Daniel Kepka/Marlene Alcon
Discover Real Estate Ltd.
201, 7909 Flint Road SE, Calgary, AB
P: 403.233.0703
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Our Blog - Up To Date Local Information

We try to keep on top on local trends and reports for our clients (as much as our real estate business allows). If you’d like to comment on any of these postings, please feel free to either phone us directly on (403) 619-6864 or send us an e-mail at realtors@showmeproperty.net.

Daniel Kepka and Marlene Alcon

Calgary Realtor Photo Of The Folk Festival

Calgary Realtor Listings View From Tower

Thursday, August 5, 2010 - Calgary’s Commercial Vacancy Drops

The current downward trend in office space is being used by Calgary tenants to upgrade their offices.

Calgary’s commercial vacancy rate is currently 10.7, slightly above Canada’s average of 10 per cent. Calgary’s rate is down from the first quarter rate of 11 per cent, but still above last year’s 9.3 per cent.

Avison Young, a commercial real estate firm in Calgary, said it expects the completion of new office buildings will push vacancy rates up again, faster than what Calgary’s market is capable of absorbing. Eighth Avenue Place and Bow Tower will be completed in 2012, adding approximately three million square feet of office space. Vacancy rates are estimated to be around 15 per cent with the completion.

Despite these numbers, the Avison Young report said occupied space is rising alongside vacancy. The report projects that absorption rates will be positive in 2010, finishing with about 2.6 million square feet absorbed.

Positive absorption means that even with new office space, companies are overtaking free space faster than it is becoming available.

Avison Young’s managing director in Calgary, Todd Throndson, foresees some problems in 2001 with the arrival of more commercial space, but said the rental and vacancy rates will stabilize this year.

Monday, July 19, 2010 - Calgarians Emptying Wallets Paying Rent For Their Cars

Want to invest in low maintenance commercial real estate that has a virtually assured income? How about a business that the rigours of a recession slide off of like eggs on non-stick cookware? Build a parking lot in downtown Calgary, downtown anywhere for that matter. Calgarians that work downtown pay an average of $453 for a monthly parking pass. Toronto lots charge $336 on average.

Worldwide it’s even worse. In London’s city centre, which openly discourages car use, a space will set you back $933 USD per month. Even that city’s West End which is slightly more auto friendly will empty your wallet of $874 USD per month. Closer to home, New York workers in Mid-Town Manhattan pay $538 USD per month. San Francisco is a relative bargain at $375 USD but then you have all those hills to contend with. The saved cash you can put towards the brakes and the clutch.

You get the idea. Parking is expensive; there are not enough spaces which causes the prices to go up and waiting lists to grow. The City of Calgary has been working to get people into public transit. They build office centres and condos but very few parking lots to keep up with the added population.

Forcing a population to ride public transit may work in locales like Honolulu, Hawaii where walking or bussing to work in Aloha shirts and sandals is a common occurrence. In Calgary, where the thermometer regularly dips well below freezing, it’s a lot less reasonable. Perhaps the city should take a look at Montreal’s underground city for a cold climate solution to the city’s transit needs.

Monday, July 5, 2010 - Calgary Population: Diverse, Older and Up to 2.5 Million

Reports indicate that Alberta’s population will experience drastic changes during the next 40 years or so. The people living in the province are expected to be older as well as internationally diverse, as the populace continues to increase in numbers. According to the Alberta Population Projections report from the provincial government, more than six million people may be living in the province by 2050. Much of the population increases will be attributable to immigrants.

The Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer areas are expected to be the cities in which approximately 77 percent of Alberta’s population will reside in 2050. Some 2.5 million people will likely call Calgary their home by that year, and around 1.8 million will live in Edmonton.

Although the largest cities will grow, they will also grow older. The study showed that in 2011, people born in the first year of the Baby Boom will turn 65. This will result in an increase in the median age of an Albertan, from 36 in 2009 to as old as 45 in 2050. Per the report, immigrants will help keep the population somewhat younger, as well as fill jobs left by retirees.

The number of dependent people, classified as non-working individuals such as senior citizens and children under age 14, will grow significantly. The growing number of dependent people will result in additional expenditures for the government. Health care for these people will comprise an even larger percentage than it current 40-percent allocation of the $39-billion government budget.

Alberta Council on Aging President Gary Pool said it is imperative that the provincial government starts to plan for the long term. Pool said that the government should think about boosting the current retirement age of 65, as older people can still be valued assets to the province’s economy.

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