http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...rticle2220254/
Move over, Toronto – there’s a new hotspot in town
shelley white
Special to Globe and Mail Update
Published Monday, Oct. 31, 2011 4:54PM EDT
Last updated Monday, Oct. 31, 2011 7:43PM EDT
Sky-high rents. Heavy demand for downtown office space. A magnet for company headquarters. It may sound like Toronto, but this commercial real estate hotspot is decidedly farther west.
Despite erratic markets and a lingering world recession, Calgary's office and commercial real estate market rivals Toronto as the most robust in the country, driven predominantly by the continued growth plans of energy companies.
“We've got a vibrant downtown core, a strong commodity-based economy, low tax rates in Alberta and [many] corporate head offices in Calgary, most of those tied to the energy sector. Calgary is a dynamic place to be right now,” says Joe Binfet, managing director of Colliers International in Calgary.
Indeed, the Toronto Board of Trade's 2011 Scorecard on Prosperity, which compares 24 of the world's most prosperous urban centres, gave Calgary third place, just below Paris and San Francisco. Toronto came in eighth.