped up nearby in late April and led to a section of 4th Street S. W. being shut down for nearly two weeks.But with the sinkhole filled in with gravel, construction has begun on the project on 4th Street between 10th and 11th avenues.

"The crane went up (Wednesday)," said Brian Stoddard, CEO of Pointe of View, the project's developer.

Crews are now working on the six-level underground parkade and will eventually build to street level, where a floor of commercial space will be leased out.Those portions of the project are expected to cost around $50 million, Stoddard said.

Half the commercial space is already leased to a well-known national chain, though Stoddard wouldn't name which one.

The Gateway-Midtown property was originally owned by developer Resiance, which dug a hole for the foundation but walked away last fall after saying the project was "financially unfeasible." The site was then under court-appointed receivership, leading to Pointe of View taking it over in March.

"This is symbolic,"Ald. John Mar said of work relaunching. "It was the first site to stop work. It's the first site to restart."

The time was right for work to relaunch, Stoddard said, adding the shoring on the site's walls couldn't be left to sit there.

"You can't leave shoring there like that forever because there's always a concern that the shoring might fail and the road is going to end up slipping into the site," he said.

"We're sensing that the market is turning around, so we think the timing is appropriate for us to have a successful project there."

jkom@theherald. canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

[atlas_inc]

Calgary condo developer unveils stimulus package for prospective buyers
By Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary HeraldJune 2, 2009

CALGARY - A downtown condo developer is taking action to “revitalize home ownership” by introducing its own stimulus package for its highrise residential tower.
Homburg Invest Inc., said it doesn’t want to sit on unsold condos and Tuesday it announced its program for the 19-storey Castello development at 530 12th Ave. S.W.
In the 106-unit building, there are 42 remaining to be sold.
Aside from a 10 per cent down payment, the stimulus package includes that the balance would be paid in two instalments by way of first and second mortgages.
The first mortgage would be at four per cent for a five-year term on only 50 per cent of the purchase price. Payments on the first mortgage are interest payments only, calculated as simple interest.
The second mortgage will be calculated at six per cent, simple interest, for a seven-year term on the remaining 40 per cent of the purchase price. There will be no payments required on the second mortgage until the end of the term where by the accrued interest will be due.
Prices have already been slashed by an average of $100,000 per unit in the condo tower with 60 per cent of the 106 units occupied. Prices range from a low of $400,000 to $1.1 million.
The number of condos under construction in the Calgary census metropolitan area has been in decline since its peak level in May 2008, said Lai Sing Louie, senior market analyst in Calgary for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.
At the end of April, there were 6,746 condo units under construction which was 35 per cent down from the 10,408 units a year ago.
The record level was achieved in May 2008 with 10,746 condo units under construction in the Calgary CMA, said Louie.
In February, a national housing report said new unsold condominiums are becoming a concern in the Calgary market.
The Altus Group Housing Report said most of the unsold units in Calgary are already completed or under construction and the expected decline in new condo apartment sales this year could lead to a “sizable” increase in the number of completed and vacant units.

MTONEGUZZI@THEHERALD.CANWEST.COM
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

[atlas_inc]

Alberta's population sees growth spurt
Province still seen as place of hope
By Richard Cuthbertson, Calgary HeraldJune 24, 2009 7:32 AMComments (1)
CALGARY - Three months ago Jane Sutera decided to leave Kelowna, B. C., and head to Calgary with her boyfriend in search of better career prospects.

The 19-year-old quickly found work as a receptionist with a building supplies company and says Calgary is a great place for young people as it offers real opportunities for job advancement.

"We wanted to try something new," Sutera said of her decision to move. "I'm young and there's just better opportunities in Calgary; there isn't very much in Kelowna."

It appears Sutera is not alone in moving to Alberta.

Alberta's overall population rose 0.59 per cent in the first quarter of this year. That's more than double the national average, according to a Statistics Canada report released Tuesday.

The report finds this province's quickly growing population in the first quarter was in large part due to the highest rate of net interprovincial migration in Canada, where Alberta gained far more people from other provinces than it lost.

Alberta's buoyant interprovincial migration numbers also mark a change from 2007 when, at one point in that year, Alberta was loosing more people to other parts of Canada than it was gaining.

Unlike Alberta, several other provinces and territories lost people to interprovincial migration in the first quarter of 2009.Many of those provinces, however, gained large numbers of international immigrants, with the rising number of non-permanent residents fuelling Canada's highest first quarter population growth rate since 2001.

Despite global and national economic problems, Alberta was still seen as a place for jobs in the first quarter of this year, according to Adam Legge, chief economist for Calgary Economic Development.

"We were relatively more attractive jurisdiction than other places in Canada," Legge said. "I think that spurred people to move here in hopes of finding employment opportunities."

It also appears that fewer people were moving away from Alberta, says Harry Hiller, a professor of sociology at the University of Calgary and author of the book Second Promised Land: Migration to Alberta and the Transformation of Canadian Society.

"There isn't as much incentive for people to move somewhere else because things aren't better anywhere else," he said.

Jobs aren't the sole reason people chose to move to this province, Hiller said. He believes people are attracted to Alberta because many already have friends and family who have moved to the province and established themselves here.

"People move to places where they have people who can assist them in launching their residency in that new community," Hiller said.

"This is because so many people have moved here over the last while--everyone has friends and relatives that they can call upon to help them."

Jobs attract people to Alberta and its cities, Hiller said. But there are also other factors that encourage people to move "up the urban hierarchy."

Some people move to cities like Calgary and Edmonton for better health care than what's offered in rural communities. Others are attracted to an arts and culture scene more substantial than in a small town.

"Why is it that people move to bigger cities?Because bigger cities have a greater variety of opportunities," Hiller said.

Three weeks ago, Andrew David and a friend packed their belongings in car and set out for Alberta.

The 25-year-old from Elliot Lake, Ont. decided to move to Calgary to find better paying work and because he wanted to see the mountains.

David's girlfriend of six years and their two young daughters will soon follow him to Calgary.

"I come from small town Ontario where its hard to find work," he said. "I'm always surfing the Internet, looking at jobs.

"My girlfriend used to live out here and she said that there's a lot more work out here than there is in Ontario. The wages are higher, so we figured we'd take a chance and move out."

The Statistics Canada report finds Alberta's net interprovincial migration was 7,144 in the first quarter, compared with just 2,761 for the same quarter in 2008. The province's net international migration, which has steadily increased in recent years, was 8,801.

Also adding to the total population was a "natural increase" of 5,412. Alberta's population now stands at 3,653,840.

Although interprovincial migration numbers for Alberta were strong in the first quarter, Legge says he suspects there will be a pull back in migration to Alberta in the coming months, as some other provinces, such as Saskatchewan, have better unemployment rates.

"There are other provinces that are lower unemployment that Alberta," Legge said. "So, I think we'll begin to see migratory patterns reflect that."

rcuthbertson@theherald. canwest.com

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

[atlas_inc]

Calgary's building permits double in June


By Lisa Schmidt, Calgary HeraldJuly 7, 2009 10:04 AMBe the first to post a comment

CALGARY - The value of Calgary’s building permits doubled in June, but is still down about one-third since the beginning of the year, Stats Can said Tuesday.

There was $626 million worth of construction permits issued in Calgary in June, twice the amount handed out in May.

Most of the increase came from government and commercial permits, as the value of non-residential applications jumped five-fold. The value of residential permits fell about 40 per cent to $101 million.

In Alberta, the value of construction permits jumped nearly 50 per cent to $1.1 billion. Non-residential projects accounted for most of the gains, as residential permits were down slightly.

The rise in total building permits is encouraging, said one economist, and adds to other signs the worst of the recession has passed.

“However, the good news should be tempered with a liberal dose of caution,” Todd Hirsch, senior economist with ATB Financial, said in a release.

All of the gains were concentrated in a few large non-residential projects in Calgary, he noted.

“Since it is just one month’s worth of permits, it’s hard to argue that this is the beginning of a trend. Outside of Calgary, building permits remain rather weak, particularly for residential construction.”

Across Canada, the total value of building permits rose nearly 15 per cent to $5 billion in June.

Year to date, Calgary’s permits are still lagging last year’s levels, with the total value of permits sitting at $2.3 billion, down about one-third.


lschmidt@theherald.canwest.com

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald





Virginia Galt

Globe and Mail Update Last updated on Tuesday, Jul. 07, 2009 09:15AM EDT

The value of building permits issued in Canada in May surpassed the $5-billion mark for the first time since October, 2008, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday.

This marked an increase of 14.8 per cent from April, with gains in both the residential and non-residential sectors.

The biggest gains were in Calgary, “with all components of the non-residential sector advancing,” Statscan said. Toronto followed with increases in the number of permits issued for multi-family dwellings – condominiums, apartment buildings and townhouses.

The gains surpassed expectations. Economists at the Bank of Montreal had forecast “a roughly flat result.”

Statscan reported that, in the residential sector, the value of permits has increased for three consecutive months.

“In the non-residential sector, the value of permits increased 15.3 per cent to $2.4-billion, following a 12.9 per cent decrease in April. The gain was mainly the result of increases in the institutional component in Alberta and Ontario.”

[atlas_inc]

Bow bridge to salute troops
Alderman says city trying to defuse anger
By Jamie Komarnicki, Calgary Herald July 26, 2009

Calgary's future pedestrian bridge across the Bow River -a $22-million target of taxpayer fury--will resemble a coiled, red-and-white spring and be touted as a tribute to Canada's armed forces, say people familiar with the project.

Official plans won't be released until Aug. 6, but according to a memo obtained by the Herald, the project designed by celebrity architect Santiago Calatrava will be a structural feat, if not wildly stylistic.

Prefabricated steel elements bolted together will give the structure its helical shape, said the memo, written by a Calgarian who was shown the design and briefed on the project as part of the city's consultations.

LED lighting is set to illuminate the 128-metre span. Further, a glass canopy will shelter the coil-like structure, with the six-metre-wide deck platform running through the spiral.

The bridge will be coloured red on the outside and white on the inside. Missing from the design, though, are the arches and spires on which Calatrava built his reputation.

Although the high-profile project has become notorious because of its price tag and well-known designer, city officials now stress that the project's intended aim from the start was to pay homage to the nation's armed forces.

Mayor Dave Bronconnier said in an interview Saturday that the bridge's name will pay respect to the military. City council plans to meet Monday to finalize the name.

While declining to discuss the specifics of the plan, Bronconnier said the Calatrava project has long been associated with the city's overhaul of Memorial Drive.

The message, however, got drowned out in the cries of opposition over the contentious project.

"This will be part of Calgary's celebration towards people who have given so much of themselves," Bronconnier said.

But Ald. Andre Chabot said it's news to him that the bridge will be a tribute to Canadian Forces, adding it's never come up in council deliberations dealing with the project.

Chabot, who opposed the bridge, said he thinks it's a matter of aldermen who supported the project trying to save face.

"It has never, ever, been referenced as such," Chabot said of the Canadian Forces tribute. "It's, I think, just an attempt by somebody to try and make it more appetizing, because the general public were totally incensed about the idea of spending that much money on one pedestrian bridge."

Chabot said that while he opposes the bridge, he would support dedicating it to Canadian Forces if such an idea was introduced to council.

A formal ceremony is being planned with military officials for the fall. When it's completed, scheduled for late 2010, the bridge will be "sort of an homage to the goals behind any Canadian military action," said Ald. Druh Farrell.

Bronconnier called the bridge a "sleek design and a good quality piece of infrastructure."

jkomarnicki@theherald. canwest.com

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

http://www.calgaryherald.com/enterta...215/story.html

[atlas_inc]

CALGARY - It is now cheaper to build major construction projects in Calgary than it was a year ago.

During the boom years, huge projects in the province had a difficult time finishing within budget because of escalating construction costs on a monthly basis.

But economist Dan Sumner, with ATB Financial in Calgary, said that trend has reversed when you look at recent Statistics Canada data.

“With the recession-associated reduction in demand, the cost of building an office tower, factory, or hospital in Alberta is now more reasonable,” said Sumner.

Non-residential construction prices were 13.5 per cent lower year-over-year in Edmonton as of the second quarter of this year and nine per cent lower in Calgary.

“Like energy prices, construction costs soared in the first half of last year,” explained Sumner. “But after peaking in the third quarter, costs have fallen markedly as prices for everything from steel to concrete and even skilled labour has softened.

“The recession may have also removed some of the urgency in terms of completion times for large projects, which means that companies are not forced to pay workers overtime to rush and get buildings completed.”

According to Greg Kwong, regional managing director for CB Richard Ellis Limited in Calgary, there is currently 5,278,850 square feet of downtown office space under construction as well as 1,726,850 square feet in the suburban office market, 806,173 square feet in the industrial real estate market, and 836,908 square feet in the retail market.

The biggest chunk of the downtown office space is from the Bow Tower with two million square feet and Eighth Avenue Place with more than one million square feet.

The Bow is 100 per cent pre-leased to EnCana Corp. while Eighth Avenue Place currently has no pre-leasing in place.

“The nine per cent drop (in construction costs in Calgary) is certainly good news for developers, but the bigger concern is where’s the demand to build new projects,” said Kwong.

Sumner said that although Calgary and Edmonton construction costs have fallen compared with a year ago, relative to where they were in 2002 their rate of increase has been the highest in the country. Construction worth $100 in 2002 now costs $164 in Calgary and $151 in Edmonton, he said. This compares with current prices of $134 in Montreal and $139 in Vancouver.

“Non-residential construction is a lagging indicator,” added Sumner. “Considering commodity prices have remained stable recently and that economic recovery may be slow, construction costs may be set to fall further this summer.”

mtoneguzzi@theherald.canwest.com

[atlas_inc]

Turning the Tables
A sector-by-sector analysis of commercial and office real estate in Calgary shows a stark difference from a year ago


By Derek Sankey

Vacancy rates are rising fast in offices and commercial properties around Calgary, creating some good opportunities for tenants to strike a deal, and it’s a trend that industry veterans say will continue for at least the next two years.
“This year, rental rates have dropped anywhere from 10 per cent to 50 per cent,” says Todd Throndson, managing director of Avison Young in Calgary. “Next year, we’re looking at vacancy in the mid-teens and by 2011 … there’s the potential we could have vacancy in the 20-per-cent range.” Overall vacancy in this sector currently sits at 9.3 per cent city wide, up significantly from a year ago.Across the city, the big story in commercial office real estate has been a surge in sub-lease space. Companies that have been struggling financially have offloaded some space to reduce costs, while other companies that had aggressive expansion plans in 2008 quickly curtailed those plans and have begun farming out the unneeded space.
Business in Calgary talked to real estate experts and used recent market reports to give our readers a snapshot of what’s happening in each of the main markets in Calgary: the downtown core, the beltline, as well as the suburban south and north markets.

DOWNTOWN
The vacancy rate downtown has risen to 7.8 per cent after reaching lows of 0.8 per cent in 2007 and 2.2 per cent a year ago. About 2.7 million square feet of office space will be added downtown this year into 2010 out of a total of about 36 million square feet of space. In 2011, another three million square feet will be added.
“The market is going to have softness,” says Throndson. “Landlords have changed their pricing significantly.” With vacancy rates rising over two years, tenants renegotiating their leases or those that have come up for renewal will want to think carefully about their options looking into the future.
Class AA head-lease space is currently getting about $35 per square foot, while Class A space gets $30 per square foot, Class B sits at $20 and Class C at $16 per square foot. The largest contiguous space is at Place 9-6, which also has the dubious distinction of having the most head-lease space with 75 per cent of the building available at the end of the second quarter.
There are a total of eight office buildings under construction downtown containing 5.8 million square feet of space. They are: Penn West Centre West (fall 2009), Palliser South (fall 2009), Le Germain (spring 2010), Centennial Place East and West (spring 2010), Jamieson Place (spring 2010), Eighth Avenue Place East (fall 2011) and The Bow (spring 2012).

THE BELTLINE
This area stands out as one of only two areas city wide with positive absorption year-to-date in 2009. With the completion and occupancy of Stampede Station I, absorption recorded for the year is positive at 45,000 square feet, although it was negative 28,000 square feet in the first quarter.
Experts say the Beltine will be the exception for the remainder of the year, with a negative annual absorption forecast for the rest of the city as Keynote will be completed later this year and occupied by a majority tenant from outside of the Beltline.
The combined vacancy in the area sits at 9.8 per cent and is expected to remain below 11 per cent until spring of 2010, when vacancy will increase to more than 12 per cent as a result of the new Calgary Board of Education Centre reaching completion. The vacancy rate has been steadily climbing in this market, as well, up from three per cent at the end of the second quarter in 2008.

The total inventory in the Beltline is 5.7 million square feet in 93 buildings, with the largest contiguous pocket being 22,000 square feet in Bromley Square in direct vacancy. The largest sub-lease space is at 902 – 11th Avenue SW with 43,000 square feet. Class A space has a vacancy of 5.0 per cent, Class B is 11.9 per cent and Class C is 8.8 per cent.

Suburban NORTH
“The northeast has certainly seen a very significant jump in its vacancy,” says Avison Young’s Throndson. “A larger tenant of 30,000 to 50,000 square feet last year might have had three to five options,” he says. “Today, they probably have 20 (options).”
That sums up the activity level in the northeast part of the city, which has seen many large blocks of space open up this year. AMEC gave up about 55,000 square feet of space in its building near Centre Avenue, while the Willowglen building also has significant space available. Another half a building opened up from Loblaws at 32nd Avenue NE and when WestJet moved into their new corporate digs, it left a pocket of 65,000 square feet. Calgary Co-op also moved out of its old corporate office and into new space, leaving another 50,000 square feet available.
The good news, at least for landlords, is that the Calgary Police scooped up the space in the former Nortel building, which helped absorption. Yet, it’s a small dent in the overall picture in northeast Calgary. “There’s just a lot of blocks of space still available,” says Throndson.
The northwest quadrant of the city accounts for a relatively small proportion of space in the north market, keeping it one of the healthier places in the city. “There’s very little office space (in the northwest) and the market is still reasonably tight,” he says. “That’s the one market that is reasonably good. There’s just so little product in that market that it’s just pretty quiet.”

The vacancy rate in the suburban north currently sits at about 13 per cent, which was 6.5 per cent a year ago. That’s broken down into 6.8 per cent for the northwest and 14.7 per cent in the northeast – illustrating the contrast described in the markets by Throndson.

Suburban SOUTH
Like the northwest, southwest Calgary is a drop in the bucket when it comes to commercial office space and has little impact on the overall city inventory. The southeast, however, is another picture entirely with lots of activity happening there. It should be noted, though, that both quadrants have a vacancy rate of about 12 per cent.
The Airstates property on 11th Street and 59th Avenue SE is a 105,000-square-foot new building, which has only leased about 5,000 square feet, according to Avison Young. Macleod Place 1 and 2 – the two white office buildings across from Chinook Centre – have had space come available from Colt Engineering, while the Quarry Park development has had some space come back from Jacobs Engineering. The Southport Atrium at Southland Drive and Macleod Trail also has significant space open, about 44,000 square feet.
“Now tenants have a fair bit of opportunity to leverage landlords against each other,” says Throndson. There are currently 10 office buildings under construction in the south end of the city containing about 890,000 square feet that will help push the vacancy rate in the south as high as 18 per cent by the end of 2010 – the highest forecasted rate in any area of the city.
Projects underway include: Centron Park 3 (fall 2009), Quarry Park North A (fall 2009), Quarry Park West (fall 2009), Springborough Professional Centre (fall 2009), Homes by Avi building (fall 2009), Centron Park 4 (spring 2010), Quarry Park Boulevard Centre (spring 2010), Quarry Park Medical Centre (spring 2010), Quarry Central (fall 2010) and Atlantic Avenue Art Block (fall 2010).

Link http://www.businessincalgary.com/ind...1&preview=true

[atlas_inc]

Calgary unveils East Village master plan
By Kim Guttormson, Calgary Herald September 16, 2009 12:02 PM



CALGARY - The East Village master plan was unveiled this morning, outlining a future vision for the blighted area that includes commercial and residential developments, a pedestrian street cutting through the heart of the neighbourhood to the river and a new riverwalk.

While many of the concepts have previously been outlined in technical city planning documents, the man who heads the company responsible for redeveloping the area said this pulls all the pieces together.

“The master plan shows how the whole thing weaves together,” said Chris Ollenberger, CEO of the Calgary Municipal Land Corp., the agency charged by city council to transform the downtown community. “It shows the relationship between certain parcels of land, why this one is geared more towards residential, why this one is commercial.”

Using the tag of the “newest oldest coolest warmest neighbourhood” the Calgary Municipal Land Corp. (CMLC) will now try to sell the East Village — both the idea of the revamped community and some of the land. CMLC owns about half the lots in the East Village; 70 per cent if only vacant land is considered.

Ollenberger says while informal discussions with developers have already been held, they expect to begin marketing the East Village by early next year.

The East Village master plan sees the area being divided into six “character areas,” including gateways into the neighbourhood at the 4th Street underpass and at its northwest corner; capitalizing on its location along the Bow River; a “parkside” along the eastern edge which abuts Fort Calgary and existing park land; a transition area on the west side between downtown and the village; and its core, where the majority of development will take place.

The core includes a diagonal pedestrian street that cuts through its heart from 4th Street and 8th Avenue to the river.

It’s hoped the neighbourhood will be home to more than 10,000 people by 2020.

Long known for its homeless population and drug dealers, the East Village has been undergoing major work over the past few years. About 12 blocks in the neighbourhood are currently under construction, with land being raised as much as 2.5 metres to the flood plain level, streets being realigned and wider sidewalks and new lighting installed.

The city has started construction on the 4th Street underpass, which will provide a north-south connector from the Stampede grounds and the Saddledome to the bridge over the Bow River, requiring a tunnel be built under the CPR tracks.

CMLC has received numerous tenders to design a new bridge to St. Patrick’s Island.

The Cantos Music Foundation is renovating the King Eddy and has unveiled five possible designs for its new music centre, all of which incorporate the heritage building.

The East Village has been an issue for decades, but a number of previous attempts to revitalize the neighbourhood have failed.

In 2002, city council scrapped a deal to rebuild the area with private developers after an audit examining the bidding process and merits of the joint-venture agreement.

The estimated $200 million it will cost for the current East Village infrastructure upgrades — which the city says are necessary for developer interest — is being funded through a program called tax-increment financing, which sees the city pay for the work and then recoup the investment when the upgrades attract new development and increase property values. The property taxes from the Rivers district — which includes the under-construction Bow tower — will help pay for the work.

kguttormson@theherald.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
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