Oxford Tower | 262.12m | 62s | Oxford Properties
- Thread starter Surrealplaces
- Start date
Conrad Black
Senior Member
With the energy industry hurting is this going to go ahead anytime soon?
I'm pretty sure it's on hold for a while, and may even see a redesign. The only thing I know is that Oxford paid a good chuck of cash for it, with the idea of building something big.
Froggy
Active Member
I was actually wondering if the slow down in the oil industry was felt in the real estate industry in Calgary and if so, how hard?
It's definitely had its effect. Right now it seems like people are taking the view of glass half empty or glass half full.
One hand there have been a number of layoffs in the oil industry, and the unemployment rate has gone up. The pace that houses and condos have been selling at has slowed, and office development has come to a standstill.
On the other hand the population is still growing at a decent pace. Real Estate prices have come down a bit but not much. Residential highrise development has been surprisingly good.....for example since the price of oil took a downturn at the beginning of 2015, 4 new highrises have broken ground.... there were sales from before the downturn, but those projects have still been selling units through all of this. On top of that, recently there have been building permit applications for 3 more high rises. One of those projects (N3) only opened their sales centre last month and sold all their units in one weekend. Once they get to the stage of applying for the BP, they usually go for it, so it's a good sign for those three projects.
Ramako
Moderator
Wasn't this initially rumoured to be the new tallest? Given the trouble with oil these days I'm not surprised that it was shortened but the proportions aren't as elegant now.
Froggy
Active Member
Thanks, @Surrealplaces. I guess the population growth is a sign that Calgary is an attractive place, and it certainly boosts other sectors of the economy, such as real estate. Or at least keeps it going OK.
Anyhow, the chances for such a big office tower to be built very soon seem limited, from what I understand.
Anyhow, the chances for such a big office tower to be built very soon seem limited, from what I understand.
I don't know if it was shortened, as it would still be a new tallest, but it was definitely postponed. I don't expect we'll see any new office towers for a while, but how long is anyone's guess.
During the last down cycle in 2008, EAP I was just breaking ground and didn't have a tenant. Reports predicted Calgary's vacant rate to hit around 22% and that a new office tower probably wouldn't break ground for 10 years. In the 5 years that followed 4 new office towers broke ground, and all four are good sized towers (EAP II, Calgary City Centre, Brookfield Place, 707-5th). Also breaking ground since then was Imperial Oil's 5 building suburban campus. I guess in the end it's hard to predict these these things.
I wouldn't mind seeing a new tallest, but the design of the Oxford tower is pretty banal. Maybe the downturn is a blessing in disguise for that one
During the last down cycle in 2008, EAP I was just breaking ground and didn't have a tenant. Reports predicted Calgary's vacant rate to hit around 22% and that a new office tower probably wouldn't break ground for 10 years. In the 5 years that followed 4 new office towers broke ground, and all four are good sized towers (EAP II, Calgary City Centre, Brookfield Place, 707-5th). Also breaking ground since then was Imperial Oil's 5 building suburban campus. I guess in the end it's hard to predict these these things.
I wouldn't mind seeing a new tallest, but the design of the Oxford tower is pretty banal. Maybe the downturn is a blessing in disguise for that one
Cowtown
Senior Member
I suspect by the time the next development cycle hits there will be a new design, which might be a good thing. The design is a bit too basic for my liking.
Operater
Active Member
Hi All,
I Didn't Know about this Project at All.. The only way I found out about it was
threw this Site a few Months back At the time i read that there was a project on Hold 64 Floors High. No Renderings etc It Might B a Few Years B 4 Anything Gets Built. In all Fairness Its a Project I can GO WITH. Not Sure Who Would B a Lead Tennant but it Would B Interesting to See,Great Project?
You Bet! It Would B a Dam Good Boost to the Commercial Economy of Calgary. Tnx.
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I Didn't Know about this Project at All.. The only way I found out about it was
threw this Site a few Months back At the time i read that there was a project on Hold 64 Floors High. No Renderings etc It Might B a Few Years B 4 Anything Gets Built. In all Fairness Its a Project I can GO WITH. Not Sure Who Would B a Lead Tennant but it Would B Interesting to See,Great Project?
You Bet! It Would B a Dam Good Boost to the Commercial Economy of Calgary. Tnx.
\
Chinese_T
Active Member
I don't think this will be happening anytime soon
Mountain Man
Senior Member
I give this a 1:100 chance of ever happening...
gsunnyg
Senior Member
They should probably scrap the whole office concept and do the righteous thing by building a 62 storey mixed-use hotel/residential tower. I personally don't wanna see anymore office towers going up in our Downtown unless they're going to be architecturally high standard like Telus Sky.
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Me too. Already too many office towers downtown IMO. Mixed use with office would be okay as well, just no more office only towers.
CBBarnett
Senior Member
Lucky(ish) for all of us, it'll take a generation (if ever) to require new buildings of this scale again. We can double our population while building nothing and still be comparable to Toronto in office square feet per person. Small scale or innovative designs are definitely possible, but the age of big-floor corporate towers in Calgary is over.