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Thursday, June 23, 2011

Downtown projects back on front burner

David Parker, For the Calgary Herald
I'm excited that a number of projects that were put on the back burner for a while are being resurrected thanks to a new confidence in the Calgary market.

Genco Development delayed three of its downtown projects but now, thanks to a renewed interest in acquiring future office space in the core, they are being actively promoted again.
Genco is a privately held, Calgary-based real estate development company led by president Pali Bedi that has successfully completed a variety of commercial projects within Alberta since 1999.
Near the Calgary Courts Centre, 634 6th Ave. S.W. is the site of its 70,000-square-foot tower that features two floors of retail space and 11 floors of office space offered for affordable ownership.
Mark St. Pierre of Avison Young is marketing the other two at 608 7th Street S.W. and 1108 4th Street S.W. as available for lease.
Genco vice-president Fred Clemens says the tower on the southeast corner of 6th Avenue and 7th Street will soar 22 storeys and offer a total of 221,000 square feet of office space above underground parking. One short block from the LRT and Plus-15 connected help make it an attractive location and the glass fronted design -like all three by the Calgary office of NORR Architects -will be another good addition to our downtown skyline. On the southeast corner of 11th Avenue and 4th Street S.W., directly across from Genco's completed 14-storey office condo tower that was sold out prior to construction, a 15-storey tower is being pre-leased that will provide another 195,000 square feet of quality office space. It has been a tough couple of years for downtown office development, but Genco kept very busy by concentrating on the retail sector, which did not suffer the same declines.
It built a seven-unit condo strip mall in Copperfield that was sold to four tenants and is currently developing another parcel, also in Copperfield. Half was sold to Shell for gas bar/C-store/car wash use and the other half offers 12,000 square feet of retail that has already been snapped by Tim Hortons, Pizza 73, and Solo Liquor.
Genco is branching out across Alberta and has completed and sold a 7,000-square-foot retail project in Grande Prairie, 5,000 square feet in Red Deer, and by the end of this month will close on another parcel in west Edmonton. But it is always on the lookout for more land in Calgary that would support good retail.
Panino Bakery has been supplying pastries and desserts for Canadian Rocky Mountain Resort's properties from an industrial site in Canmore, but it has reached its capacity and has relocated to 7943 43rd Avenue in the Bowness area.
It will continue to supply CRMR's properties but executive pastry chef Janine Cheramy will now have a store front/to-go cafe and a more convenient place to meet with clients wanting a look at her portfolio of stunning wedding cakes.
Meetings and Conventions Calgary has welcomed Erin Lee to its business development staff.
Formerly sales manager at Calgary Marriott Hotel, Lee will be responsible for the creation and implementation of proactive sales and marketing strategy to the Washington DC and international markets.
She joins Janet Russell-Brown who looks after the U.S. West and Midwest, and Jennifer Stewart, who serves the Western Canada and SMERF (Social, Military, Educational, Religious, and Fraternal) markets,
At a June 22 lunch hour celebration at Eau Claire Market, Social Venture Partners, a Calgary-based foundation rooted in citizen philanthropy, will present over $95,000 in grants to three current investees as well as a unique Calgary social enterprise.
At the recent annual general meeting of the Hong Kong - Canada Business Association Calgary Chapter, John Hankins, vice-president industry and trade development at Calgary Economic Development became president, taking over from Alexandra Sham of RBC Insurance who has completed her two-year term.


Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Downtown+projects+back+front+burner/4979261/story.html#ixzz1Q8CILCax

Monday, October 4, 2010

Calgary's industrial vacancy declines

Demand continues to surge

Managing Director Joe Binfet of Colliers International.

CALGARY - Calgary's industrial real estate market continues to show impressive signs of strength with a third consecutive quarter of declining vacancy rates.

Commercial real estate firm Colliers International in Calgary says the vacancy rate for the industrial real estate market has dropped to 4.82 per cent in the third quarter of this year. The decline is due primarily to the activity in the large bay - 50,000 square feet plus - market.

In the second quarter the vacancy rate was 5.36 per cent. It was 5.89 per cent in the first quarter of this year.  "We are seeing upward pressure on rental rates as fewer options are available to tenants and landlords are seeing more demand for space," said Joe Binfet, managing director of Colliers International in Calgary.
"There is an unusually high volume of pending deals in the large bay market. As a result vacancy will continue to decline. We expect to see four per cent vacancy as early as the first quarter of 2011."

Binfet said distribution and transportation companies are ramping up and putting products in place.

"This bodes well for the retail sector," he said. "(It's a) good time for the development community to step up and build as demand continues to surge."

mtoneguzzi@calgaryherald.com

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Downtown Calgary vacancy rate highest in Canada at 14.5%

 Leasing activity remains strong

 

Eigth Avenue East Tower reaches its final height in Calgary, Alberta on September 22, 2010.

Photograph by: Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald

Calgary's downtown vacancy rate has climbed to the highest level in the country among major markets but the commercial real estate sector also experienced significant activity in the third quarter "with a frenetic pace of leasing."
A report by CB Richard Ellis Ltd., said the downtown vacancy rate in the city jumped to 14.5 per cent from 12.5 per cent a year ago.
Nationally, the average downtown vacancy rate in the third quarter of this year was 8.4 per cent, up from 7.8 per cent for the same period in 2009.
"Over the last three months, Calgary's downtown office market was the busiest it has ever been," said Greg Kwong, executive vice-president, regional managing director, CB Richard Ellis Limited, Alberta. "It's important to note that the office vacancy figure is slightly misleading; the addition of Eighth Avenue Place this quarter increased the vacancy figure quite dramatically. If leasing activity continued at this pace, in the absence of new supply, Calgary would have been poised to post a single-digit downtown office vacancy rate early next year."
CBRE said improvement in the Canadian economy during the first half of 2010 fuelled a similar recovery pattern in the country's commercial real estate market, with sales and leasing activity picking up steam through the third quarter. The combination of limited new construction, available mortgage funds and low interest rates created near-perfect conditions for the commercial real estate investor to re-enter Canada's market, bolstering both the office and industrial sectors, according to the National Office and Industrial Trends Third Quarter Report.
"There have been no surprises this quarter," said John O'Bryan, vice-chairman, CB Richard Ellis Limited. "The recovery and rebound of the commercial real estate market in the third quarter is tracking as expected, and we anticipate that commercial real estate activity will continue to improve through to year-end, albeit, at a slower pace.
"Pent-up demand due to the uncertainty of the market from the start of the year is now starting to make its way through the system, with available space being absorbed at appropriate rates."
mtoneguzzi@calgaryherald.com


Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/real-estate/Downtown+Calgary+vacancy+rate+highest+Canada/3584696/story.html#ixzz10veidbUQ