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General Construction Updates

RyLucky said:
I don't think the problem with the core is too many offices, but rather too few residents - and therefore, too little interest in after hours usages, street level frontage, +15 access, services for families and the elderly, recreation, and the environment. Obviously this is slowly changing. I'm also very grateful that Calgary has so much public access to waterfront because it does wonders for environmental advocacy and our sense of identity.
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Agree. That's really more of the issue. It would be nice if any future developments downtown in the CBD were residential or mixed use. I'm still holding out hope that some of these older office towers can be converted to residential.

As far as office space in the Beltline goes, I recently read an article where the city of New Westminster is trying to curb conversions of office space turning into residential. They see the value of having a mix.
 
That's what I think too. It's not that I'm against office space in general, only that we have so much of it in Calgary right in the downtown. Do you think we'll ever see conversions to residential? I'd like to but really is it cost effective?
 
Always_Biking said:
That's what I think too. It's not that I'm against office space in general, only that we have so much of it in Calgary right in the downtown. Do you think we'll ever see conversions to residential? I'd like to but really is it cost effective?
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I suspect before we see conversion we will see demolition of the older stock and new residential in its place, think the shorter smaller footprint buildings. I think there is a ton of office space on the west side of downtown that could be demolished to make way for new residential. I think it would also be great if the city bought up some of the land where there are unused buildings and created a large urban park. Probably dreaming there. I suspect office will continue to be concentrated around the existing nodes. Bankers Hall/EAP, Brookfield/Suncor/Bow, and Eau Claire.
 
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Office conversion is going to require one or two successful examples before the market follows. Once a sitcom is set in one, off-res make their way into design magazines, and a property manager discovers whether there is money to be made - then, you'll see it happen.
 
The problem with Calgary is the office market has been way too hot over the last decade or two, we've never even come close to the actual possibility. If buildings sit empty for another year or two, it could change. In my building there are a few empty floors, and some have been empty since before the downturn. If you get enough floors long enough someone will give it a go.
 
I wish I had access to the various finances for these buildings. I'd like to know what the price of an office building is in today's market and be able to take a guess at what it would cost for a building to become viable for conversion. The only building sale I know of was the TCPL tower not too long ago. A 50% stake in that building was $250M, so essentially $500M for a 1 Million sq ft tower. $500/sq ft to sell as residential. Of course there would be other costs involved in the conversion..... but still something that doesn't seem that unreasonable. Of course if they are leasing it for $40/sq ft, it doesn't make sense at all to convert.

If you get into older buildings though.... What if an older office building was selling at $200/sq ft? And that office was looking at sitting mostly empty for a long period of time? Could be much different.

The residential market is more expensive in New Westminster, but if they are converting office buildings there, then it might not be far off here in Calgary.
 
A few interesting things on the Calgary Planning Commission agenda next week (which is now posted in a ridiculous format).

http://www.calgary.ca/_layouts/cocis/DirectDownload.aspx?target=http://www.calgary.ca/PDA/pd/Documents/calgary_planning_commission/agenda/2016/agenda-cpc-november-03.pdf&noredirect=1&sf=1

Skyview Ranch Commercial TOD area, DP2016-2238 can be found starting on page 99.

5th Ave PBA Land hotel, between 4th and 5th Street SW, DP2015-3586 can be found starting on page 299.

85 unit tower at 15th Ave and 6th Street SW, DP2016-2663 can be found starting on page 387.
 
MichaelS said:
A few interesting things on the Calgary Planning Commission agenda next week (which is now posted in a ridiculous format).

http://www.calgary.ca/_layouts/cocis/DirectDownload.aspx?target=http://www.calgary.ca/PDA/pd/Documents/calgary_planning_commission/agenda/2016/agenda-cpc-november-03.pdf&noredirect=1&sf=1

Skyview Ranch Commercial TOD area, DP2016-2238 can be found starting on page 99.

5th Ave PBA Land hotel, between 4th and 5th Street SW, DP2015-3586 can be found starting on page 299.

85 unit tower at 15th Ave and 6th Street SW, DP2016-2663 can be found starting on page 387.
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Citizen Tower and the PBA Hotel! Thanks for posting!
 
Citizen Tower. I've got a few other renderings of it at the office. now that it's public, I'll post those too.

Citizen Tower.jpg
 

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I'd also like to throw out a general photo request. Does anyone have any shots of the ATCO Campus being build near MRU? I've driven past it quite a few times, but haven't really had a chance to really check it out.
 
Oddball said:
http://calgary.skyrisecities.com/ne...building-alberta-construction-magazine-awards
Did anyone other than AJX and I vote in this?
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Just voted :) I went with Studio Bell. There were some good designs out there, but in the end, I chose Studio Bell because I think it is a real game changer for architecture. Rogers Place has turned out really well, and some people will be tempted to vote for it but I feel like as nice an arena as Roger Place is, it's also kind of par for the course for new arenas these days....a typical HOK type design whereas Studio Bell is a standout building.
 
It's difficult to separate my political ideas from my valuation of these projects. In so many way NMC represents community, philanthropy, risk-taking, creativity, and I can't think of Rogers Place without thinking of Katz's threat to move the team, corporate welfare, stadium politics, etc. Plus, it's in Edmonton. Funny they are both sponsored by telecom, bridge a road, and are in revitalizing neighbourhoods. Architecturally, they are so different that it's hard to appraise them with the same rubric.
 
Surrealplaces said:
I wish I had access to the various finances for these buildings. I'd like to know what the price of an office building is in today's market and be able to take a guess at what it would cost for a building to become viable for conversion. The only building sale I know of was the TCPL tower not too long ago. A 50% stake in that building was $250M, so essentially $500M for a 1 Million sq ft tower. $500/sq ft to sell as residential. Of course there would be other costs involved in the conversion..... but still something that doesn't seem that unreasonable. Of course if they are leasing it for $40/sq ft, it doesn't make sense at all to convert.

If you get into older buildings though.... What if an older office building was selling at $200/sq ft? And that office was looking at sitting mostly empty for a long period of time? Could be much different.

The residential market is more expensive in New Westminster, but if they are converting office buildings there, then it might not be far off here in Calgary.
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The old Alberta wheat Pool building has ~130K of sq feet, and was sold for around $30 million IIRC. ...about $250.00/square foot. In today's market, the building would sell for less, but even at that price, it's a building that might make sense. You could have a third of a floor (about 4000sq ft) as unfinished loft space for around $1M.
 
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