The void in Calgary: How office towers emptied in a once bustling downtown

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Calgary had the highest rate of downtown office vacancies in Canada even before the pandemic, owing to tanking oil prices that in turn hollowed out towers in the city's core. Here’s an interactive look at how that happened.

Three of the four buildings in Calgary with the most space available – more than 500,000 square feet – were all completed in the early 1980s

Although its vacancy rate of 29 per cent may be lower than others, the Bow, a 57-storey tower that has become a defining feature of Calgary’s skyline since it was finished in 2012, contains the second-largest amount of available office space, with 530,343 square feet sitting empty.

 

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Sûrement la faute du Québec .

I have the solution. Move the NEB and CMHC headquarters to Calgary. That would be a good start. Today’s world it does not matter the location. Decentralize. I guess that wouldn’t work for E. Cda. They would have to give some of the benefits of confederation to western Cda.

Chinese can help to buy every inch of Calgary. No worries!

It's happening in my FAMILY. A BIG organization's Representative/agent ARE USING MY GIRL/BOY's Body TO DO THEIR SOUL JOBS. May ALL OF YOU invading my boy/girl and my family GET your GOD/ANCESTRE 's attention of what vicious SOUL WORK you are doing to HARM THE KIDS!

When people ask Muhammad Qasim to help Pakistan, like he has been shown in his dreams, he will not be able to do so and will say that without the help and mercy of Allah I will not be able to do anything. - Muhammad Qasim Dreams

Don’t worry, Chinese in this country will fill the vacancy and push the price up for Alberta, just wait.

It all starts with a new Mayor!

I thought Kenney was going to fill Calgary’s office towers with the Toronto banking sector? Did that fail too😂 FireKenney UCPcorruption

Didn’t gasoline prices reach record highs just last week? Something is amiss here.

Any way that doesn't involve oil.

Amazing article, research, and use of interactive graphics

The problem with downtown is that it isn’t built for friendly use Parking is to expensive Transit is a joke +15s seem to always be closed Traffic is horrible Useless these things are fixed. Why return when other buildings are popping up around the city

Retrofit the buildings, rezone for domestic use, rent at affordable rates

Can’t be. They have the greatest mayor in the entire history of mayors. Just ask him.

Many workers in CGY prefer living in the suburban neighourhoods & many employers have their offices in commericial neighbourhoods outside of downtown. If work from home ends it will just mean many workers will once again be physically commuting to offices that are not downtown.

Because crooked politicians and planners like Druh Farrell and Rollin Stanley—in cahoots with tower and condo builders, marketing to money laundering investors—gave out permits like crazy. Read about the Highland Park redevelopment to see how dirty the planning department is.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil staying in the $65 to $85 US per barrel range and an election in 2022 or 2023 that dumps the Liberals in favour of the Conservatives will help Calgary a lot.

Because of all the lies about the oil and gas industry in Canada perpetrated by the main stream media. All these 'green' initiatives are profiting the middle east, and are accepting of their human rights records.

Sad to read the verbal dribble from all the rank, left wing, fundamentally unknowledgeable, unrealistic dream, world individuals. Rather than being educated, most are purely indoctrinated in equal distribution of poverty socialism. Trudeau quashed energy investment & 300,000 jobs

Pay for this? never happen

A city pinning it's entire economy on one industry was always a bad idea. Ask Detroit.

😆

*SCHOLZ: GERMANY WILL EXIT FOSSIL FUELS AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE

Convert these offices in vertical farms

Haha oil prices are at their highest right now. So what’s the excuse now?

And young people are leaving in droves due to the regression Kenney has put Alberta in.

Cool, maybe they will stop slapping up useless depressing slave boxes and let people do useful shit from home where the lords of paycheque don't have to pay for unnecessary grandiose towers

Convert it to apartments and condos. Make jobs; accommodation and infrastructure at once. The future is microtowns. Self sustained towers; grow your own food on the roof maybe even.

Complicated issues ..mostly political in nature. The transfer of wealth to China maybe the biggest problem facing NorthAmerica. No? Where did all the factories go? So much corruption ..🐍

Put the Homeless in the vacant spaces!

Calgary and Edmonton need to be strong partners moving forward. A joint effort of the two cities working together for a common purpose would help our province recover much quicker. We share many of same issues. Social and economic. yyc yeg

1. Alberta elected a government with a focus on antiquated energy policies. 2. Jason Kenney declared war on teachers and the medical profession, driving many of them to quit and/or leave the province. 3. People don’t want to live in Calgary anymore. No jobs, no services.

Not to worry. Im sure cityofcalgary can conjure up a few hundred million $ of tax payer money to help the poor owners of these buildings convert them into housing. While charging all the wealthy small business owners more taxes and fees.

This is what happen when a country like Canada with potential in many other sectors, investing on O&G ! Tar sand never had real profit for Canadian except when oil was around $130 per barrel

Its cuz everyone is working at home cuz COVID - maybe you could use the space for cheap housing for all the homeless people using the alleys for washrooms

Canada has no plan B. EVs will kill the oil industry and loonie! Electric vehicles will kill global oil industry by 2030, says Stanford economist Tony Seba:

Central Canada’s war against Alberta and Saskatchewan hasn’t helped….. but then central Canadians don’t care.

How? Over zealous greens.

If oil prices are at $80 a barrel now with this asshole PM JustinTrudeau playing dress up, I couldn’t imagine how booming Canada would be if we had an actual adult running Canada. WBrettWilson think about that?

The greater issue: As Trudeau said during French debate, the Liberals created legislation (C48/C69/Carbon Tax) to ensure no major growth in O&G. Oil prices didn’t help, but creating unfriendly investment environment did more harm. FairQuestions

The fall of Turkey and the Middle East countries is soon. Muhammad Qasim saw a vision that a war would start in Turkey with the countries of the West and gradually destroy the Middle East. or search ‘Muhammad Qasim Dreams’

Calgary has struggled through recessions and busts in the oil patch before, but never like this. Nearly a third of offices in the downtown core are vacant.

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