Arris - 5th and Third | 142.03m | 41s | Embassy Bosa | Amanat Architect

General rating of the project

  • Great

    Votes: 9 9.6%
  • Very good

    Votes: 45 47.9%
  • Good

    Votes: 29 30.9%
  • So So

    Votes: 7 7.4%
  • Not Very Good

    Votes: 3 3.2%
  • Terrible

    Votes: 1 1.1%

  • Total voters
    94
I'm happy these are going ahead, but I'm also surprised. The vacancy rate in the Beltline was lower a few years back when Curtis Block and others were going ahead. Is it because it's so cheap to borrow money? Are developers hedging their bets on Calgary's long term outlook?
I don't think what he said was true.


The Beltline vacancy rate in October 2020 (in the middle of the pandemic) was 5.8%
 
I don't think what he said was true.


The Beltline vacancy rate in October 2020 (in the middle of the pandemic) was 5.8%
According to this article the overall vacancy rate in Calgary was 6.6% in January, but what @JonnyCanuck said was partly correct.The report mentions that newer builds( post 2005) have a vacancy rate of 10.1%
However, for buildings built post-2005, the vacancy rate was elevated at 10.1% as of October 2020. (Figure 1.). While some newer units are still in absorption phase, the higher vacancy rate is likely due to the higher rent for newer units combined with prevailing economic conditions, and weaker migration.

This supports @UrbanWarrior's assertion that jobs due to covid was a big part of it.
Employment in the 15-24 age group was especially impacted as employment levels were down by 14.6% in the same period. This further dampened rental demand as 78% of households where the age of the primary maintainer was between 15 to 24 were renters15.

I'm not a real estate investment expert, but I believe these investors are looking at a long term. Over the past decade rental units have been absorbed consistently. Covid19 is a blip, and outside of that, rental units have done well. These investors are probably looking at 20-30 years down the road.
 
I don't think what he said was true.


The Beltline vacancy rate in October 2020 (in the middle of the pandemic) was 5.8%
As quoted in the report. These are averages for the year.
"According to a report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the city’s apartment rental vacancy rate was 6.6 per cent in 2020, that includes a rate of 8.8 per cent in the downtown core and 5.8 per cent in the Beltline"

I don't know what the 'middle of the pandemic' has to do with vacancy rate. It is not as if hundreds of people have moved into downtown since 2020 particularly as there has been a major job exodus in the last year. With more rental product available on the market (i.e Park Central, Upten and others), I can easily see the current vacancy rate being higher than what CMHC reported for 2020.
 
I do think all this supply is definitely long-term. With interest rates so low and commodity prices finally starting to come back to earth, now is a great time to build. The Federal Reserve in the States has already signaled for 2 rate hikes in 2023 if there are no further obstacles to growth. Immigration numbers are also set to be big once this pandemic ends. A mini-boom will likely occur and if doesn't, then all these capital funds that are invested into these rental projects can still sit back long-term. They're already well-diversified in other markets. I don't think enough people realize how much money was stupidly pumped into the economy due to the initial fear of the pandemic. Inflation is going to catch up, even if the job market remains weak in the short term.
 
Someone else mentioned this previously, but IRCC the big pandemic impact on the rental market with respect to downtown and city centre apartments (in Calgary and elsewhere) is a huge drop in new foreign immigrants and students combined with a pullback of new household formations, many from young people why stayed with their parents and extra year for financial or uncertainty reasons.

Both these groups are the critical demand for inner city apartments as the city centre is often the gateway for new residents. Once immigration returns and the post-secondary /young adult new household system normalizes I don't see why we wouldn't revert back to the previous trends (to some degree).

I wonder how much "downtown jobs" impacts investment decisions for these apartments and the living location for future residents. Historically it seems overstated - Calgary's downtown employment and city centre population don't seem particularly correlated despite what we hear in the news (largely from folks that don't go downtown I suspect). Vancouver has an even more extreme relationship where their downtown jobs lagged and stagnated for decades while their downtown population exploded.
 
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As quoted in the report. These are averages for the year.
"According to a report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the city’s apartment rental vacancy rate was 6.6 per cent in 2020, that includes a rate of 8.8 per cent in the downtown core and 5.8 per cent in the Beltline"

I don't know what the 'middle of the pandemic' has to do with vacancy rate. It is not as if hundreds of people have moved into downtown since 2020 particularly as there has been a major job exodus in the last year. With more rental product available on the market (i.e Park Central, Upten and others), I can easily see the current vacancy rate being higher than what CMHC reported for 2020.
yeah, 5.8%, not 10%.
 
The fact the Beltline has stayed under %8 given the volume of units constructed the last 10 years speaks to strong demand. Keep in mind we were in dire need of purpose built rentals and it will help keep lower end units affordable
 
They haven't launched sales, let alone achieved a sales benchmark necessary for construction. So no, it will be rental.
 
Real Estate News EXchange: Bosa switches Calgary East Village tower from condos to rentals | RENX.
 
"
Real Estate News EXchange: Bosa switches Calgary East Village tower from condos to rentals | RENX.

"Marchand said the company has two to three other sites it will eventually build on in East Village." Do we know which sites these are?
 
I believe the first is, as mentioned, directly to the south where the old auction building is. The second is where the Harvest Builders/Former EV sales centre is. I'm unaware of a third so perhaps they are one of the developers in conversation with CMLC about the remaining available parcels.
 

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