Oakridge Co-op Redevelopment (Oakridge Crossing) | 43.89m | 12s | Calgary Co-op | Sahuri + Partners

The knocked down mall was at grade last week and they had an excavator digging around yesterday. Guessing its going to get moving pretty soon.
 
Agreed. Housing starts are very sluggish. There are dozens of proposals around, and few of them seem to be moving.
 
Some of the slow down is related to interest rates. Developers seem to have forgotten how to build quickly to minimize the terms of their construction loans, so they stay on the sidelines. For example, in 90s Calgary, a new suburban home could be move in ready 3-4 months after purchase. Now it is more like 8-12 months. Low interest rates have done much unanticipated damage to the economy.
 
DougB said:
Some of the slow down is related to interest rates. Developers seem to have forgotten how to build quickly to minimize the terms of their construction loans, so they stay on the sidelines. For example, in 90s Calgary, a new suburban home could be move in ready 3-4 months after purchase. Now it is more like 8-12 months. Low interest rates have done much unanticipated damage to the economy.
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I think there's also a lack of available trades so even if you wanted to build something you're having to budget more time because of trade availability.
 
Lack of trades and lack of funds. You could build a 150 units high rise for $20 million in the 1990s. Today, it's well over $100 million. There's a lot fewer that can self finance and financial lenders will lend $20 million and not $100 million. Interest rates don't help. They are a relatively new thing. The housing circus in Toronto or Vancouver predate them.

It's not on developers. It's on Ottawa. Record immigration plus a record number of temp visas during a housing crisis with a record amount of private investment in building housing makes as much sense as an American going into a McD's with a legal AR-15 strapped on their back. We can only hope Calgary's developers get more attention.
 
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