General Construction Updates

[UrbanWarrior]

City is looking to fund the $400 million Arts Common expansion along with the redevelopment of the olympic plaza which would include a residential tower in the NW corner.

*drools and passes out*

 

[Surrealplaces]

Hearing exciting rumours of more high rise residential towers starting up on a number of sites throughout the Beltline and Downtown.

I know of at least one other project coming down the pipes that would be new to the forum and hasn't been mentioned yet. Outside of that there are quite a few on the go either underway or in the works.

Here are the ones in the works that have been mentioned for the general core area.

17 Select
The Hat @ Elbow
Yellowstone
Nest
Anthem's Croisstown (three towers)
Oxford (two towers)
Portfolio East (three towers)
Redstone
Nude
Grovenor's 15th ave project (two towers)
Cressey's 12th ave project (two towers)
Gablecraft on 13th ave (two towers)

Sovereign (probably dead)
Myriad (probably dead)
Citizen (probably dead)

One new unmentioned project (two towers)

 

[UrbanWarrior]

I know of at least one other project coming down the pipes that would be new to the forum and hasn't been mentioned yet. Outside of that there are quite a few on the go either underway or in the works.

Here are the ones in the works that have been mentioned for the general core area.

17 Select
The Hat @ Elbow
Yellowstone
Nest
Anthem's Croisstown (three towers)
Oxford (two towers)
Portfolio East (three towers)
Redstone
Nude
Grovenor's 15th ave project (two towers)
Cressey's 12th ave project (two towers)
Gablecraft on 13th ave (two towers)

Sovereign (probably dead)
Myriad (probably dead)
Citizen (probably dead)

One new unmentioned project (two towers)

Would that currently unmentioned project possibly be named Yellowstone? Cause renders are public now.

edit: Nevermind, you mentioned Yellowstone in your post

 

[MichaelS]

I know of at least one other project coming down the pipes that would be new to the forum and hasn't been mentioned yet. Outside of that there are quite a few on the go either underway or in the works.

Here are the ones in the works that have been mentioned for the general core area.

17 Select
The Hat @ Elbow
Yellowstone
Nest
Anthem's Croisstown (three towers)
Oxford (two towers)
Portfolio East (three towers)
Redstone
Nude
Grovenor's 15th ave project (two towers)
Cressey's 12th ave project (two towers)
Gablecraft on 13th ave (two towers)

Sovereign (probably dead)
Myriad (probably dead)
Citizen (probably dead)

One new unmentioned project (two towers)

Don't forget this 3 tower project from Killam REIT:

https://killamreit.com/investor-relations

 

[JonnyCanuck]

In addition to Surrealplace's list above, there are 8 more inner city projects previously identified but also on hold.

Arris (East Village)
Vibe (East Village)
Highcliffe (downtown)
Grosvenor's 4 St & 14 Ave SW
Eau Claire West
Eau Claire market
Park Point 2 (Beltline)
The Orchard (Beltline)

That's a long list of residential projects that are/were planned but either cancelled or not moving forward, as yet.

 

[Surrealplaces]

Wow, when you look at the revised list, that's quite a long one. There's also the affordable housing project at 935 - 5th ave. A good number of these projects won't get built any time soon, but still an impressive list.

17 Select
The Hat @ Elbow
Yellowstone
Nest
Anthem's Crosstown (three towers)
Oxford (two towers)
Portfolio East (three towers)
Redstone
Nude
Grovenor's 15th ave project (two towers)
Cressey's 12th ave project (two towers)
Arris (East Village)
Vibe (East Village)
Highcliffe (downtown)
Grosvenor's 4 St & 14 Ave SW
Eau Claire West
Eau Claire market
Park Point 2 (Beltline)
935 - 5th Ave
Killam REIT (three towers)

Sovereign (probably dead)
Myriad (probably dead)
Citizen (probably dead)
Orchard (probably dead)
Gablecraft on 13th ave (probably dead)

One new unmentioned Beltline project that is in the works

 

[Social Justice]

I have to believe they are just rumours . In addition to the rental projects that are about to start construction (i.e large ones like Curtis Block, Strategic One; 11 & 11 SW) there may be more rentals coming but there are already 2000+ units in the pipeline. Hard to believe there will be demand for more in 2-3 years.
There are absolutely no economic indicators that would suggest that the condo market in the inner city is recovering at a pace that would support new projects. Count me as being highly skeptical.

Underrated post.

I'm actually surprised the topic of multifamily over supply is not talked about more on SRC.

We had a net migration of 11,500 people in 2018. If half of those moved into greenfield developments that leaves 5750 people to move into all the inner cities developments.

 

[CBBarnett]

Underrated post.

I'm actually surprised the topic of multifamily over supply is not talked about more on SRC.

We had a net migration of 11,500 people in 2018. If half of those moved into greenfield developments that leaves 5750 people to move into all the inner cities developments.

Also interesting is seeing the split between apartment rental & condo purchase markets diverging so substantially.

It seems that favourable interest rates, historically way below average apartment construction in Calgary v. everyone else, and slimmer margins of Vancouver and Toronto portfolios are driving many purpose-built apartments to be built, despite the doom and gloom constantly in the headlines. The apartment sector is thriving - perhaps a silver-lining of Calgary transitioning to a more "normal" Canadian city where the average income requires most people to rent for longer.

I still find it amazing that we have *half* the apartments per resident than Vancouver or Toronto. That isn't a tower or two, it's dozens and dozens of towers worth of apartments. That's an enormous discrepancy that took decades to form - assuming we tend to follow the patterns of the cities larger than us in our hierarchy - it will take decades/centuries to revert to the mean (if we ever actually do).

 

[Surrealplaces]

Calgary is kind of an anomaly as even though houses prices have been quite high in Calgary over the past decades, the affordability to purchase a home has always been very high. With new regs around purchasing and a dip in the economy making purchasing less affordable, the rental market has taken off and is now playing catch up.

This is only anecdotal evidence but I'm finding many younger folks (18-30) are more tentative to buy, and would rather rent so they can be close to downtown, and they can wait and see how things go. Part of that comes back to the new regs, and part due to real estate being flat the past 4 years. When the market is on the rise, everyone and their dog wants to purchase.

 

[Social Justice]

Calgary is kind of an anomaly as even though houses prices have been quite high in Calgary over the past decades, the affordability to purchase a home has always been very high. With new regs around purchasing and a dip in the economy making purchasing less affordable, the rental market has taken off and is now playing catch up.

This is only anecdotal evidence but I'm finding many younger folks (18-30) are more tentative to buy, and would rather rent so they can be close to downtown, and they can wait and see how things go. Part of that comes back to the new regs, and part due to real estate being flat the past 4 years. When the market is on the rise, everyone and their dog wants to purchase.

I don't understand why they wouldn't want to buy now. You can buy an older condo in the inner city for the price of a VCR.

 

[Surrealplaces]

I don't understand why they wouldn't want to buy now. You can buy an older condo in the inner city for the price of a VCR.

Yeah, I'm not sure either. I believe it's to do with the 'perception' of doom and gloom. At least this is my experience from some people I know in that age group. Every single one of them wants to live inner city, but are afraid to get into the purchasing game...much of it due to the perception I think.

 

[kora]

I know 2 baby boomer (Gen X?) empty nester families in their 50s who have decided to buy or rent in the Beltline in the last few months

 

[UrbanRED]

Yeah, I'm not sure either. I believe it's to do with the 'perception' of doom and gloom. At least this is my experience from some people I know in that age group. Every single one of them wants to live inner city, but are afraid to get into the purchasing game...much of it due to the perception I think.

As a young person in the inner city, I see it as because the financial tradeoff of buying a place vs. renting doesn't currently make sense. My two bedroom condo is ~$2K a month including utilities and internet; to buy the same place in my building would cost ~$550K. With a 20% down payment, the mortgage alone comes out to $2,229.43 per month at a 3.6% interest rate over 25 years. When you include maintenance, condo fees (~$500/month), and property taxes, the tradeoff just doesn't make much sense. If you have the self discipline to save money it's a much smarter decision to take the differential and invest in the markets.

 

[Calbusier]

I know of at least one other project coming down the pipes that would be new to the forum and hasn't been mentioned yet. Outside of that there are quite a few on the go either underway or in the works.

Here are the ones in the works that have been mentioned for the general core area.

17 Select
The Hat @ Elbow
Yellowstone
Nest
Anthem's Croisstown (three towers)
Oxford (two towers)
Portfolio East (three towers)
Redstone
Nude
Grovenor's 15th ave project (two towers)
Cressey's 12th ave project (two towers)
Gablecraft on 13th ave (two towers)

Sovereign (probably dead)
Myriad (probably dead)
Citizen (probably dead)

One new unmentioned project (two towers)

Crosstown is 4 towers!

 

[Alex_YYC]

It varies depending on different factors. If you plan to stay in that spot for while, or the chances if real estate prices going up. The chance of real estate prices going up is the biggest factor by far I think. Of course nobody knows what it’s going to happen with real estate prices but if they really start to go up then those who bought see the payoffs. If real estate stays flat or doesn’t rise much over an extended period them does renting benefit.

As a young person in the inner city, I see it as because the financial tradeoff of buying a place vs. renting doesn't currently make sense. My two bedroom condo is ~$2K a month including utilities and internet; to buy the same place in my building would cost ~$550K. With a 20% down payment, the mortgage alone comes out to $2,229.43 per month at a 3.6% interest rate over 25 years. When you include maintenance, condo fees (~$500/month), and property taxes, the tradeoff just doesn't make much sense. If you have the self discipline to save money it's a much smarter decision to take the differential and invest in the markets.